Bent backs

MorganEA

MorganEA

Member
I received an assortment of platies, guppies, and tetras a couple weeks ago. Two of the platies were very sick looking and they started developing a bent spine, I quickly quarantined them but they didn't last long. Ever since then one by one the other platies and guppies have developed bent spines and have died. Several of the tetras have died as well but they didn't have bent backs. My water has been perfect so I'm not sure what's going on. I only have 2 guppies and a few tetras left and they don't look like they will last long. I googled bent spines and came back with fish TB, now I'm totally freaked out and I hope that it is something else.

Edit:
Fish are in a brand new tank that was cycled using the fishless method and the water parameters are normal. there is brand new gravel, a brand new filter, brand new logs that I boiled for hours, and brand new plants that were dipped in a bleach solution and then rinsed really well. The only fish in that tank are the ones that were given to me. I have been checking the water weekly and have boosted the temp and added some salt to try and help things.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
Ugh, I always associated this with muti generational inbreeding. Don't know much about TB though am sure someone else will jump in with more knowledge on diseases.
 
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cichlid-gal

New Member
Here is one article on Fish Tuberculosis...yes, very scary. Part of the scary comes from the fact that you can be exposed to this disease also.

None of the articles I read discuss how long it takes for this disease to affect healthy fish. Assuming your fish were healthy when the newcomers came in and assuming the newcomers were diseased it sounds like the disease has traveled pretty fast through the tank. And from your descriptions ...water parameters good but the bent spine developing and the picture above with the bent spine and "wasted" appearance...it points to something serious going on. Possibly you can find someone who could "autopsy" or culture one of your fish to assist you with diagnosis of this as it is serious.

Anyway...given all of that...I would be very cautious when doing anything in the tank. I would break it down, throw away everything in it that is disposable and can not be bleached thoroughly. Err on the side of safety with this situation.

Sorry for your loses... :(

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/disease/tbc.php
 
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cichlid-gal

New Member
oh...and I just thought of one other thing you need to be cognizant of...if you have shared any equipment across tanks...i.e. used a net in this tank then another tank while it was still wet. Some pathogens (and really many fish ones) travel via "wet". It is important when managing multiple tanks to make sure you have "separate" nets and siphons for all your tanks. Nothing wet should ever cross over from tank to tank unless it has been disinfected. Just one more precaution.

Quarantining incoming new fish will also help alleviate entire tank loss when something like this happens. I know I have been lax on occasion in quarantining but situations like your above truly are the reason we should all do it. I would rather lose a few "new" fish than my whole tank of established fish.

Hang in there Morgan.
 
MorganEA

MorganEA

Member
What about the fish that are not showing symptoms? Also what do I do with the live plants? Is there any way to disinfect them?
 
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cichlid-gal

New Member
I'm sorry I think I misunderstood your situation.  From your original post I was thinking that the entire tank was infected already ... both old and new fish.  So is it only the new fish that are affected right now?

Well...one option, if you have other fish in that tank, would be to treat the entire tank like a quarantine tank, pulling fish as they sicken and die and treating the remaining fish with whatever treatment you think might help.  I would be very careful to label EVERYTHING that is used in that tank and to make sure it doesn't come in contact with your other tanks, keeping it (like the nets, siphons, etc) exclusive to that tank.

The only other option I see than the above is to treat the entire tank as a loss even though you have some fish that are not showing symptoms as it is possible that if just the newcomers sickened and died so far that they have now infected your other fish and it is only a matter of time before your other fish sicken also.  How much time it would take is the question.  When would you feel comfortable that those fish are not sick and will not pass on some issue to other fish?  Personally I would have a hard time making those decisions and would probably destroy all stock for fear of passing along something very serious to other fish and or keepers if I shared fish unless I could get some type of biopsy that would tell me exactly what the problem is.

Neither option is a great one...sorry.  Maybe others have some others ideas.

As for the plants...that is your call.  I have no experience with fish TB but I would think that plants would have to be destroyed but that is just my guess.  Readings indicate that it is a very hard disease to eradicate and that everything must be sterilized if you intend to reuse it but given the fact you are trying to salvage some fish that exist in the tank your process may be different.  Something you need to give a lot of thought to.
 
MorganEA

MorganEA

Member
This sucks.. Do you think a bleach dip would disinfect the plants? I don't really want to loose my last bit of Limnophila. I sounds like the safest course is to euthanize the remaining fish and bleach the heck out of the tank. Ugh..
 
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Anonymous

Guest
Look guys. Those fish came out of my tanks fat and healthy.  If my tanks had TB all fishes will be dead by now. I crosscontaminent by putting current plants and current fishes in different tanks (aquascape different tanks all the time). None are dead. Denizaari's african cichlids would be dead. How about check your parameters by the masters kit. Those strip test kits are inaccurate. Btw I've cut my hands (new homemade glass top did that) and my hands in the water. No TB bacteria present. Looking at my tanks no sickness or bent backs. How about you Denizaari, your Africans have sickness? Its been couple months right?
 
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Denizaari

New Member
I have had Wes's old stock for about 2-3 months now and all my fish are doing well. I've introduced new fish into them over that period of time and so far no issues. My water parameters are within acceptable range (I wish I could raise my pH higher) and all the fish are eating with the exception of the females that are holding.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
MissGrumpyGills are your fishes showing any symptoms or none at all?
 
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poffman

New Member
This happened to my big group of glofish after I had them for several months, none of the other fish in my tank were affected..
 
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Missgrumpygills

New Member
The black skirts are doing good, but the whitish platy did not look healthy when we got her and she died. We did acclimate them properly and our water is good. Im really sorry if it feels like we are blaming you, but we just cannot think of anything else. Adding these fish was the only thing that changed, so idk  :scratch:
 
MorganEA

MorganEA

Member
SiRWesDragon said:
Look guys. Those fish came out of my tanks fat and healthy.  If my tanks had TB all fishes will be dead by now. I crosscontaminent by putting current plants and current fishes in different tanks (aquascape different tanks all the time). None are dead. Denizaari's african cichlids would be dead. How about check your parameters by the masters kit. Those strip test kits are inaccurate. Btw I've cut my hands (new homemade glass top did that) and my hands in the water. No TB bacteria present. Looking at my tanks no sickness or bent backs. How about you Denizaari, your Africans have sickness? Its been couple months right?
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Seriously You didn't have to say anything I purposely didn't say your name for this reason, Im just trying to figure out what to do. The tank was brand new only your fish were in there so it didn't come from me. I test my water with a master kit why would you think I was using the strips? and the fish you gave me were not fat and happy the platies had sunken bellies and the guppies had torn tails. Back off I'm just trying to get some advice.
 
PokeSephiroth

PokeSephiroth

Member
Before this escalates into something more, I'm going to step in and say that this topic is starting to get a little out of hand. Let's keep side comments to a minimum, and/or resolve any issues at hand via PM. Thank you :)

Do it. Or else, I will Derp all over this place! :p
-Deputy Derp
 
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Missgrumpygills

New Member
fishyladdy said:
Guys this is dropsy not bent spines
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There is no "scaling" affect, so I don't think so. No swelling, The fish's stomach is actually sunken. No popeye. Just a grossly bent spine and tattered fins.
 
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