I am posting this thread to help fellow aquarist avoid this tragic desiease that has ravaged my tank for who knows how long. It started proboly months ago but no obvious enough sighns. not enough to raise suspicioun but not worry at first. Worry is such an understatment at the end of this time period. even understatment is understated.
It started when i first bought 8 platties from my lfs fresh in for shipping, that is proboly the biggest mistake you can make. and because of that i suffered the consequences. During the shipping process fish become come stressed like normal, and like normal when fish are stressed they can contract diseases more easily than normal with a non stressed healthy immunity system. Even though a fish can look healthy when you purchase it, it could of easily contracted it just an hour before, or maybe less than that even.
It all started with a normal trip to the lfs, and like i said 8 freshly aquired platties. Unlike me you should always ask if you are interested in the fish for them to hold on to it for a week or so to see if any sighns emerge. I acclimated th way i usualy have done. sit in a bag for an hour adding water every few minutes. Everything was normal for a week. Then my platties started to drop out of nowhere from no obveous sighns. I posted on this and even private mesaged, but could not figure out an obvious cause. within a week i was down to 4 platies and there color started to fade. but this could be from stress or anything for that matter. It did indeed bring up some concern but no reason was aquired.
I did keep an eye on the fish but soon i was down to 2 platies and the deaths seemed to stop temporarily. After they stoped i assumed it was my water quality but everything was perfect. so i just went with they were under to much stress with so active fish in the tank. a week later other fish started to die off. AT that time I had 2 plecos. but one just seemed to die out of nowhere. but again no info was aquired that seemed to sugest a disiese since the pleco was fairly new.
then one sunday i woke up and i saw my plattie on the botton with a curved spine and he swam funny. most likely the spine. So i took him out immediently and put him in a bowl and gave him some peas. his spine straightened somewhat by then. so i just thought he was bloated. I have been through bloated fish many times when i kept goldfish. Unfortanatly soon after he died and now i was down to 1 plattie. but that wouldnt last.
I added 4 pink kissers soon after and 4 black tetras still thinking they were stressed of some sort. and again i posted and privated message but no causes emerged as the disease kept itself hidden.
But more symptoms were now emerging.
Wounds________________Now emerging
Cysts__________________Now emerging
Faded_Colours___________I have
Clamped_Fins____________Now emerging
Arched_Backbone________I have
Loss_of_Appetite_________Now emerging
Loss_of_Equilibrium_______I have
Damaged_Fins___________Now emerging
My final plattie is on his last breath, he is experiencing most of the sighns now, and would get cysts on his final day. and all the rest of the sypmtoms. He would not make it. but more than an hour. and a day after he died i lost 2 lyretail mollies. they had damaged fins. and one had an arched backbone.
At this point Neon tetra disease was brough up in a private message but we didnt think it would be that and blew it off sort of. my pleco was loosing color now and as time progressed i lost another fish with the symptoms. so i brought it up again but as fNTD with some research and finially though we had found the cause cause. I sent out an order of melifix and priafix and waited. and by waiting i searched more info and read to figure out the differencebetween the two fNTD would react more to the meds.
Well i recieved the meds and immediently added them and withen 30 seconds my normally black angelfish went pure white ( now you cant tell me thats a good thing ). Finaly i had discovered the culperate and continued to dose. within the first day of dosing things improved some. but important of all the deaths stoped. I continued doseing and today 3-22-07 is the 7th day of dosing and everything has improved. the disease is slowley going away and only time will tell.
But there are precautions aquarists can tank to prevent all diseases.
-quarintine all new plants, and fish for two weeks at the minimum. Give the disease time too show itself. also if you happen to buy a plant with unwanted snails on it, it gives you the extra option of bringing the plant back without havin to have your main tank filled with snails itself. I cant have a quarintin tank myself because with the 120 taking up my closet there is no more room for any tanks. Not even a 10 gallon.
-Keep a high water quality. make sure that your filter can handle your tank. For example you dont want a 25 gallon filter on a 60 gallon tank. Do a weekely water change. never put it off untill tomorow. A disease doesn't need much time to establish itself. overnight is plenty of time for it to do just that. Make sure you change your filter cartrage at least once a month to keep your filter at its best performance at all times and to keep the water crystal clear. Same goes if you have a protien skimmer. keep that clean as well.
Keep a constant temperature- Fish are easily stressed. and if the temperature fluctuates alot. heck it doesnt even need to be alot. it will weaken the fish's immunity aand leave it even weaker when it comes to combating diseases. also if the fish has a disease and the temperature is fluctuating it increases the chance of your fish dieing and decrease the chance that your fish will live.Its just like us. if its a 110* C day outside we can't just jump in a cool pool. freshely filled with water because we can go in shock. plus it also will stress us out even though it may not seem like it.
Don't overstock your tank. this is another cause for fish's stress. if the tank is overstocked or you have an aggresive fish with peacefull fish that could cause alot of stress. some fish are territorial and could ultimatly kill each other because there is no territory to share.
Keep the right fish. you don't wan't to have chilids with peacfull fish( correct me if im wrong, most likely its been done but not recomended). chilids are highely territorial from what i have read. its just like putting two male bettas in a goldfish bowl. To put it in simplest terms it will not end so well for the peacfull fish.
Add some cover. its always best to have a fake decoration, some plants or even some driftwood ( after soaking it of coarse). if fish are out in the open they will natrally be stressed because they are scared. they would not feel secure. and when a person walks up to the tank they will be scared even more because they have no place to hide. Fish need places to run, or swim for tha matter when they get spooked. it also helps them lead a happier life and make your tank look alot cooler.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!N OTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!
When fish start to die out of no where for no reason ( like mine ). It's never a good thing. maybe when you add new fish it could be from stress. it is likely, but if it does with new fish just keep an eye on them. If the pattern continues past 7 days ( 1 week ) then something is most likely wrong. It could still be from stress but it is unlikely now. Check your water param. ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. The bacteria colonies might not have developed yet for the extra load. most likely in a small tank. try a medication if possible. Melifix and Priafix for example. they are fully natraul and can be used to prevent diseases too. they do not harm anything in the tank, not even invertabrates. Useing them in a combo is best.
Look for symptoms. does the fish look bloated? is it swimming funny. is it haveing a hard time swimming to the bottom of the tank or the top of the tank. are its fins riped, does it have open sores. look for anything not normal. It could be as simple as the fish being lazy, just sitting around all the time. Eception like plecos because mines lazy. Untill night anyway. but if you have an active fish like a tatra and it sits around all the time i would keep an eye out.
I hope this helps people avoid this terrible disease, and good luck avoiding it. Take it from me, its not fun. not even a little bit. This is a fun and entertaining hobby. It is a costly project depending how big you want to go but IMO it was worth every cent and i would make my whole room an aquarium if i could. I dont mind sleeping on the couch, it is very cumphy
but its just fun to come home and sit on my bed and just watch my fish. Cleaning may be a pain, but i would do it every day if i have too. I dont really think there are any cons to this hobby. ecept maybe a little more on the electricity bill. But think of all the pros. a buitifull tank to gloat about when friends come over
. awesome fish to watch when you get bored. There are so much more. If you don't have a tank and are reading this tank let this thought run by your mind. Go to the LFS and maybe purchase a gallon tank for a betta. maybe start a 10 gallon to take up the empty space on the desk in the corner of the room. Just make sure to read the cycling stick and going threw the cycling process will be a breeze.If you are thinking about buying a tank and are just trying to find some inform,ation, well youy came to the right place. #1 forum IMHO when it comes to aquariums and even more in the evrything else section.
ran out of room lol
False Neon Tetra Disease ( fNTD ) 
