Cardinal with Bent Spine

mr.key

mr.key

circumambulator
Dec 30, 2007
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I have one large cardinal tetra that I have just noticed has a horizontally bent spine not extreme eats and swims reasonably well his color is somewhat faded compared to the rest but not dramatically so. I have had this fish for a year or so and I assume that I have seen this and dismissed it recently.

I know it could be TB or nutrient deficiency but in you experience what should I do? I am not sure that if it is TB I should bother to move him to quarantine (yes it is a male) as the tank has now been exposed anyway and treatment if it has reached the skeleton will be ineffective (I believe correct me if wrong). Part of my indecision is that I would have thought that if it was TB and reached the skeleton he should be in much worse shape.

Thoughts?
 
mr.key said:
I have one large cardinal tetra that I have just noticed has a horizontally bent spine not extreme eats and swims reasonably well his color is somewhat faded compared to the rest but not dramatically so. I have had this fish for a year or so and I assume that I have seen this and dismissed it recently.

I know it could be TB or nutrient deficiency but in you experience what should I do? I am not sure that if it is TB I should bother to move him to quarantine (yes it is a male) as the tank has now been exposed anyway and treatment if it has reached the skeleton will be ineffective (I believe correct me if wrong). Part of my indecision is that I would have thought that if it was TB and reached the skeleton he should be in much worse shape.

Thoughts?
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well i have heard of guppy fry getting a bent spine and i have read you need to cull them but i guess since he is doing fine and you dont plan on breeding them he should be fine
 
This fish is still alive though he has gradually bloated badly. He still eats and moves reasonable well and is only occasionally picked on, his color is off again on again as well meaning that the red stripe fades to white on the long side.

I am worried that he is diseased now if not previously and I am trying to justify destroying the fish as I have youngish praecox and ivanstoffi bows coming shortly.

Please weigh in.
 
Can we got a photo please? Curvature of the spine can occur in several conditions including TB, as a result of other bacterial conditions, and in otherwise healthy but older fish prior to their death. It sounds like your fish is also suffering from edema (aka 'dropsy') so the possibility of bacterial infection is a possibility. However, I would not labor over this being TB. TB can and does occur in the freshwater aquarium but is rare.... if there is reason to suspect TB you need to proceed with caution.
 
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I meant diseased in general not necessarily TB. I believe that it is not TB currently so this is now a questions of general health. If you notice I am reviving an older thread of mine and the TB question has been resolved.

Though no other fish seems infected at the moment I am concerned for the incoming fish.
 
It wouldnt hurt to QT him in case it is a bacterial infection of some sort. Whatever it is, he is probably a goner. Sick Cardinals tend to end up as dead Cardinals.
 
No kidding but he's hung on for months. I was expecting him to be dead shortly after the edema set in but he's still going strongish. I will QT this guy when the new fish come in either way though I suspect that even that small stress will be the coffin nail.
 
I bought some Cardinals as fry and one was smaller and had a bent spine. He never grew beyond a half inch but he lived a couple of years.
 
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