Is wasting disease always TB?

[RightTurnClyde]

I've lost a couple fish recently to some kind of wasting disease. The symptoms are emaciation, a sunken belly, and a spine deformity that results in a hunchback. So... Is this Fish TB? Or is it possible for some other parasite or bacteria to cause these symptoms? Currently treating with API General Cure.

29 Gallon
AC 50 filter with sponge prefilter
5 Zebra Danios
9 Cardinal Tetras
Amm: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: < 10
PH: 7.8
Temp: 82-83 to help with parasite treatment.

 

[anteatergoanna]

I don't know anything about it, Google is a fountain of knowledge, try that.

 

[Matt68005]

Crap, ive had the same problem with some of my wild guppies, i hope it isn't because i have beheaded some of them with a knife and got blood on my hands and never thought about it, and i pick my nose, i hope i cant get TB from a fish..........now im worried. I thought it was worms or some kind of parasite. Crap!

 

[Coryluv]

A couple of years ago I had a fish with a curved spine so I researched this a lot. The symptoms you note MAY be Fisk TB, but may not be. People can get fish TB. From what I've read it is usually through a wound on the hands or arms.

There are many articles and pictures on the web. Here is a rather scholarly article:

Fish TB (Mycobacterium marinum) FAQ , by Dr. Adrian Lawler

What is very important is that if you think you have symptoms, go to a doctor and tell them your concern. One problem is that unless you tell the doctor, this is probably not first on their list of possibilities.

 

[RightTurnClyde]

From what I've read, it's fairly rare in both fish and humans. It sounds like the symptoms in humans is usually a bad skin infection. It's doesn't give you true Tuberculosis. I think what I have in my tank is actually Velvet that I thought was Ich. Apparently Velvet can cause weight loss and sudden death as well.

 

[anteatergoanna]

That Fish TB link was interesting. What are you treating your fish with?

 

[Coryluv]

I'm not. That was a while ago in a tank I lost to divorce. After a lot of research, I determined that fish was healthy and just had a slightly curved spine. I called her Curvy and loved her all the more for her deformity.

 

[Matt68005]

Yeah from what ive seen, Fish TB should have a red open wound, never had that on a fish before, i think mine just have worms and a few bent spines from the guy before me inbreeding.

 

[mattcham]

I've had fish that looked exactly like fish TB but I cured it. Here is her story.

I bought a super pregnant molly from local fish store. She looked like she would give birth at any second. All her tank mates in store were thin and looked malnourished.

When I brought the fish home she gave birth the next day but ate all her fry except for 4 that escaped her appetite. The mom was super thin after delivery. She was hunched and could not swim very well for a week, looked like classic fish TB. Then one day I found her glued to my AquaClear filter intake strainer and her tail was rotted almost down to the meat. I assumed she was dead but when I retrieved her body she was still alive. I put her in a 3 gallon bucket with just an airstone and seachem paraguard for the tailrot. She miraculously survived day after day. At first she did not eat but after 2 days started eating a little. She regained normal appetite but never gained normal weight despite eventually eating endless waves of bloodworms. I treated her with prazipro and metronidazole flakes on top of the seachem paraguard. After 4 weeks since starting prazi she is fat as a pig, swimming normally and her tail is fully regrown except for the lyre tips of her lyretail.

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[Delapool]

Was that treating with all 3 meds at once? Just curious.

 

[mattcham]

Yes but the metronidazole was in food form only. Hikari PraziPro and Seachem Paraguard simultaneously in tank water. I used a 10 gallon quarantine tank for the triple treatment. I still don't know what organism I was treating. It is possible that the fish would have recovered on its own and that there was never any parasite.

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[mattcham]

By the way, the metronidazole fish flakes from kensfish.com come in a gigantic bag that will probably last me 20 years even with my 13 aquariums totaling 555 gallons. I don't know why the smallest bag comes in a size that is fit for a salmon fish farm.

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