Help with a diagnosis please

[niawomad]

Hi, I have a gold barb that is struggling at the moment. It seems to be breathing heavy and swimming somewhat slowly around the tank and it's body looks slightly bent. it has been like this for around 5-7 days I would say. It also has a white string hanging from it. Around 6 weeks ago one of the other gold barbs in the tank died from what looked like dropsy but this one isn't the same. I have 5 gold barbs, 6 rummynose tetras and a pleco in a 180L tank. The water parameters are all at 0, I cleaned it yesterday and is usually done once every 7-10 days. There are no issues with any of the other fish. I have tried melafix and aquarium salt but there doesn't seem to be much improvement and I'm not really sure what the issue is, I've seen multiple potential issues using google so thought it would be better to ask on here. Any help with opinions and possible solutions would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Andy Sager]

Towards the bottom of this post of mine : https://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f17/diseases-382018.html is one of the best diagnosing flow charts in PDF form. Please follow the link to the charts ( within the book) for the best diagnosis.

 

[niawomad]

I have just seen that, and am going through it, appreciate the response. I will report back with findings and further questions if I have any. Thanks

 

[niawomad]

I had posted some images but they aren't showing for whatever reason.

Looking through those charts, I think the likeliest issue unfortunately is tuberculosis.

 

[Andy Sager]

I had posted some images but they aren't showing for whatever reason.

Looking through those charts, I think the likeliest issue unfortunately is tuberculosis.

Sadly, there are some fish coming from farms that do have TB. It's not easily curable and usually, the cost of treating the fish is much more than the cost of replacing the fish. TB is contagious when the fish dies and the other fish in the tank attempt to eat it so if the fish is still alive, it's best for the rest of the tank to euthanize the suffering fish to reduce the chances of the other fish catching it. You should also be aware that fish TB is transferrable to humans so you want to be wearing gloves when handling the fish or anything you use to collect the fish. Make sure you sterilize the things you use in harvesting and/ or euthanizing the fish with bleach before removing your gloves.

 

[niawomad]

I was reading about the best way to do it and have euthanized it with freezing water. I just used a small container, net and gloves that I will just throw out. Thanks for your help.

 

[Andy Sager]

I was reading about the best way to do it and have euthanized it with freezing water. I just used a small container, net and gloves that I will just throw out. Thanks for your help.

Glad to help. Sorry for the outcome.
Just so you know, that PDF is downloadable so I strongly suggest you keep it on your computer or phone and study the different diseases so that should another one of your fish show a sign of something "abnormal", you can diagnose it immediately. Many bad diseases are very curable if caught early. The problem is that by the time the fish show major signs, it's already too late. So noticing things like rapid breathing or stringy poo or sudden hiding can be an early sign of something very treatable. Sometimes it's just your water and not a disease. The possibilities are numerous so the diagnosing charts narrow the possibilities to probabilities.

 

[niawomad]

Ye, I did download it appreciate the link for it, thanks.