Killi with reported broken back?

[tabbycat0282]

Killi: broken back?

Golden male killi, had for about a year. In a Hex 5 gallon (setup from Walmart) with a recently added rubber nosed pleco (1.5"), long tank buddy with a pink danio, lots of cork-screw snails, and a few fake plants. I do not know the water quality yet. The fish is actually at a friends house....the friend is wondering what is up with the fish.

The fish was healthy until a day ago. Now he is twisted and barely alive. The fish reportedly has a kink in his back. I am a , but couldn't find any info about this particular symptom. Please respond with what could have caused this. This fish by the way has been the most aggressive (only had 3 killis so far...including this sick fish) killi I have ever known.

Thanks

 

[Zagz]

Aside from the back being twisted, does he breathe rapidly, have any white spots? It may be an injury or it may be a disease. Does he have any marks as if he were attacked at all? There are some diseases that cause curved or bent spines, such as TB. Not a likely disease but you could google it and see if the fish has similar looks.

 

[tabbycat0282]

The fish is breathing rapidly and does not seem to have any wounds. Just the over night bent spine and labored breathing. Thank you for responding, but last I heard of the fish he wasn't doing good at all and his owner was going to handle the situation. I sent him information on how to handle it with this forum's euthanasia guide. The sudden change in health was the most shocking aspect of the fish being sick.

 

[Fierro Nights]

i googled some things for you, im really sorry to hear about your fish, its worring me as i write this to think this could happen to my fish.

i write this giving credit to another author named wilder in another forum. if the fish seems to be in pain, i would recommend to honorably put the fish out of its missory. and invest in a UV sterilizer for your tank to prevent future incidents.

list of tb symtoms there,.
Being thin.
Bent spines.
Sores on the body.
Bloating.
Red red underneath the body is septicemia.
Get you a good link to tb.
<a href="http://www.torrens.org.uk/NatHist/Aqua/disease/tb.html" target="_blank">http://www.torrens.org.uk/NatHist/Aqua/disease/tb.html</a>
Symtoms of tb.
Symptoms can include:

Loss of appetite
Progressive thinness
Sluggish movement
Folded fins
Eye protrusion
Dark coloration and granular appearance of the cornea (this is the first sign in Angelfish).
Skeletal deformity
Hanging at the surface
Skin defects, including blood spots and open wounds that may ulcerate
Black spots, or overall dark coloration (in Cichlids particularly).
Fin rot, characterised by the outer rays falling out.
Scales loosening and falling out
General swelling and scale protrusion (as in Dropsy)

 

[tabbycat0282]

Thank you for your concern. I sent the list of symptoms to my boyfriend to decide if they describe the condition of the fish. I want to know what was going on with the killi so that we can do what we can to keep the danio and pleco from getting sick. My boyfriend mentioned getting another killi, but I will do my best to get him to hold off so that we can see if the others come down with the same problem.

 

[Fierro Nights]

i did some more reading, it could be a bacterial infection, or parasites.
it could also be a birth defect, in which the fish should not be allowed to breed, if the fish was not looking like this before then its not a defect.

a link to pictures and diagnoses are here

Google Image Result for http://thegab.org/Articles/images/DiagnosisBentSpineBirthdefect.jpg

if you do put the fish out of its missory, i would recommend putting on some
surgical gloves dissecting the fish far away from the tank using materials that will never come in contact w/ the tank, use a microscope or magnifying glass to examine the tissue for tell tell signs, such as small holes, mushy flesh on a freshly dead fish could be a sign of parasites due to meat being eaten. Caution, if it is parasitic, you may find a very long but skinny worm coming out of the body, if so then quickly place the body along w/ the parasite in non diluted bleach, wash your hands, any tools you used, and all dishes or surfaces you used with bleach to kill any eggs to prevent the spread of the parasite to other fish or to your own body.

 

[tabbycat0282]

I wish the tank was in my apartment and not 1.5 hours away. I would take care of this issue just as you described....but it is in the hands of my boyfriend. I hope that whatever the problem was/is that it is easily handled. I do not expect the tank owner to be very diligent in treating the tank. I will keep you posted on the status of the fish.