Fish TB

[zenkatydid]

I lost a honey blue-eye about a week ago. The only symptoms were hanging close to the surface like he wasn't getting enough oxygen, and a slight pine-coning of the scales (if you looked carefully). He wasn't bloated, didn't gain or lose weight, and the symptoms lasted about 3 days before he passed. Just before he did, I noticed a small red spot on his side, almost like a scale was missing. I treated the tank with some Broad Spectrum just before he passed.

I lost a second blue-eye a few days ago. This one was also slightly pine-coned and was swimming urgently for the surface all the time, but couldn't seem to make it there. He actually looked like his spine was slightly bent near the tail and he was having trouble swimming.

Combining all these symptoms - I think I may have fish TB. No other fish in the tank are showing any symptoms, but as I understand it, TB can be present in a fish with no symptoms as long as it's healthy and stress free.

What do you think about my diagnosis? Could it be something else? The medication (which is antifungal and antiparasitic) seemed to make no difference. I am eager for it to not be TB.

And second - if this is the case, how do I effectively quarantine the tank so my other tanks don't get it too? (ie. a whole nother set of nets/siphons, or just wash between use, or let dry out between use...?) If the tank goes for a ceratin amount of time with no fish exhibiting symptoms, can I assume the TB has passed, or is this a permanent fixture? What else can I do??

 

[Devilishturtles]

Sounds like dropsy to me, and not TB, which is good. Dropsy also isn't contagious most of the time and can be caused from either a internal bacterial or fungal infection. If you see it happening again, I would try treating with an anti-fungal. I've tried Jungle's Fungus Clear Tablets (they are like $3 at walmart) and they have worked amazingly well!

For QT'ing the nets, I'd let them dry out for a few days.

Good luck.

 

[zenkatydid]

There was no swelling - I thought dropsy was a swollen belly? Also, the second one developed a bent spine before he died... Don't get me wrong, I would love for it to be dropsy, but I'm not so sure.

 

[Devilishturtles]

You mentioned pine coning of the scales, which is a tell tale sign of dropsy. I am just thinking it's dropsy (bent spine is rare, but isn't always indicative of TB either, as far as I know) and not TB since TB is rather rare itself. Then again, dropsy really only occurs from an internal infection, which TB is....so I guess it's possible, but it could be a whole other slew of things too.

In my opinion, it wouldn't hurt to try the fungus clear IF you see anything else in any other fish.

Sorry it's not really different than anything I said in my first post, but I guess it's so hard to really tell without actually microspcopically looking at your fish, you know? IF you still have the fish and were up for it, you can do a necropsy. If the inside of the fish is black in any areas, it was TB.

Hope this helps, and hope nothing comes back!

 

[zenkatydid]

Yeah, I've already treated the tank with antifungal and antiparasite twice. We'll see if I get any more cases, I guess! Thanks.