I had one tetra about 2 months ago that lost all his red colouring on the back half, got a curvature in his back and I actually ended up putting him out of his misery. Now, I see a couple more are looking like they are losing a bit of red colour in their tails aswell!

Is it sitting dormant in my tank, as I am pretty sure that is is this disease, and what should do I do?

I have 7 neon tetras, 3 black widow tetras, 2 five banded barbs, a golden bristle nose, a brown spotted bristle nose and 4 golden barbs in a 50 litre tank - will any of them be at risk?

Please help me :facepalm: I seem to get everything going well and looking good, then something else rears up and ruins it!

Loss of colouring in neons is a sign of stress. Of course it is also one of the more obvious signs of Pleistophora. It is sporozoan and for all intent is incurable. Some importers years ago used to hold it off with formalin until they could get them through quarantine but it is not a cure.

Best to destroy any fish that are affected and keep a watch on the rest. It is more obvious in neons but will infect other fish as well (other than cardinals) and mostly tetras.

I've had this issue with Neons before and I no longer keep them because of it. I now use Cardinals. The colouring is better, they get bigger, they school tighter and they live longer.

The real neon tetra disease is all but gone from the industry, and is unheard of NZ these days. (a very reliable source provided me with this info soon after I started keeping fish)

What you are most likely seeing is false neon tetra disease, which is just as fatal if not caught early enough.

I have successfully treated a group with white spot cure combined with formalin.

If they have the whitish grey necrosis they are probably already past it, but it will prevent infection of the others.

HTH

Owen

I will keep an eye on the affected ones over the next 24 hours, and if it looks worse i shall remove them.

this is obviously a common problem with neons or tetras in general? In which case are cardinals seem to be pretty similar (as a replacemnet fish) are they as hardy and easy care, as well as not growing into a big fish (don't have much space!)?

In which case are cardinals seem to be pretty similar (as a replacemnet fish) are they as hardy and easy care, as well as not growing into a big fish (don't have much space!)?

Cardinals tend to be hardier and easier to care for and grow a little bit bigger than Neons. Cardinals haven't had all the decades of inbreeding and poor breeding to ruin them.

So all of my Neons were carefully checked, however 3 of them had to be removed

Hopefully the now 4 Neons will be fine, however If not, I will definatly not be replacing them with more of the same (however pretty they are!)

I will definatly not be replacing them with more of the same (however pretty they are!)

Replace them with Cardinals FTW, they're prettier :thup: