# Congo Tetra with exposed gills? Why



## Zak Rafik (26 Oct 2014)

Hi everyone,

I bought 14 Congo tetras for my 4 feet / 120cm (255 Lt) planted tank.
There are about in average 4 cm to 5 cm in length.
It has been about one week now and all the fish seem to be eating well and exploring the tank.

Apart from these fish, I have 9 rummynose tetras and algae eaters ( 5 Otos, 10 Amano shrimps, 15 Red cherry shrimps)

*Tested the water parameters 2 days ago and all was at 0 ppm except for No3 at 20 ppm *(may be due to EI fertilization.)

I noticed yesterday that only one Congo tetra had a red coloration near the gills. Upon further inspection, it looks like the gills on its right side is exposed. The other side is fine and normal looking.
The fish eats fine with the other and active in the tank.
There are no markings or spots on it body.
The fins and tail area look fine.

All the other fish are healthy and doing fine.

I would find it most helpful if the members can explain *what's happening to this congo tetra and is this some time of disease or is this due to fighting among the tetras?*

Please find the photos taken this morning.

Thank you so much
Raffik


http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b631/Zak_Rafik/Congo-Gills001_zps1f0f0213.jpg
http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b631/Zak_Rafik/Congo-Gills002_zps7bbdff5b.jpg


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## Crossocheilus (26 Oct 2014)

Using the planted tank disease database I would say that could be caused by external parasites, either: 
"Small gill parasites (monogenetic trematodes)" 
or 
Gill Flukes (gyrodactylus)


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## Zak Rafik (26 Oct 2014)

Doesn't sound good. Can I have the link to the list of disease? How do I treat this?
Thanks


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## Crossocheilus (26 Oct 2014)

http://www.plantedtank.net/articles/Common-Freshwater-Fish-Diseases/13/

Not sure how to treat, I would google medication for gill flukes/external parasites or just go to your lfs and ask/see what they have.

This isn't necessarily gonna kill your fish, I had a sterba's cory with a bad fungus infection that seemed resistant to medication and he survived happily for months. If you can treat it quickly it should be possible to save the fish, good luck.


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## Easystreet (26 Oct 2014)

Hi, I'm by no means an expert but I have noticed something similar on danios before.

Is the gill covering (operculum) opened revealing the gills or is it just short?

A short operculum is a common deformity observed in danios at least. For example from http://zebrafish.org/documents/faq.php:

*'My fish seem to have damaged gill covers so the gills are visible. Is this normal?*

  Malformations of the operculum in zebrafish are fairly common. Operculums can be shortened or curl outward exposing the gills. The curling of operculums can be progressive and more pronounced in older fish. The causes of operculum malformations include genetic (very common in zebrafish with a Tübingen background), embryonic temperature shock, nutrition and possibly chemical agents. Malformed operculums do cause changes in water flow through the gill chamber and often result in an increased respiratory effort. Some photos of the condition in a TU adult are included below.'


Not my image.

It may just be a natural deformity. In which case I don't think you can do anything about it.

Hope this helps.

Jim


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## Zak Rafik (26 Oct 2014)

Crossocheilus said:


> http://www.plantedtank.net/articles/Common-Freshwater-Fish-Diseases/13/
> just go to your lfs and ask/see what they have.
> 
> This isn't necessarily gonna kill your fish,



Yes I'll visit the LFS and ask their opinion also. 

Is this contagious, meaning spread to other fish?

Btw thank you for the link.



Easystreet said:


> Hi, I'm by no means an expert but I have noticed something similar on danios before.
> 
> Is the gill covering (operculum) opened revealing the gills or is it just short?
> 
> ...



Hi
Thanks for all the details. *The photo of the zebra fish's exposed gills is exactly how it looks like for my Congo Tetra. *

Is this common among tetras too?
The LFS had only 14 of these beauties and as it was closing for the day, I didn't have the time to inspect all the fish. I grabbed all 14 of them. 

Cheers
Raffik


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## Tim Harrison (26 Oct 2014)

Yep a genetic deformity would have been my guess too...a lot of fish these days are interbred to within an inch of their genome and deformities are consequently quite common. But that's not to say it wasn't caused by some sort of parasite etc.


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## devo (26 Oct 2014)

I've got a shoal of Congos, one of which has exactly the same condition, otherwise it seems fine, as does the one with the bent lower jaw !
They are great fish once they colour up.


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## Zak Rafik (26 Oct 2014)

devo said:


> I've got a shoal of Congos, one of which has exactly the same condition, otherwise it seems fine, as does the one with the bent lower jaw !
> They are great fish once they colour up.



I'm glad to know that it wasn't due to some parasite as I didn't quarantine the convos as they were from a shop that actually does it for all their fish. 

As mentioned before mine feeds and explores the tank very well and infect if it was turned to other side, it quite difficult to point him out. 

But I notice my whole shoal swims about the tank when there is no one nearby but the moment I come near, the whole group hide amongst the plants. Does the happen for yours too?

Cheers


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## dw1305 (27 Oct 2014)

Hi all,
It maybe a thyroid tumour, they are quite common in soft water tetras.  





> Thyroid tumours can be caused from the lack of iodine in the diet. If the tumour is under the gill of the fish and is causing the gill to remain open, the problem is likely a swollen thyroid and can be treated with potassium iodine. Place the fish in a hospital tank. Add 1 milligram of potassium iodine for every gallon of water. Re-dose proportionally after every water change. The treatment period could take up to 4 weeks


 from <http://www.conwaytropicalfish.com/tips.htm#D>.

cheers Darrel


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## devo (27 Oct 2014)

Hi Zak 
My Congos are very bold, they almost pull the food from my fingers and crowd to the front of the tank any time I go near.
Cheers
David


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## Zak Rafik (29 Oct 2014)

Hi
Thanks for the inputs and tips. 
Just an update. The Congo tetra with the exposed gills seem to be doing fine. Feeding very well and sometimes a bit greedy. Like the rest of the group, he has started to show some awesome colours. I just did a massive plant trimming and now the Congos are exploring the tank's front. My Rummynose Tetras behaved in the very same manner. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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