My Lfs Said Fish Died Of Tb So No More Livebearers

[cheeky_chops]

I had a major crisis a few weeks ago when 3 of my platy and 1 dwarf gourami started going very thin and flicking against all the ornaments - I posted a thread on the emergency board and the symptoms were thought to be velvet.

when I went to my lfs for the recommended treatment, I took 1 of the platys that had died the nite before he had a large ulcer on 1 side and looked very thin as if shrivelled (especially his tail). I explained the deaths had all been male.

the man took the fish away looked at it with another worker and said he believed it to be fish tb he said I could not keep any more live bearers for 4mths and there was nothing I could do for the rest if they survive they survive he said.

I wasnt happy at his disregard of the fish i'd already purchased just because they were stock to him they are part ov our family!!

luckily I have had no more deaths my water stats have remained healthy throughout the deaths and now- however I am just worried that should I introduce any other fish into the aquarium the same might happen to them if left untreated.

Am I understocked now - is this dangerous to my tank? what should I restock with and when would be safe to introduce any new fish --- I really wanted a pleco for my community tank queen arabesque but dont want to purchase her if i inviting her into a death trap

Thank you if you could help - i've lost faith with my lfs

70ltr rekord
current stock

8 neon tetra
1 balloon mollie
3 platy
1 platy fry 5wks old

 

[Lynda B]

I'm no expert on TB, but, I've recently researched it. I believe that they indicated it was highly contagious and had a high mortality rate. I also believe they said that it may be transferrable to humans, in a small degree. Please do some research, on top of getting opinions here. It is a disease.

I would definitely not even consider getting fish until you have all the information you need to move forward safely. I'm sorry for your losses.

I'm sure someone will pop in who has some experience with this.

 

[evilchild]

that's bit of a shame, i see you got a hard choice to make. if i was you i would leave it just for a little while and keep an eye on your other fish, if your fish are still doing ok in a few weeks may start to put new fish in slowly. a water change might help? thats what i think any way, i could be wrong? hope you get it sorted

just read the other reply didn't relise it was that bad. sorry

 

[SouthernCross]

I'm very interested in any replies you get to this (especially in relation to it's contagiousness) - Over the last two months I've had two female platies die (one month apart) of what I now suspect to be TB - got super skinny, bent spines, flicking, refusal to eat, etc. I had thought perhaps internal parasites but treatment had no affect.

Did they tell you it only affects livebearers then? I also have cories, gouramis and tetras in my tank, and so far they seem unaffected, but I'm still worried they might come down with it....I have one male platy I'm keeping close eye on at the moment cos he's starting to hide a bit...

 

[cheeky_chops]

thank you for the replies- Since the lfs man said fish tb I hav been looking at various sites relating to the disease and I was obviously seriously worried if his diagnosis was correct-

on looking at the last fish to die all symptons point to fish tb however the 3 previous fish to die did not hav and lesions / white grow appearing before death. they seemed to flick for few days then on the last day gasp for air at the top and not feed for that day I did also notice a goldish gray covering on the top of one which showed up on symptom signs of velvet.

I would really hope it was the lesser of the 2 evils so that way maybe it could be treated.

I perform weekly 20% cleans with scraper and gravel vac

The remaining platy look healthy with their tails widely displayed(not shrivelled -1st sign in all deaths ive had) and I have only noticed one of them flick but it wasnt constant rubbing and flicking like the others did .

I have not had any deaths for 3wks - am happy to keep my stock as they are just didnt want to be understocked.

thanks again for your comments

 

[Lynda B]

Did they tell you it only affects livebearers then? I also have cories, gouramis and tetras in my tank, and so far they seem unaffected, but I'm still worried they might come down with it....I have one male platy I'm keeping close eye on at the moment cos he's starting to hide a bit...

I did the research when I thought that that was what one of my female bettas had. It ended up she did not, but it does affect fish other than livebearers.

cheeky, did they do some type of postmortem on your fish to come up with the diagnosis?

 

[cheeky_chops]

cheeky, did they do some type of postmortem on your fish to come up with the diagnosis?

No he litrally held the fish up in the plastic bag looked at it for few seconds with his co worker then said fish tb- dont get any more livebears for 4 mths n if the others survive they survive then went and served someone else dont think he'l get salesman of the year

 

[evilchild]

just the sort of thing you want when your worried about your pets?

 

[cheeky_chops]

just the sort of thing you want when your worried about your pets?

mt thoughts exactly - think I will go elsewhere to purchase my media for the tank in future

Im just greatful of this site with people who genuinely want to help the well being of the fish

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Did any of the fish have bent looking spines at all? That is a classic symptom of fish tb, if none of your fish had it then i would suspect something else. The pic below shows an extreme case of fish tb, but it can vary a great deal in what way the spine bends and how much;

http/www.peteducation.com/images/articles/tfh_fish_tb2.jpg


You say the main symptoms were flicking/rubbing against objects and a sunken looking bellly yes? Were there any other symptoms the fish dislayed (no matter how seemingly insignificant), whether behavioral or physical? With just those two symptoms at the moment, i would suspect your fish died of internal parasites or bacteria and an external parasite infection.


Generally speaking, if you suspect a fish has fish tb you should first isolate it from the other fish in another tank. If its fish tb the symptoms will progress and become very obvious, and once you are certain the fish has fish tb you should euthanise it- there is no known effective cure for this disease, and due to the suffering it often causes fish, its best to put them to sleep since there isn't really any cure for the disease and left as it is it will prove fatel. The worst thing to do is let the affected fish die in the main tank with the other fish as this is the most common way it is spread from fish to fish as most fish will scavenge the corpses of other fishes to a certain extent and so this is how it is most commonly passed on.