Dropsy?

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Any advice? I'm about to transfer the quarantined danio back in to the main tank....

From the research I did on dropsy you would definitely notice. He could have just been a little constipated or maybe it was just the angle you were looking at him. As long as he is swimming out in the open and doesn't seem slow or listless and is eating I wouldn't worry too much. I know how we fish-keepers can be a bit obsessive sometimes lol
 
Hah yeah i know!! :) so I was originally planning on putting the danio in the bucket into the main tank last night. I got him into a ziplock bag and started acclimating him and noticed that he had a CROOKED SPINE!!! I researched it a little and realized that it was a sign of dropsy. He is doing fine behaviorally, but i did a 100% water change on the Bucket and put him back in there. What should I do????????? Here are some pictures:


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If you click on them the pictures show up. They are showing a weird symbol on my phone.....
 
His scales aren't protruding. The only symptom is his bent spine. He has been eating fine, swimming fine, and is showing normal behavior. Fish TB would make sense except he isn't showing any of the normal symptoms (loss of appetite, wasting), but I also read that only some or no symptoms develop at times. This whole plague started when I added my two honey gouramis in December and I also read that gouramis are every likely to carry it, but they are only fish that seem fine. Any information or advice about how to treat fish tb would be great....
 
IME fish with TB don't always loose their appetites. The sad thing is u can't fix TB. I will eventually kill your fish. I would feed it antiobotic flakes as they seem to have some effect. Also make sure you ate using gloves. TB can be spread to humans in the form on hand lesions
 
IME fish with TB don't always loose their appetites. The sad thing is u can't fix TB. I will eventually kill your fish. I would feed it antiobotic flakes as they seem to have some effect. Also make sure you ate using gloves. TB can be spread to humans in the form on hand lesions

Wow Wiggles! Thank you for sharing that info because I had no clue!
 
I have been wearing gloves anyway just to be safe and thank god I did! So will it affect other fish in the main tank? I read that you have to strip down the tank and restock it if you have fish tb...... Is this true?
 
Is angelsplus a reliable place to buy them from? I've bought a sponge filter from them, but idk about meds......
 
Yes, they are. They are also the only company I know of besides goldfish speciality places that sell medicated foods. If your buying flakes for dropsied fish, go with the metronizadole medicated flakes. The kanamycin flakes treat specifically gram negative disease issues while the tetracycline is a bit more broad spectrum. For a dropsied fish, kanamycin is not a good choice because it can be hard on the kidneys (which are already not working correctly) though its an excellent choice for something such as septicemia.
 
In regards to your other questions, honestly many fish have tb but will never show symptoms it takes stress, illness, water conditions, etc for symptoms to develop. Yes, every fish in that tank Has now been exposed, will it effect all? Probably not. I would definetly treat all the fish with the antibiotic flakes for the recommended time and see if any other fish start looking strange and make sure you keep the water very clean
 
OK thanks i will, definitely order those flakes! I have been trying to find out if fish tb is a positive or negative gram bacteria to see what type of flake to get..... If any of you know what it is I would love to know! Also, i've been doing a little research myself on fish tb and have found out that bleach doesn't kill the bacteria. Also, that the surviving fish are carriers of the disease and need to be treated with kanamyacin. I also read that you need to treat remaining fish in a wquatentiune tank while you wash everything down with calcium hypochlroite then let it cycle and then out your reaming fish back in the tank!!!!!! Is any of this true or is there an easier way???
 
Myco is neither gram positive nor gram negative- it has characteristics of both. It's generally accepted that it is not treatable and highly infectious to other fish. There are some suggestions that kanamycin used long term (30+ days) may help.

Hypochlorite is bleach. The only difference between sodium hypochlorite and calcium hypochlorite is the form. Sodium hypo is liquid bleach while calcium hypo is granular and more typically used for treating pools because it has greater stability. Chlorine bleach will kill M. tuberculous in concentrations greater than 1000ppms- a standard bleach dilution (1:10) is over 5000ppms. If you need more information on disinfection, please check out the CDC's website. They have very specific protocols and information for disinfection in clinical and hospital settings that are held to a much higher standard than our tanks. There are other options than bleach but cost-wise, bleach is the least expensive.

Only a vet could verify if you are in fact dealing with tb or another bacterial disease issue. Before blindly throwing meds at your fish, it may be worth considering seeking further advice from an aquatic vet.
 
I don't really have the resources for an aquatic vet right now :( I wish I did...... But, everyday it looks more and more like fish tb. I noticed yesterday that the danio in the bucket also has Popeye in both eyes, which as I've read is another symptom of tb. Also, it fits what has been happening to my fish since I added the gouramis, which are of the likely species to carry the disease. I believe that the two gouramis are asymptomatic carriers of it, because they seem to be unaffected by the plague. I ordered kanaplex by seachem last night which has kanamycin in it. I will definitely treat the fish in the bucket, but I don't know what I am going to do with the rest of the fish. I can't decide whether to treat them in my main tank or to treat them in a quarantine tank. I would have to buy one since I don't have one now. Any suggestions?
 
If any of your fish in your main tank are showing symptoms, then I would treat everyone. No sense in setting up another qt because everyone has been exposed.
 
Yep treat the whole tank. They have already been exposed so whomever is going to get it will get it. Antibiotics wont hurt anybody
 
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