Tried to get an answer before… no answer… too late now… put this one down

Magnum Man

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This fish is a yellow rainbow, severely deformed… still swims eats and acts as normal as it can… may have been contagious, as I’ve recently lost 2 reds… I put this one down tonight… the rest of the fish look normal… my 4 Madagascar’s look awesome… do I need to kill everyone, and start over???
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How long was it deformed like that?
It could be a genetic defect.

If more become bent, take them to a fish vet and get them necropsied (animal autopsy) and see if they have Fish TB.

In my experience, rainbowfish don't get a bent spine like that from TB. They keep their normal body shape and bloat up overnight, stop eating, do a stringy white poop, and die within 24 hours of showing these symptoms.
 
He was completely normal a couple of months ago, and his form changed over the course of a few weeks… as twisted as he became, I expected he would die, but he continued to compete for food, even though when not chasing food, he just kinda sat there wiggling… unfortunately that one won’t be going for an autopsy… I have no contacts in that field, and wouldn’t even know where to take it…
 
That to me is classic tb. If the Myco is encysted along the spine, the twisting comes. Inbreeding gives you a fish that looks like that from the get go.

Plus it's a rainbow, and myco is the curse of bows.

It's all around and some fish are more open to it than others. Euthanizing was wise, and it spreads faster with death in the tank. But it's watch and see. Once it's there, it's there.

Rigid qt/net/exchange protocols should be in place for your food fish project. Keep it out of there.
 
there is no cross over of equipment between the outside Tilapia & the "regular aquariums"... I'll have to be diligent with the breeding tanks inside though
 
I don't fully understand fish TB ( or any TB, actually ) is... is it a bacteria, that is incurable??? should I be looking at killing all the fish, & a total sanitize on the tank & equipment???
 
I don't fully understand fish TB ( or any TB, actually ) is... is it a bacteria, that is incurable??? should I be looking at killing all the fish, & a total sanitize on the tank & equipment???

I'm sorry that this is happening to you and your fish. And that you didn't get an answer before... sadly that depends on who is online and when, and whether they know enough to help and see your post at the time. This kind of thing is beyond many of us, while people like Colin, GaryE and Byron are much more experienced and educated on it.

But where I can help is to suggest that you don't immediately jump to the worst case scenario and take drastic actions before you know more about the disease. Be vigilant about your QT protocols and maintaining your own safety - since it can transfer to humans, so proper handwashing before and after touching that tank.

This article has a lot of info about it. although I can't vouch for it's accuracy in everything. Just one potential source of info and an overview. There are people who have chosen to attempt to manage it, and personally, I'd want to learn more before euthanising more and stripping down the tank. This disease is apparently very common in rainbows, so I'll be following closely too since I'm getting into these species too.

He was completely normal a couple of months ago, and his form changed over the course of a few weeks… as twisted as he became, I expected he would die, but he continued to compete for food, even though when not chasing food, he just kinda sat there wiggling… unfortunately that one won’t be going for an autopsy… I have no contacts in that field, and wouldn’t even know where to take it…

Worth doing a google search for vets that specialise in fish in your area, and making a call to get an idea of prices for an histology exam, then considering whether it's possible and worth it to you to have an exam done if you lose another fish. I have an Amazon parrot as a pet, have for more than 20 years, and not many vets have specialised knowledge in Avian health and diseases, but I've made sure no matter where I've lived that I have the details for two avian vets as close to me as possible, just in case. I had to use them once when our other parrot fell ill. A general vet wouldn't likely have had the knowledge to know what was going on and treat it, but the avian vets we used were more specialised in exotics. There will be vets out there with a specialisation in fish, it's just a case of finding out if there are any near you.
 
I don't think it's Fish TB due to the speed and amount of curvature of the spine. Mycobacteria are very slow growing and take months or even years to get big enough to cause that amount of deformity, not 2 or 3 weeks.

A cyst or fast growing tumour might be more likely due to the speed of the bent body.

I don't fully understand fish TB ( or any TB, actually ) is... is it a bacteria, that is incurable??? should I be looking at killing all the fish, & a total sanitize on the tank & equipment???
It's a bacteria that can't be treated in fish. However, it won't be a problem to you unless you have it in your tanks and ponds and get contaminated water on open wounds.

From your aquaculture standpoint, as long as you cook the fish, the cooking process will kill any bacteria on or in the fish. The bacteria normally resides in the internal organs or on the gills of the fish and looks like a round bumpy growth. The flesh of the fish is normally unaffected by the bacteria.

My dog used to catch rainbowfish out of buckets (before I caught her doing it) and she ate a bunch of them. She never developed Fish TB. Wild birds and animals eat infected fish and don't get it either.

The following link has some info on it and if you have more questions about it, then ask.

Any vet can do a fish necropsy but fish vets are better at it. If you have a Department of Agriculture nearby, they sometimes have a fish vet that will do fish necropsies (sometimes for free if it's your home aquarium and not a business).
 
as I'm reading about this right now... it would seem that a canister filter with UV wouldn't be a bad thing to rotate around to "polish" the water on my various aquariums ( or is rotating something like that around to different tanks not a good idea??? )... I know the Tilapia supplier recommends them when raising them for food... I didn't add one to my initial set up this year, but a large UV canister filter might find it's way into the Aquaponic set up next summer...

so, does fish TB normally effect growth rate??? ( that would be very noticeable on the Tilapia, with the accelerated growth )... which goes back, to maybe Tilapia runts??? but if it slows the maturity of fish??? I've noticed the yellow rainbows never really colored up like they are supposed to be... actually all seem slow to mature & color up, except the Madagascar's... BTW... this is the tank that has my barbless Cory's in it... wondering if that could be related???

may pick up a normal tank sized UV filter, for the breeding aquariums??? thoughts...
 
Fish TB has no effect on growth rates.

Most rainbowfish don't show full colouration until they are at least 12 months old and don't reach full height until 2 years old.

The fish in the picture could be female and they don't grow as big or get as colourful.

Madagascan rainbows grow faster and die sooner than Melanotaenias that can live for 10 years.
 
Myco is incurable. It survives bleach. If a human, like the one writing here, catches it from a fish, it takes an antibiotic cocktail for close to six months to kill it off. It is one tough pathogen.

And so, when it breaks loose, you are scr^^^ed. I assume that every farmed fish I buy has it. In most cases, it is a slow thing that shortens the lifespans of fish and never gets virulent. It becomes a chronic killer.

It can break out and kill very quickly, if fish are run down, old or sick. It isn't always slow.

It is also a taboo subject. On other forums, people posted photos of fish with the rectangular oozing lesions that the disease sometimes produces (having caught it, I learned about it). If anyone dared say fish tb, or Myco, they could lose their heads. There is an aggressive urge to deny this disease in pet stores and in the industry. In discussion with Asian fish farmers (Asia only matters here for climate, and because it's the biggest source of farmed fish), some have said a very high percentage of the fish tested were carrying it - well more than half. But it's chronic so it isn't their worry, except when outbreaks wipe out a pond.

Transfer to humans is rare - very rare (lucky me) - but it scares people. Cats are way more dangerous to us than fish (cook them well, werewolves), when it comes to diseases. In the pre-antibiotic era, human tb killed millions, and those two letters (tb) frighten people.
 
Transfer to humans is rare - very rare (lucky me) - but it scares people. Cats are way more dangerous to us than fish (cook them well, werewolves), when it comes to diseases. In the pre-antibiotic era, human tb killed millions, and those two letters (tb) frighten people.
what, what, what.
cook the werewolves well :werewolf:
 

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