# Other Aquarium Forums > Fish Care, Nutrition and Water Management >  distorted body shape of neon tetra, why ?

## dx

I have been keeping neon tetra in a planted tank for more than a year now. Recently I notices the numbers of tetra drops from about 40 to below 30, and some tetra have swollen and curved body shape, some curved but like "S" shape at the middle of the body. Some with faded color.

Recent changes: added 1 Holland Ram and I noticed it became more daring to chase other fish; inrease CO2 injection a little bit, about just increase about 1 bps. pH 6.7 - 7.1. Should be soft water coz did not increase GH before. Feeding once per day.

Could it be attacked by Ram or among tetras themselves?

Others present: 2 SAE about 6cm, 2 otos, 1 black neon, 10 yamato, 2 more half transparent/pink tetra-like fish, don't know the name  :Grin:  

Please comment. I intend to change neon tetra to cardinal tetra, so don't want this thing to happen again.

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## crandf

Sounds more like some disease or parasite to me... dropsy?[/code]

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## deff

neons are commercially bred and as result of too much in breeding, neons are susceptible to a host of problems such as what you are experiencing. Stay away from neons if possible. Cardinals are a much better choice.

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## dx

which means the problem is not unusual to me ?

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## Jas

watch out for your remaining 30+ neons.....it might even drop to about 10-15 left.....I once bought at interval of 3 times to about 50+ neons....now i left only less than 10 of them. After this, i totally switch to cardinals.

A few things to note on neons is;

1)When they separate from the rest and stay at 1 corner
2)At times stay at the bottom of the tank with their mouth open and close continuously
3)Color of blue &amp; red seems to fade away
4)Trying very hard to swim to the top of the surface

When all these symtoms appear, is almost time to say goodbye. Of course there are still many other reason as well but sometime when the water parameters are ok they still died. I have a few died in size of about 2-3cm with their color still very intense.

If you have time, sit infront of the tank and observe and you will be able to find a few is like tat....tat what i do when i first started neons.....

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## Aeon

I don't like neons. They look like incomplete cardinals to me with that halfway red color. Their body also look out-of-shape even when healthy. They are nice fishes but they don't work in design, just not good raw materials. But, if you do them right, maybe they'll look good...

I agree with switching to cardinals. They are extremely healthy when you have a pH between 6.5 - 7 and soft water. I only lost 2 out of my 20 cardinals and that's due to new tank syndrome.

I've been looking for Paracheiradon Simulans, anyone knows where can I get them?

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## dx

recently visited a LFS and saw a tank full of small size cardinal tetra. Observed that some of them the color is not bright (or faded?) too, and also spotted one of them has distorted body shape (S-shape) like my neon tetra.

Could that be farm breed cardinal ?  :Grin:

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## plantmania

Curved spine's causes are numerous. This comes from inbreeding(genetic deformaties), diseases, parasites, toxin or metal poisoning (destruction of the muscle , tissues and spasms). Unless you do an autopsy , you will never know the exact cause. 

For example the neon tetra disease, which is a form of parastic attack , causes fish's muscle to die , severe case will force the spine to bend. You can cut up the dead fish body and look out for pale dead white tissue.

Steps to clear out:
1) You should check your water parameters for toxins and metals. PH and other standard stuff can be ignored as most of your other fishes are ok. Smaller fishes are more suspectible to poisoning. You can add geoliquid or easylife that supposedly reduce metal and toxin, however you will need to find the source and cause of the poisoning to prevent recurring problems, e.g a rusting screw on your DIY fan?
2) Buying fish from LFS with a critical eye, look out for diseased looking fish. pale color, weak swimming and rapid breathing. Helps with experience.
3) Remove all infected fish to prevent an outbreak(will spread to other fishes). Curved spine ones, you can cull them and throw away, while the others place in hospital tank and treat with anti-biotics and anti-parasite solutions(internal). 
4) Acclimatise your fish before adding them in for at least 30 mins. Observe them when acclimatising.

Culling.... I did this by putting fishes into a small tub of water and then place them into freezer, return after 30 mins and throw away the semi-frozen water with dead fishes.

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