TB in guppies?

[guinea]

I think my guppy has TB. He is in a 10 gallon another fancy guppy and a mystery snail. It is an established tank (had it for over a year) with 0 ammonia and nitrites. My past guppies have only lasted a few months, some of them had curved spines at the end, but I always thought their deaths were stress-related.

Here are the symptoms of my current ill guppy:
-fin rot
-darkened eyes
-dulled color
-slightly curved spine
-staying at top of tank (not gulping air, just swimming in one spot)

He is still eating and actively chasing food. I've had him in the tank for several months. My other guppy has only been in the tank for 6 weeks and is fine.

So if its TB, how do I get rid of the TB bacteria from my tank? And is there any way to save my sick guppy and prevent my other guppy from getting it?

Thanks!

 

[Berylla]

I think my guppy has TB. He is in a 10 gallon another fancy guppy and a mystery snail. It is an established tank (had it for over a year) with 0 ammonia and nitrites. My past guppies have only lasted a few months, some of them had curved spines at the end, but I always thought their deaths were stress-related.

Here are the symptoms of my current ill guppy:
-fin rot
-darkened eyes
-dulled color
-slightly curved spine
-staying at top of tank (not gulping air, just swimming in one spot)

He is still eating and actively chasing food. I've had him in the tank for several months. My other guppy has only been in the tank for 6 weeks and is fine.

So if its TB, how do I get rid of the TB bacteria from my tank? And is there any way to save my sick guppy and prevent my other guppy from getting it?

Thanks!

If it is TB, you don't get ride of it. It's very difficult to erradicate and poses a health danger to you.

Start again: euthanize the fish, bleach out your tank, throw out all media and subtrate, bleach out filters, start a new cycle.

 

[guinea]

Are you sure bleach can kill the TB bacteria? I read in another forum it can't and you have to get rid of the whole tank.

 

[Berylla]

Are you sure bleach can kill the TB bacteria? I read in another forum it can't and you have to get rid of the whole tank.

Bleach will kill TB bacteria. It kills everything. Mix 1 part to 5 parts water. Using a spray bottle, spray your tank well and let it soak for 10 minutes. Then rinse well and let dry. Spray the inside of your filter the same way making sure you get into all the intakes. You will need to physically rub down the insides of the intake tubes. I use a chopstick and a piece of flexible plastic with a small piece of paper towel on the end.

I use a pump attached to vinyl tubing to drain my tanks while I'm rinsing. It's so much easier that way.

Rinse filter well and let dry.

You will need to also soak your python hoses, nets, and other fish gear in bleach too, rinse and dry.

 

[guinea]

Does fish TB affect mystery snails as well? Or if I transferred the snail to another tank, would it infect that tank?

 

[Berylla]

Does fish TB affect mystery snails as well? Or if I transferred the snail to another tank, would it infect that tank?

To be on the safe side, I would euthanize. Its too risky to introduce them into your tank again, unless you decide to keep them in their own tank.

 

[guinea]

An odd thing has happened. My sick guppy is now acting fine. I think maybe he was acting weird because I had a big temperature fluctuation. My heater died overnight and it dropped from 78 to 70, then I got a new one the next day and it went back up to 78. But my other guppy was unaffected by this, so maybe I'm wrong.

 

[cfosgate]

TB in an aquarium is very, very rare. I too have had guppies develop curved spines and live for a few months but the spine curvatures were due to the stress of holding fry too long (in the middle of a move and fish were not happy.) If you really think it's TB best thing to do is clean and start from scratch. If you're unsure then maybe hang on a little longer.

 

[cfosgate]

An odd thing has happened. My sick guppy is now acting fine. I think maybe he was acting weird because I had a big temperature fluctuation. My heater died overnight and it dropped from 78 to 70, then I got a new one the next day and it went back up to 78. But my other guppy was unaffected by this, so maybe I'm wrong.

Big temp swings like that will cause stress in any fish as will large ph swings.