I need to do some reading up on fish TB! Would it become obvious during a four week quarantine if a fish has TB? Should I quarantine for longer than that do you think? Just for fish in general, not just labyrinth fish
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Problems?
- Thread starter FishGuest5123
- Start date
Fish can carry TB for months and even years before they show any symptoms. And they usually die within 24 hours of showing the symptoms.
The only way to prevent it from spreading is to put all new fish in their own tanks and keep them there permanently.
There is no point quarantining fish for more than 4 weeks because most treatable diseases appear within days or a week or two of you getting them.
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The following link has info on FIsh TB. It's at the bottom of the web page.
rainbowfish.angfaqld.org.au
On page 514 of the rainbowfish e-book there is information on Fish TB. You have to download the book and view it on a PDF viewer. The e-book is 194MB but is free to download.
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My write up of Fish TB.
Fish can be infected with TB for months or even years before they show any signs. The most common symptoms include: the fish swelling up overnight, breathes heavily (usually at the surface or near a filter outlet), stops eating, does a stringy white poop, dies within 24 hours of showing these symptoms.
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Fish Mycobacteria (TB) is a very slow growing bacteria. Most common bacteria can double every few hours. Mycobacteria takes days or weeks to double.
In cold water, TB grows slower and goldfish can carry the bacteria for years before it affects them. In warm water, the bacteria grows quicker, but it's still a slow growing disease.
If fish are big, it takes longer for the bacteria to build up in numbers and kill the fish. A small fish has smaller organs and less bacteria are needed to damage it.
The bacteria kill the fish by destroying internal organs and causing organ failure. Basically a fish becomes infected by eating TB contaminated food or ingesting the bacteria with contaminated water. The bacteria settle into an organ somewhere in the fish's body and start growing. They grow slowly and build up over time. Eventually the bacteria damage the organ they are growing in and the fish swells up and dies.
--------------------
You can't treat fish TB because Mycobacterium cells are covered in a waxy coating, which prevents chemicals harming the bacterium and also protects it from the elements. The bacterium can remain dormant in shady areas or mud for many years. A fish health scientist I contacted about this in 2006, told me he found live but dormant fish TB in a dry river bed down south. The river had not had any water for 7 years, yet they still found live bacteria there. Hot and dry conditions kill the bacteria quicker. It dies in a couple of seconds at 60 degrees Celcius.
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People can catch fish TB, however people with a healthy immune system are less likely to develop a fish TB infection. People catch fish TB when open wounds in their skin are infected with TB contaminated water. If you wash your hands and arms with warm soapy water after working in a tank, you are less likely to contract the disease. If you have cuts, scratches, sores or any open wounds on your skin, avoid getting fish tank water on them. Wear a pr of rubber gloves or just stay out of the tank until the wounds have healed.
People with a weakened immune system (heart disease, lung problems, diabetes, cancer, HIV, old people, babies, etc), are more likely to develop localised TB infections.
If you develop any sores on your hands or arms that don't heal up normally or quickly (within 2 weeks), see your doctor and inform them that you keep aquarium fish. The doctor will probably try to put you on anti-biotics, however this is not a good idea. Ask the doctor to take a swab of the sore and send it off for testing to see what is growing in the wound. The lab should culture the swab and test various treatments on it to find out which medication will work best. The results will be sent to the doctor, along with a list of medications that treat the disease. The doctor will then find a medication that is safe and suitable for you.
Do not take anti-biotics for a small sore that hasn't healed until it has been swabbed and identified in a lab. Then take the anti-biotic that works best on that specific bacteria.
People have gone to the doctor with small sores and been put on anti-biotics before a swab was taken. The anti-biotics don't work and the bacterium simply becomes resistant to that sort of anti-biotic. Because the anti-biotics don't work, the doctor prescribes another type of anti-biotic and this continues for months with no improvement. Eventually the doctor will take a swab and send it off for culture, but that can be 6 months later and by then you have big sores on your skin that are gross and can potentially contaminate other people with open wounds.
So just make sure you tell the doctor you keep fish and want any sores swabbed and sent off for culturing before you take anti-biotics.
Before you go to the doctors, or while you're waiting for the results, you can try using raw honey. You wash the wound with warm soapy water, dry it with a tissue, then rub raw honey into the wound. Put a bandage over the wound to stop the honey going everywhere. Remove the bandage and wash the wound and re-apply honey 2 times a day. Raw honey has chemicals in it that kill viruses, fungus, and bacteria and might help with fish TB. You normally see results after 3-4 days of applying honey and you continue using it until the wounds have healed over.
The only way to prevent it from spreading is to put all new fish in their own tanks and keep them there permanently.
There is no point quarantining fish for more than 4 weeks because most treatable diseases appear within days or a week or two of you getting them.
--------------------
The following link has info on FIsh TB. It's at the bottom of the web page.
Rainbowfish Book
A website dedicated to Rainbowfishes of Australia and New Guinea
--------------------
My write up of Fish TB.
Fish can be infected with TB for months or even years before they show any signs. The most common symptoms include: the fish swelling up overnight, breathes heavily (usually at the surface or near a filter outlet), stops eating, does a stringy white poop, dies within 24 hours of showing these symptoms.
--------------------
Fish Mycobacteria (TB) is a very slow growing bacteria. Most common bacteria can double every few hours. Mycobacteria takes days or weeks to double.
In cold water, TB grows slower and goldfish can carry the bacteria for years before it affects them. In warm water, the bacteria grows quicker, but it's still a slow growing disease.
If fish are big, it takes longer for the bacteria to build up in numbers and kill the fish. A small fish has smaller organs and less bacteria are needed to damage it.
The bacteria kill the fish by destroying internal organs and causing organ failure. Basically a fish becomes infected by eating TB contaminated food or ingesting the bacteria with contaminated water. The bacteria settle into an organ somewhere in the fish's body and start growing. They grow slowly and build up over time. Eventually the bacteria damage the organ they are growing in and the fish swells up and dies.
--------------------
You can't treat fish TB because Mycobacterium cells are covered in a waxy coating, which prevents chemicals harming the bacterium and also protects it from the elements. The bacterium can remain dormant in shady areas or mud for many years. A fish health scientist I contacted about this in 2006, told me he found live but dormant fish TB in a dry river bed down south. The river had not had any water for 7 years, yet they still found live bacteria there. Hot and dry conditions kill the bacteria quicker. It dies in a couple of seconds at 60 degrees Celcius.
--------------------
People can catch fish TB, however people with a healthy immune system are less likely to develop a fish TB infection. People catch fish TB when open wounds in their skin are infected with TB contaminated water. If you wash your hands and arms with warm soapy water after working in a tank, you are less likely to contract the disease. If you have cuts, scratches, sores or any open wounds on your skin, avoid getting fish tank water on them. Wear a pr of rubber gloves or just stay out of the tank until the wounds have healed.
People with a weakened immune system (heart disease, lung problems, diabetes, cancer, HIV, old people, babies, etc), are more likely to develop localised TB infections.
If you develop any sores on your hands or arms that don't heal up normally or quickly (within 2 weeks), see your doctor and inform them that you keep aquarium fish. The doctor will probably try to put you on anti-biotics, however this is not a good idea. Ask the doctor to take a swab of the sore and send it off for testing to see what is growing in the wound. The lab should culture the swab and test various treatments on it to find out which medication will work best. The results will be sent to the doctor, along with a list of medications that treat the disease. The doctor will then find a medication that is safe and suitable for you.
Do not take anti-biotics for a small sore that hasn't healed until it has been swabbed and identified in a lab. Then take the anti-biotic that works best on that specific bacteria.
People have gone to the doctor with small sores and been put on anti-biotics before a swab was taken. The anti-biotics don't work and the bacterium simply becomes resistant to that sort of anti-biotic. Because the anti-biotics don't work, the doctor prescribes another type of anti-biotic and this continues for months with no improvement. Eventually the doctor will take a swab and send it off for culture, but that can be 6 months later and by then you have big sores on your skin that are gross and can potentially contaminate other people with open wounds.
So just make sure you tell the doctor you keep fish and want any sores swabbed and sent off for culturing before you take anti-biotics.
Before you go to the doctors, or while you're waiting for the results, you can try using raw honey. You wash the wound with warm soapy water, dry it with a tissue, then rub raw honey into the wound. Put a bandage over the wound to stop the honey going everywhere. Remove the bandage and wash the wound and re-apply honey 2 times a day. Raw honey has chemicals in it that kill viruses, fungus, and bacteria and might help with fish TB. You normally see results after 3-4 days of applying honey and you continue using it until the wounds have healed over.
coriesinhawaii
Fish Crazy
Also worth noting that the Iridovirus can lay dormant for months before causing illness so typical quarantine measures aren’t always sufficient to identify it. I had one for 3 or 4 months before it developed the large ulcer that is characteristic of the virus.
coriesinhawaii
Fish Crazy
I do love gouramis though. Some of them have quite developed personalities like bettas often do. I’m hoping that the Iridovirus stops being such a problem in the future. Another caution: my gourami would pick on my cories sometimes but not sure that would be a problem in a 55 gallon tank.
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