10 Gallon Tank Neon tetra with pale tails

Hi Everyone, I am writing because I bought 3 neon tetras last week (to school with my current three). I carefully acclimated my new tetras to my new tank by having them reach the tank temperature and slowly add tank water from my established tank every 30 minutes. I added them to my established tank and realized that they had a clearish/orange stripe instead of deep opaque red like my other tetras. I attributed this to a stress response, however, a week later they are still clear/orange. A couple of days ago, I saw a white spot on the mouth of one of them and quarantined them. I began to read about neon tetra disease and cotton mouth and quarantined them. Prior to quarantine, they were schooling and eating fine. Now in quarantine, they are still the same orange but seem really depressed. I added a parasite remedy and a little bit of garlic to the quarantine tank. The white spot is gone but they are still not deep red. As I said, they are kind of depressed,and if the lighter color is normal I would like to add them back to be with the other tetras. I've added the fish emergency template in case that helps to diagnose why they may have this color.

What is the water volume of the tank? 10g
How long has the tank been running? 1 month
Does it have a filter? Yes.
Does it have a heater? Yes.
What is the water temperature? 75F
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) 2 kuhli loaches, 2 cherry barbs (soon to be 4), 3 healthy neon tetras ( and the 3 maybe sick ones)

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? every 3 days
How much of the water do you change? 25%
What do you use to treat your water? API water conditioner, aqueon pure live benefishal bacteria and enzymes balls
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? I vacuum the substrate once/week, the other days are water replacement

Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? Yes.
What do you use to test the water? 5-in-1 aquarium water test strips
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.

Ammonia: not on test strip
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 6.5-7.0

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? twice daily
How much do you feed your fish? 1 small round pellet/fish
What brand of food do you feed your fish? hikari semi floating micro pellets
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods? no

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? 1 week ago
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? 1 week ago
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? orange stripe instead of deep red, small white bump on the mouth of two of them (the other was fine but still orangy)
Have you started any treatment for the illness? I quarantined and added a little bit of minced garlic. I added the recommended amount of drops of parasite remedy (imagitarium)
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? no
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? One of the bigger ones seemed a bit more aggressive, it ended up developing a white spot on its nose/mouth. They all ate and schooled together with my current healthy tetras.

I really appreciate any help or advice that you can give. I'm fairly new to the hobby and I've grown pretty attached to the little guys.
The top photo are my healthy tetras, and the bottom photo is of the orange-tailed ones

 

Hi Everyone, I am writing because I bought 3 neon tetras last week (to school with my current three). I carefully acclimated my new tetras to my new tank by having them reach the tank temperature and slowly add tank water from my established tank every 30 minutes. I added them to my established tank and realized that they had a clearish/orange stripe instead of deep opaque red like my other tetras. I attributed this to a stress response, however, a week later they are still clear/orange. A couple of days ago, I saw a white spot on the mouth of one of them and quarantined them. I began to read about neon tetra disease and cotton mouth and quarantined them. Prior to quarantine, they were schooling and eating fine. Now in quarantine, they are still the same orange but seem really depressed. I added a parasite remedy and a little bit of garlic to the quarantine tank. The white spot is gone but they are still not deep red. As I said, they are kind of depressed,and if the lighter color is normal I would like to add them back to be with the other tetras. I've added the fish emergency template in case that helps to diagnose why they may have this color.

What is the water volume of the tank? 10g
How long has the tank been running? 1 month
Does it have a filter? Yes.
Does it have a heater? Yes.
What is the water temperature? 75F
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) 2 kuhli loaches, 2 cherry barbs (soon to be 4), 3 healthy neon tetras ( and the 3 maybe sick ones)

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? every 3 days
How much of the water do you change? 25%
What do you use to treat your water? API water conditioner, aqueon pure live benefishal bacteria and enzymes balls
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? I vacuum the substrate once/week, the other days are water replacement

Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? Yes.
What do you use to test the water? 5-in-1 aquarium water test strips
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.

Ammonia: not on test strip
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 6.5-7.0

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? twice daily
How much do you feed your fish? 1 small round pellet/fish
What brand of food do you feed your fish? hikari semi floating micro pellets
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods? no

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? 1 week ago
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? 1 week ago
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? orange stripe instead of deep red, small white bump on the mouth of two of them (the other was fine but still orangy)
Have you started any treatment for the illness? I quarantined and added a little bit of minced garlic. I added the recommended amount of drops of parasite remedy (imagitarium)
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? no
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? One of the bigger ones seemed a bit more aggressive, it ended up developing a white spot on its nose/mouth. They all ate and schooled together with my current healthy tetras.

I really appreciate any help or advice that you can give. I'm fairly new to the hobby and I've grown pretty attached to the little guys.
The top photo are my healthy tetras, and the bottom photo is of the orange-tailed ones
View attachment 747113View attachment 747114

Well one thing that causes lack of color, is having too bright of a light, and having no where to hide, neon tetras like places to hide and prefer dim(but not too dim) lighting since in the wild they live in murky water, from the picture they look ok from what I can see, but if you don't give them some places to hide, and if the light is bright, they get stressed out, see if you can dim it a bit if its too bright, if my fish is acting odd, I always start by adding aquarium salt, which gives their immune system a boost, and other things. Also for your parameters, I would like to know the ammonia, because your aquarium may not be fully cycled. A nitrate at 0 means there is no nitrite being changed to nitrate, which means your aquarium isn't cycled.

 

Well one thing that causes lack of color, is having too bright of a light, and having no where to hide, neon tetras like places to hide and prefer dim(but not too dim) lighting since in the wild they live in murky water, from the picture they look ok from what I can see, but if you don't give them some places to hide, and if the light is bright, they get stressed out, see if you can dim it a bit if its too bright, if my fish is acting odd, I always start by adding aquarium salt, which gives their immune system a boost, and other things. Also for your parameters, I would like to know the ammonia, because your aquarium may not be fully cycled. A nitrate at 0 means there is no nitrite being changed to nitrate, which means your aquarium isn't cycled.

Thank you for your advice. What would you suggest to add for hiding places? I currently have a hollow rock from the store, but they don't seem to swim into it very often. I also have several plants in the aquarium (floating and rooted).

I think my key got sticky, should be 10 for nitrate and the nitrite is 0. I'll take a sample to the pet store for ammonia testing since my test strips don't test for it.

Do you think it would be okay to add them back to my main tank with the others, or should I still keep them in quarantine?

 

Some batches of tetras just don’t have that great a color. I have cardinals that have all lived in the same tank and some of them have really nice dark red stripes where others were the lighter orange similar to what you have. The cardinals with less bright colorations in my experience tend to be less healthy and more prone to diseases. I only have darker cardinals in my tank right now, not because I was super selective in buying them but because the couple of lighter ones died off In my experience stress doesn’t discolor my cardinals to the extent that a dark red cardinal would go to lighter orange, nor does sickness, and I assume that’s about the same for neons. In the future I would only buy fish that have really nice coloring in the store as I do not believe they are likely to have a massive color change when they get settled; if your fish were a really great color when you got them, then I guess it might be stress but you’d have me stumped.

If your flow isn’t too high I’d get some floating plants and some taller plants for the neons to swim in and out of. My cardinals almost never go into decorations on the floor except for sleeping. You could try putting a piece of notebook paper over the lights for the time being, I do this with my cardinals (unless you have plants that would object) or even turning the lights off entirely to minimize all sources of possible stress. If you could get a picture of the white spots on your neon’s mouths it would help to more positively identify what’s going on. I’d keep them separate for the time being.

 

Some batches of tetras just don’t have that great a color. I have cardinals that have all lived in the same tank and some of them have really nice dark red stripes where others were the lighter orange similar to what you have. The cardinals with less bright colorations in my experience tend to be less healthy and more prone to diseases. I only have darker cardinals in my tank right now, not because I was super selective in buying them but because the couple of lighter ones died off In my experience stress doesn’t discolor my cardinals to the extent that a dark red cardinal would go to lighter orange, nor does sickness, and I assume that’s about the same for neons. In the future I would only buy fish that have really nice coloring in the store as I do not believe they are likely to have a massive color change when they get settled; if your fish were a really great color when you got them, then I guess it might be stress but you’d have me stumped.

If your flow isn’t too high I’d get some floating plants and some taller plants for the neons to swim in and out of. My cardinals almost never go into decorations on the floor except for sleeping. You could try putting a piece of notebook paper over the lights for the time being, I do this with my cardinals (unless you have plants that would object) or even turning the lights off entirely to minimize all sources of possible stress. If you could get a picture of the white spots on your neon’s mouths it would help to more positively identify what’s going on. I’d keep them separate for the time being.

I believe they were orangey when I bought them, but I didn't notice in the store until I compared them with my others when I brought them home. I'll definitely pay better attention after this experience. Luckily they still seem pretty active and are eating. I've attached a photo of the tetra with the white spot on his nose. I'm sorry it's a bit blurry but he moves pretty fast and I can only capture with high zoom.

 

Thank you for your advice. What would you suggest to add for hiding places? I currently have a hollow rock from the store, but they don't seem to swim into it very often. I also have several plants in the aquarium (floating and rooted).

I think my key got sticky, should be 10 for nitrate and the nitrite is 0. I'll take a sample to the pet store for ammonia testing since my test strips don't test for it.

Do you think it would be okay to add them back to my main tank with the others, or should I still keep them in quarantine?

Well ok then, I would add some long flowing plants and maybe some small Spider Driftwood, I have spider driftwood and long flowing plants. I'd say add them back if they aren't showing signs of illness, they may just be lazy tetras, if you can't get spider driftwood, just get something that allows them to get out of immediate sight.

 

I believe they were orangey when I bought them, but I didn't notice in the store until I compared them with my others when I brought them home. I'll definitely pay better attention after this experience. Luckily they still seem pretty active and are eating. I've attached a photo of the tetra with the white spot on his nose. I'm sorry it's a bit blurry but he moves pretty fast and I can only capture with high zoom.View attachment 747235

Oh well ignore what I sent, if he still has some fungus on his nose continue treatment, I thought they weren't showing signs of illness anymore, whoops... aquarium salt will help with that, and frequent WC's

 

I’m not 100% sure on this, as I can’t see your fish personally, but I have two cardinals that have something that looks pretty similar to what your tetras have right now. They’ve had it for as long as I’ve had them (almost a year, if not more) so it’s not an illness, just something funky with their anatomy or coloration or whatever. I’ve attached pictures of one of my cardinals that I’ve had for at least a year and is very healthy. In short, I am not convinced your fish is sick. Follow your instincts if you think something is wrong, but generally it would be good not to medicate fish unless you are sure something is wrong, as it stresses them out and can make them more vulnerable to other diseases. If I were you, I would probably stop with the medication but keep them quarantined for another week or two, and if nothing progresses I would add them to the other tank.

 

I’m not 100% sure on this, as I can’t see your fish personally, but I have two cardinals that have something that looks pretty similar to what your tetras have right now. They’ve had it for as long as I’ve had them (almost a year, if not more) so it’s not an illness, just something funky with their anatomy or coloration or whatever. I’ve attached pictures of one of my cardinals that I’ve had for at least a year and is very healthy. In short, I am not convinced your fish is sick. Follow your instincts if you think something is wrong, but generally it would be good not to medicate fish unless you are sure something is wrong, as it stresses them out and can make them more vulnerable to other diseases. If I were you, I would probably stop with the medication but keep them quarantined for another week or two, and if nothing progresses I would add them to the other tank.

Oh wow! Those do look similar to my neon tetras. It gives me some hope for them. I've kept the lights off and I'll keep them quarantined for another week or so. Thanks for the advice.

 

I’m not 100% sure on this, as I can’t see your fish personally, but I have two cardinals that have something that looks pretty similar to what your tetras have right now. They’ve had it for as long as I’ve had them (almost a year, if not more) so it’s not an illness, just something funky with their anatomy or coloration or whatever. I’ve attached pictures of one of my cardinals that I’ve had for at least a year and is very healthy. In short, I am not convinced your fish is sick. Follow your instincts if you think something is wrong, but generally it would be good not to medicate fish unless you are sure something is wrong, as it stresses them out and can make them more vulnerable to other diseases. If I were you, I would probably stop with the medication but keep them quarantined for another week or two, and if nothing progresses I would add them to the other tank.

The picture Vdu sent shows that the fish has some mouth fungus still, if he stops medication it could get worse, im not sure if you saw the picture or not

 

Right, I wasn't going to stop treating the mouth fungus, which is also why I want to keep them separated until it goes away. The other tetras and my other fish don't have any signs of the fungus luckily.

 

The picture Vdu sent shows that the fish has some mouth fungus still, if he stops medication it could get worse, im not sure if you saw the picture or not

Yes I did see the photo. What I was trying to say (I guess I didn’t get this across well) is that I don’t think their tetra has any sort of mouth fungus judging by the picture and the fact that the fish are still acting fine. I posted pictures of some of my healthy cardinals which have something similar by their mouths and have had it all their lives. It seems (on my cardinals) to just be a little strange tiny little spot that some of them have and others don’t, but doesn’t effect them in any way. It seems to be something that shows up in cardinals sometimes and since neons are so similar I figured the same thing could happen. I could be wrong but again I’m doubtful the fish has a mouth fungus, which would lead me to advise to stop medication as medications are hard on fish and shouldn’t be used unless you can positively identify what’s going on. Stop meds, let the fish stay in quarantine for a while to make sure they are truly OK, if something changes with the spot on their mouths to prove me wrong then start meds again. However, I do also have a concern with the meds Vdu is using. It says in your first post that you are using a parasite medication, and maybe I’ve overlooking something obvious but I’m wondering why you would use a parasite med to treat a fungus? In the end, do what you think is right for your fish, but I don’t think they are sick.

 

Yes I did see the photo. What I was trying to say (I guess I didn’t get this across well) is that I don’t think their tetra has any sort of mouth fungus judging by the picture and the fact that the fish are still acting fine. I posted pictures of some of my healthy cardinals which have something similar by their mouths and have had it all their lives. It seems (on my cardinals) to just be a little strange tiny little spot that some of them have and others don’t, but doesn’t effect them in any way. It seems to be something that shows up in cardinals sometimes and since neons are so similar I figured the same thing could happen. I could be wrong but again I’m doubtful the fish has a mouth fungus, which would lead me to advise to stop medication as medications are hard on fish and shouldn’t be used unless you can positively identify what’s going on. Stop meds, let the fish stay in quarantine for a while to make sure they are truly OK, if something changes with the spot on their mouths to prove me wrong then start meds again. However, I do also have a concern with the meds Vdu is using. It says in your first post that you are using a parasite medication, and maybe I’ve overlooking something obvious but I’m wondering why you would use a parasite med to treat a fungus? In the end, do what you think is right for your fish, but I don’t think they are sick.

I think those are very valid points. I’ll continue to keep them in quarantine without meds. The little spot hasn’t grown or shrunk since yesterday and they are still eating and swimming healthily.