Possible Case of Fish TB!! Help PLZ!!

maroman

maroman

Threadfin Rainbow Lover!
Nov 13, 2009
71
0
6
Bethlehem, PA
So I bought 7 Threadfin Rainbowfish two to three weeks ago to add to my collection of 7 already in my tank along with 4 zebra danios, 4 Neons(2 of which have fin rot that I am taking care of in a few days) one rainbow shark, and ten bumblebee shrimp. I know I am over stocked and I do keep the water params in check along with doing 25% water changes weekly. The male threadfin in question still has straggly fins from being at the store, his brethren have regrown their fins, but his still aren't good. He also has comparatively bad coloration and is currently not eating or coming to the front of the tank in excitement like my other threads do... he and one of my other males both have curved spines... does not make me happy. I will be posting a video of my fish tomorrow to better diagnose. I have Quarantined the Thread to a 3 gallon. Do these sound like TB symptoms? From what I have read on other threads it sounds exactly like that.
 
There are many afflictions that can cause spine curving such as a sporozoa, TB, and poor nutrition. The poor nutrition is the only one that can be corrected. Sporozoa is non-treatable. TB can infect humans so be extremely careful!

TB can be treated with Kanamycin + Vitamin B-6. Treat for up to 30 days.
 
This is a dense read, but a great article:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_6/volume_6_2/mycobactera.htm

Fish TB is not common. We hear about it because it can transmit a nasty skin infection to humans. Bent spines have all sorts of other causes as was mentioned, and the most likely one is that this fish just wasn't culled. I find lots of curved spine fish at chain pet stores - probably because it seems they have a "no kill" policy where they can't euthanize for any reason. (At least this is what I've been told)

You'll find other terrible things if you look, fish missing eyes, malformed skulls, improperly formed tails. Just make sure you check your bag before you bring the fish home, otherwise you'll have to make a fuss for them to give you a credit.
 
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Oh, and putting a sick fish in a 3 gallon tank is definitely not going to make him better...in fact, just the opposite. A 10 gallon tank is only like $13 at Walmart and often times can be found for free on places like Craigslist. This is the right sized quarantine tank for small fish. A 3 gallon tank is a betta tank, an invert tank, or a grow out tank for the fry of small fish...not a useful hospital or quarantine tank.

I think you should return your fish to your main tank, it likely doesn't have any communicable disease. Do make sure to get your finrot under control. Finrot is not really contagious either. Most of the time finrot or fungus is caused by there being something amiss with your water quality and/or chemistry.

What's your water quality test like? Water chemistry out of your tap vs. your aquarium? Your pH may be dropping, even crashing...happened to me when I was using city water and had overstocked tanks. (Lived and learned though :))
 
His fins might be too far gone to repair at this point...and if he's not eating then there isn't much hope he will get better unfortunately

Curved spine could also be caused by severe stunting...when you bought the fish what size tank did they come from?

I read somewhere yesterday someone said "If the fish isn't eating...there isn't much hope" and I swear this is one of the most true sayings I've found to date

Fish TB is usually accompanied by a sunken side or big dents of missing flesh on the side of the fish (under the skin of course...almost looks like there is no meat under their scales)

I don't think the curved spine will ever fix itself to be honest...the fish can and will bulk back up if you can get it healthy enough to eat again...but the curved spine will never go away...

Pics will definitely help identify what this is
 
All Right

Symptoms in fish

The main symptoms of fish tuberculosis are loss of scales, loss of color, lesions on the body, wasting, and skeletal deformities such as curved spines.
Diagnosing

Looking a slides of infected tissue under a microscope is sometimes enough to recognize Mycobacterium marinum, but in most cases a bacterial culture will be necessary. Both Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium marinum are acid fast, which means that they stain bright pink against a blue background.
Treatment

Treating fish tuberculosis is really difficult and euthanizing the fish a probably less painful for the fish than forcing it to go through endless treatments that may not have any effect on the disease. Euthanizing all the fish in the infected aquarium is also the best way of preventing the disease from spreading.
If you decide to try and treat your fish, keep in mind that Mycobacterium marinum can infect you as well. The risk of being infected can however be decreased dramatically by following a few simple safety guidelines. You can read more about this further down in this article.
Fish can be treated with the same drugs as humans get when they become infected by Mycobacterium marinum, e.g. Kanamycin. Since this is a very resilient microbe, normal treatment involves administering at least two different medications over the course of at least three months.
A lot of aquarium problems can be fixed by performing frequent water changes, increasing the water temperature and adding some salt to the water, but fish tuberculosis is not one of them. Raising the water temperature may even worsen the problem since Mycobacterium marinum prefers warm water (their ideal temperature is 30°C).
Prevention

Since curing fish is virtually impossible once the disease begins to manifest, preventative measures are highly important.
Keeping your fish healthy, happy and well-fed will boost their immune system and make it possible for them to handle limited exposure to Mycobacterium marinum.
Wounded or otherwise weakened fish should be moved to quarantine tanks where they can be treated and given time to recuperate, since weak fish that is left in the main aquarium can serve as a breeding ground for all sorts of malicious microorganisms that may eventually grow numerous enough to attack even the healthy fishes.
New fish should ideally be quarantined before you allow it into you main aquarium. Plants, substrate, equipment etcetera should be sterilized to kill of potentially harmful bacteria before being introduced to the aquarium. See the plant section for more info about how to sterilize plants without causing injury to them.
An aquarium that has had an outbreak of fish tuberculosis should be meticulously cleaned out with bleach and left to dry before you restock it.
 
Video

Here is a Video of my sad fish and another that has a bent back and a sunken part just behind his stomach, not sure what this is either both are in the video and I explain some params in the video hope this helps with a diagnosis.

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