Neons with White Patches

[NeonJulie]

Hi. Was curious if anyone had ever seen this before:

12g Eclipse
Successfully and Fishlessly Cycled
White patches came after a 2 week bout of Ich (treated with salt.)
pH 7.2
Ammonia was 0/NitrItes 0
Nitrates were 5
Hardness is 120ppm
Buffering low, 40-50ppm

The tank contained: the 5 neons (lost one that wedged behind the filter), and 1 Oto. (3 of these 5 neons are still alive today, as is the Oto.) I eventually clove oiled 2 neons who were overcome the most with the white, and after weeks and weeks, lost the ability to swim/eat.

50% Water was changed at the longest, 1 week. Used Prime as dechlorinator. Water was matched by electronic thermometer. Averaged 2x/week. Did 3 weeks of daily water changes. At the point these photos were taken, I had run a month-long course of medicines, with 110%+ water changes between each attempt:

Salt (Aprx. 2.5 tsp/Gallon)
Melafix
Pimafix
CopperSafe
Maracyn (positive gram)
Maracyn II (negative gram)
Antibacterial Food
Antiparasite Food

I have had a SECOND break out of whatever this is, with a completely new batch of neons that were quarantined for 4 and 6 weeks. It's not as bad as this yet... but good grief. I've already bleach bombed this tank and started over once. This time I attempted one round of Tetracyline. They are fed the anti-parasite food once a week. They are also fed Tetramin Color Crisps, small amounts twice a day. (Up from once a day - trying to give them more health.) About once every 10 days, they fast. Also feed wafers with the first ingredient, spirulina. (But I don't ever see the neons eat it.)

The companions of these new neons are (2) Otos, and (1) Dwarf Gourami.

Any ideas - THANK YOU.

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[NeonJulie]

[NeonJulie]

And yet... here's hope... my best looking Neon. Without flash or contrasting.

[Drumachine09]

Are they losing their scales?

[NeonJulie]

I don't know... I suspect in the worst cases there was, because it looked like mini-white pieces sticking off of them that worsened, so that could be scales. They are so little though

[Drumachine09]

I don't know... I suspect in the worst cases there was, because it looked like mini-white pieces sticking off of them that worsened, so that could be scales. They are so little though

Could be stress, could be ick. Are they skinny and are their backs crooked?

[NeonJulie]

They had recovered from ich... the worst it got was 2-3 dots like salt, on each fish. It was gone in 10 days, and then I treated another 7. I don't believe it's ich, and even if it was, it wasn't likely to survive the Coppersafe... was it?

It could be stress, maybe yes, maybe no... but clearly they had something, and very tangible. Notice how shredded their fins are as well?! Anyway... I moved them into a 4 gallon bin with a pathetic small tank filter, and not even a heater. It gets changes about one a week, but it doesn't have much decor or anything. There's only 3 neons left in there... and I have to say... why they would NOT be stressed in a beautiful tank with tons of cover, regular water changes, stable temp, and would prefer a plastic box with no heater, a drip-filter and half of their friends.....

I even kept the lights dimly lit in the room, and no aquarium light on, for 10 days to try and help their healing?

The two worst did end up bending slightly at the spine. And yes I felt they were very skinny, in one of those shots it looks like you can see the anorexic fish's ribs - though they always eat very well. (But keep in mind all of these shots are from the old fish. The new batch only have the slight white at the end of their tails, one maybe two of the neons.)

The old batch had these patches for over 2 months. I'm thinking now that maybe it went away, in their bin, the 3 survivors anyway. But it's hard to tell, their pale from lack of substrate, etc.

[cocoa_pleco]

if theyre hunched, its TB.

I personally think youre constantly getting a batch with neon tetra disease since the stripe fades

[Drumachine09]

If they are looking REALLY bad, i would go ahead and euthanize them.

[NeonJulie]

Well I did the two fish, without any quality of life. Every one else functions and seems perfectly fine, just with a cloudy patch at the end of their tail. The oldest originally infected batch... I could swear that they've recovered? Is that possible?

It doesn't seem likely that it was TB. Isn't the onset and death faster than 8-12 weeks?

They aren't looking bad at all, and it isn't worsening in 3 weeks, but it's also still there for now. :/