Bent fish - strange change of shape

[Christina]

Dear all,

I have just noticed that my head-and-tail light tetra (who has always had a very odd shape due to an extremely swollen stomach - someone suggested she is 'egg-bound') has gone into a really weird shape.

I can't see any body parts missing but it looks like they are because the Caudal fin and peduncle is facing downwards instead of horizantally.

Normally I would take the fish straight out of the tank into the hospital one but its got baby platies in at the moment. Aargh!

Does anyone know whether this a disease that could endanger the rest of my aquarium (I put in some melafix just IN CASE it's treatable) or whether it is likely to just affect this fish?

Any help/advice greatly appreciated.

Love Christina.

 

[Menagerie]

The disease that ends up with bent spines is fishTB. However, that usually comes with wasting. The fish is very fat? Can you post a pic?

 

[TankGirl]

Depending on what other fish you have in your main tank, the baby platies might do just fine there, and then you could move momma out. I agree it sounds like TB, and maybe she is egg-bound as well, but the bent spine is not a good sign at all and she will need quarrantine. You could run an air stone in a bucket with a submersible heater, in a pinch, changing water manually every day.

 

[Christina]

The picture is awful, but its the black disfigured blob.

I'm really upset cos I have no idea what to do. I don't have the facilities to put the tank in a quarentine of its own, and can't move the baby's into the tank as they will get eaten by the catfish and the loach (which takes about 10 minutes so i just can't let that happen).

I really don't want my other fish to get infected though. I don't see where an infection would have come from as I haven't got any new fish in ages. It has always been very bloated though.

 

[Menagerie]

This fish may have been ill for a long time and now it is rapidly going downhill.

 

[Christina]

Yes, but other than just upsetting me about it, no one actually has any advice I can follow since I don't have the equipment to set up another tank.

So i'm not any closer on what to do.

 

[Christina]

Is the curving of the spine in my fish resemblent of those with fish TB? (The picture came out much better than i thought)!

Also, is it possible that the fish has had it for a year, as it has been this bloated for ages?

If the fish takes a long time to die and the disease is only contagious if fish eat the dead fish (as someone said in the post on TB below/above), the only solution i can think of is to leave it for a couple of weeks (till the babies are big enough to go into the big tank) and then quarentine it. But any better suggestions much appreciated!

 

[BrianNY]

Unfortunately Christina, even with us trying to provide the best possible environment, fish get sick and die. I've had this exact same thing happen with black neons and rasboras. There is no effective cure. Probably the best thing you could do is euthanise that fish.

 

[Menagerie]

Probably the best thing you could do is euthanise that fish.

This is what is most recommended.

Also, is it possible that the fish has had it for a year, as it has been this bloated for ages?

Anything is possible. What is the fish's quality of life? Does it eat well? Do the other fish pick on it?

 

[Sonia]

If the fish takes a long time to die and the disease is only contagious if fish eat the dead fish

I've read that once the symptoms of TB are apparent, the fish can die very suddenly, so if you decide to keep it alive, maybe you should keep a close eye on it and make sure you take it out right away if it dies....

 

[Christina]

The fish eats very well and picks on the smaller fish of its breed. It catches the catfish pellets on their way to the bottom and spends the next hour gradually eating it.

I live away from home during the week at university so can't keep a close eye on it; I'm having to trust my parents with that responsibility instead.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

The other possibility could be there was insufficient oxygen for it to grow at one time (overcrowding).

When they say "Fish will grow to the tank" they are not being that truthful, fish will grow. if there isn't enough oxygen to support the fishes then thier skeleton will grow, while thier bodies don't, (I kept reading about this with plecos) what happens is they become disfigured, (bent, all kinds of wierdness) Sadly, there is no fix for that either, how big and old is the fish.

If this is the only fish, and you say it's been like that the entire time you've had it, (it just got worse) then it could have happened at any time..

to me it doesn't look so much like a disease rather then a genetic problem.. (definately no wasting there)

 

[Christina]

Too late unfortunately.

I have followed the advice of the people on here and killed it.

 

[Christina]

Thanks everyone for your help.

Luckily my Dad did it for me so I didn't have to!

 

[Menagerie]

Since we couldn't identify the exact cause, you did the right thing. (I have my husband take care of very ill fish too )