Sick fish I saw at the store today

[Kyanite14]

Poor little guy looks like one of mine, I’d say it’s a bacterial infection of some sort, what do y’all think? I told the store, they’ll usually shut down and treat sick tanks.

 

[Sgooosh]

yeah it looks to be bacterial, salt would be a safe option for those livebearers

 

[JuiceBox52]

It looks bacterial you are correct

 

[DoubleDutch]

Looks more like a tumour to me

 

[GaryE]

A classic fish tuberculosis lesion. Remember what that looks like and never go near a tank where you see it!

The infected fish build a cyst around the incurable, untreatable bacteria (it survives bleach!). When the cyst breaks, that's what you see. The water is now full of millions of bacteria, and all the fish are doomed in a small tank. It doesn't always kill quickly, but kill it will.

 

[Kyanite14]

Uh… should I call the store about that? Most of the employees are young teens.

 

[GaryE]

Been there. Done that. They generally ignore you. Most stores remove fish with sores, and sell the rest.

I've seen it enough that I'm confident that's it - it is a disease of cheap fish (mainly) from crowded farms. TB spreads in it its fish version as it does with humans, through crowding and poverty conditions. I assume every farmed fish I buy has a chronic, controlled case, and will have a shorter life.

It's hard to diagnose, and takes a lab. I caught it from a fish, and had a fun 6 month antibiotic run to clear plaques on my arm. It made me very aware. I have had people become very angry at me when I've suggested it as a possibility, as it is bad for business. I'm on a rant, I know. But in conversation with a fish store manager about the disease in his tanks, he said the specific farm he'd gotten his stock from was rotten with tb, and he wouldn't order from them again. But he would lose thousands if he dealt with it, and his advice to the clerks was to remove the dead and and shut up, with a few other words added. Many fish store people are taught it is so rare it doesn't matter. Or even that it doesn't exist. I just walk away now.