Is this a genetic or disease problem?

[sillyputty]

Background: I have been concerned that my fish had/have TB since I recently lost 2 hi fin lyretail swordfish. There were various symptoms but the one I thought most pointed to TB is they both had bent (kinda humped) spines. Now my third and final sword is acting weird, darting around, hiding, (she was never very friendly though would usually hang back abit) and seems to be getting markings on her skin between her eyes. Sometimes she gets so frantic she literally dives into the gravel! Anyway, I am watching her closely and will have to make a decision on her soon.

Question: Perhaps this isn't TB but could it be a genetic flaw in these fish? They were all pretty mature (about 3+ inches) when I got them. Two I got the end of December one in the middle of January. This is one of the older ones. The first two seemed very healthy for a good couple of weeks, the last one never did seem very strong.
The LFS I got them from seems to be having trouble with them dieing off too. I am in there often and I always check out the swordfish to see how they are doing and they also seem to hang at the top or bottom alot. Maybe this isn't TB after all? Or is this wishful thinking. Still got that bent spine thing. I would think that at least some of my other fish, mollies and tetras would be showing symptoms by now.

Can internal parasites cause "wasting and skeletal curves"?

Thanks for the help!

 

[Samala]

Its possible it could be a genetic problem/disease, but its unlikely in my opinion. Your fish are pretty mature, at 3+ inches they're at least several months old and almost assurably fully developed. Most genetic issues in fish, that I know, that cause bends and twists in the spine and erratic behavior present themselves early in development. Sometimes fish lack proper metabolic processes and it takes time for metabolites to accumulate in their bodies before symptoms occur, but since they are fairly old I doubt this scenario somewhat. The fact that the entire shipment of swords to your LFS seems to be having problems doesnt typically point to a genetic disease problem. It points more to toxic poisoning or to infectious disease pathogens.

I too would have expected you to see symptoms in your other fish by now but Myco can have an incubation period from 1-4 weeks. Some fish never show symptoms and are just carriers. I'd keep quarantining them.

Internal parasites, in my experience, can certainly cause wasting but I've never had them degenerate muscle tissue or cause spine deformities. Others may have more experience with this.

I too hope you dont have TB, but I'd treat the fish as if they do until you can come up with a better diagnosis just to be safe. I hope that helps some.

>Sarah