Neon Tetra Disease

Neon tetra disease is a deadly fish disease that not only affects the fish, neon tetra that it was discovered in but also other common families of aquarium fish. The neon tetra is an extremely attractive aquarium fish having a light blue back over a silver-white abdomen. The fish is dwells well in a densely planted tank with subdued light and an ideal neon tetra temperature of 74 - 80 F. Hence if kept under proper condition, neon tetra lifespan can be around 7 years. Generally, the disease is known to strike the members of the tetra family, however fishes like cichlids, angelfish, rasboras, goldfish, barbs, etc., are also vulnerable to be infected by it. The major drawback of neon tetra disease is that it spreads rapidly, is non curable and fatal to the fish.

Causes
The disease is caused by a sporozoan called Pleistophora hyphessobryconis, a parasitic spore-forming protozoan that reproduce through spores. Infected or contaminated neon tetra food like the bodies of the dead fish or live food like tubifex, serve as intermediate hosts for these parasites which enter the fish body in the form of spores. Once they are in the intestinal tract of the fish, the freshly hatched embryos burrow through the intestinal wall and develop cysts inside the muscle tissue. As a result, the muscles holding the cysts begin to die, and the necrotic or mortified tissue becomes pale, eventually turning white in color. The main reason for rapid spread of the infection is that once the cyst reaches the aquarium water, it will break open and release the spores which can infect other fish in the water. Apart from this, if the host fish has infected kidneys, the spores can also be ejected into the tank through the fish waste.

Symptoms
The first symptom that you may see in the infected fish is that it will no longer school with other fish and will be very restless, especially at night. As the disease progresses the swimming will become very erratic and the affected muscle tissues will turn dull and white. Eventually the pale coloration expands, being more dominant in the areas along the spine. Due to muscle damage, you will notice spine curvature or deformation, which causes the fish to have difficulty in swimming. Rotting of fins, lumpy appearance and bloating are some other symptoms that can also be seen in a fish suffering from this disease.

Treatment
As said before, the disease is non curable, hence once affected, it slowly kills the diseased fish. However, there are some species like angelfish that may survive for some time but even they will eventually die. Though the disease is not treatable, it is preventable from spreading if certain precautions are taken under consideration. You can try and quarantine or isolate the new fish for two weeks, maintaining high water quality and not purchasing fish from a tank having ill or dead fish. These are some preventive measures that can reduce the risks of neon tetra disease.

Hence, the best prevention is to maintain proper hygiene and if you notice any of the symptoms mentioned above in your fish, without delay isolate that fish as this will keep the infection from spreading and harming other normal fish in the tank. I hope the information given proves to be helpful in taking good care of your fish and keeping them from getting this severe and fatal infection.