Curved spine - what is this?

yippee

I have a soft spot for the fish that normally wont be purchased. I had been batting around the ideas of getting rainbowfish. I was browsing through petsmart and found a rainbowfish that had a deformed spine and decided i would take the plunge and get into rainbows. I bought it and brought it home. while i was floating the bag in the water i decided to research the spine deal online. I saw a lot of stuff about fish tuberculosis and how it was highly transmitable and everything. It freaked me out that the fish may have that. I decided it was in my best interest to return the fish and keep from possibly introducing it to my tank. Now, in the past i had always heard it was just a birth defect and it would not alter the fish's life. I was scared and returned it anyways. Is there any way to know what it is or differenciate between teh two?

Thansk

Twistersmom

I think the only way to know for sure would be to have the fish examined under a microscope.
There has been a few times, I would have paid to have a fish examined if I had known of a good "fish doctor."
Thats the scay thing about trying to diagnose fish, so many diseases with the same symptoms.
I think you made a good choice to return the fish.

yippee

Diagnosing fish can be a pain. I just thought someone might have some info on here. I still believe taking the fish back was in my best interest, If it was something transmittable i kept all of my fish from getting it.

Bottomfeeder

i dont think fish will show a curved spine until after the TB goes away. in other words its a sign of past tb

yippee

Hm. thats interesting. From what i read online it was supposed to be a sign of them having it and supposed to be highly transmittable. But we all know you can't always trust what you read online. If you don't mind me asking where did you get that information? And do you have any more info on the subject?

Twistersmom

I can say that I had a few fish die from TB. ( I am pretty sure it was TB )
My pike showed signs of curved backs along with ulcers. They did die regardless of my efforts to save them.

Bottomfeeder

from the book 'Tropical Fish: A Complete Pet Owner's Manual'