Tb In My Tank.

[WILDER]

Antibiotics are only good on the fish that are not showing the signs.
Once the spine bends that's it, best to destroy the fish.

 

[WILDER]

http/www.aquarticles.com/articles/manage...ank_Safety.html

 

[Gatorbait]

"Fish tuberculosis is not the same as the human disease of the same name."

I was a little freaked out.

Not exactly the same but they are related. It's not something I would be messing with, that's for sure. That's why I suggested using gloves. Long gloves preferably. It can stay in your body for years and you won't know it and you can be infected by it in a weakened state later on.

 

[sic0198]

"Fish tuberculosis is not the same as the human disease of the same name."

I was a little freaked out.

Not exactly the same but they are related. It's not something I would be messing with, that's for sure. That's why I suggested using gloves. Long gloves preferably. It can stay in your body for years and you won't know it and you can be infected by it in a weakened state later on.

This definitly changes the way I look at this hobby. I didn't know I or anyone else could catch any type of TB from my fish. If I had kids I'd be getting rid of my fish. But I don't unfortunately, I'll do some research on this, before I buy another fish I'll be reminded of this.

 

[MJM966]

Are the fish emaciated? If so, I don't think there is any hope for them.

I would most definitely sterilize the tank before adding new fish. Make sure you wear gloves as you are succeptible to it also.

Not one of the other fish is emaciated and they are all eating fine. Does it make any difference which way the spine bends? It may seem like an odd question, but my 3 guppies' tails have gradually bent down wards. I originally put it down to the fact that all 3 had massive tails which gradually bent their spines. Pictures of TB that I've looked at are shot from above and look like an 's' shape. Am I grasping at straws?

 

[LisaLQ]

I read there is no cure for TB, all you can do is euthanise any fish with symptoms. As apparently an estimated 30% of all fish in the trade have fish TB, there's not much more you can do - many fish live for years with no symptoms at all, so even if you cleared out and started again you'd probably still have one or two with it. It's only the weak that are fully affected.

So keep the water clean, keep an eye on your fish and euthanise any with symptoms. Then it's just a case of watch and see how it goes. I wouldn't say there was any point stripping your tank back and starting again, as chances are with those odds, we've all got fish with TB in one of our tanks.

I wish I could find the article with those statistics on it....I'll keep looking....

 

[WILDER]

Not one of the other fish is emaciated and they are all eating fine. Does it make any difference which way the spine bends? It may seem like an odd question, but my 3 guppies' tails have gradually bent down wards. I originally put it down to the fact that all 3 had massive tails which gradually bent their spines. Pictures of TB that I've looked at are shot from above and look like an 's' shape. Am I grasping at straws?

Were not vets, the only thing to do to find out is to take a dead fish to the vet to be sent off for testing.

 

[MJM966]

I read there is no cure for TB, all you can do is euthanise any fish with symptoms. As apparently an estimated 30% of all fish in the trade have fish TB, there's not much more you can do - many fish live for years with no symptoms at all, so even if you cleared out and started again you'd probably still have one or two with it. It's only the weak that are fully affected.

So keep the water clean, keep an eye on your fish and euthanise any with symptoms. Then it's just a case of watch and see how it goes. I wouldn't say there was any point stripping your tank back and starting again, as chances are with those odds, we've all got fish with TB in one of our tanks.

I wish I could find the article with those statistics on it....I'll keep looking....

Thanks for everyones input. Lisa, I read those stats too. I agree. I'm not going to strip down my tank because it may not be TB and if it is I've got fish in there probably carrying the infection anyway as you say. My cleaning routine is good and I'll just see what happens next.

 

[WILDER]

You could always try a bacterial med.
I have had platys with bent tails and it wasnt tb.
What it look like when they go to the toilet.

 

[Gatorbait]

Sometimes a vitamin deficiency will give the same symptoms as tb.

 

[LisaLQ]

When we thought we had fish TB we treated with King British Disease Clear, just to see if it helped - and it did, quite a bit I have no idea whether it actually was fish TB but as it's only colloidal silver, it cant be any harm trying?

Here's one of the links with the statistics:
http/www.4qd.org/Aqua/disease/tb.html

But it's not the same one I read originally.

This was the point I was trying to make:

Fish tuberculosis is not the same as the human disease of the same name. However it is possibly the most common disease amongst aquaria fish. It is a high probability than anyone who has kept a range of tropical fish for any length of time will have experienced it. However - it is also quite unlikely that they will have realised this, for the disease is usually not virulent, is not highly contagious and does not have sudden and drastic effects.

However: in certain cases the disease can occur epidemically and then great losses will occur. But more usually an infected fish may die years after it initially gets infected. Often the fish shows no external symptoms and the death is usually one of those unexplained death that all aquarists have experienced amongst their pets.

Bolded the important bits

 

[Gatorbait]

Nice link, LisaLQ.

 

[shellyboylan]

i had a couple of tetras die a while back of what i think was tb - never officially diagnosed though so can't be sure. one of my other tetras still has the typical chunky s shape body but is otherwise healthy, it's been that way for 6 months or so now and although it's a worry it could infect the others, all the others have been fine so far so i assume as long as the others are healthy to start with and you look after them well, it's not going to effect them. i did also have a guppy die a week or so after giving birth with similar symptoms but she rapidly lost weight paled out and her tail dropped rather than 's' shape. one of her babies has a deformed spine in the tail area but i expect that was when he got sucked into the filter, he's otherwise healthy good luck anyway

 

[MJM966]

You could always try a bacterial med.
I have had platys with bent tails and it wasnt tb.
What it look like when they go to the toilet.

Normal short poo. I feed peas every two or three days.

 

[WILDER]

Thats ruled internal parasties out then which can show some of the same symtoms.