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Fosh TB?? Or what? (videos of fish behaviors, please help me figure it out..)

2K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  k19smith 
#1 ·
My fish have slowly been getting hunched up, as seen in the first video. Or they have been swimming rather "snake-like" in that their body slivers like a snack kinda. It shakes around a lot when they swim. And some even seem to get white on them like they are rotting while they are alive... A day or two after these symptoms they usually disappear... depending which symptoms. Some don't always get the hunched body. (Male guppy and balloon molly didn't, but maybe it's harder to tell...)

So I'm REALLY not sure what to do! Please help, anyone who has any idea. If it's fish TB, I don't want to buy more fish... but if I keep the water clean and such, will it go away if no fish catches it? OR will it wait to outbreak again? I'll test parameters tomorrow I suppose to see what's up. But I've changed the water so much lately...





As you can see, some are healthy, some are not! Please! I need input!
 
#2 ·
There is one thing you can do if you can you can cut one of your dead fish open if its tb it will have white spots on the kidneys and the kidneys will be swollen. Wear Gloves though I dont think you can get it unless you have cuts on your hands.Thats about all i could find the only other thing you could do is take a fish to the vets or a lab. I will look some more for you though.
 
#4 · (Edited)
First thing I might do is see that ammonia and nitrites are zero daily.
I might reduce feedings to once a day or every other day with fresh flake foods that contained spirulina and or algae for the guppies,platy's, mollies.If food is old,,I would throw it out.
Would lay off of any meaty foods for a while and maybe stick with veggie flakes and occasinal once a week frozen spirulina brine shrimp.
Would wonder what hardness of water is, if ph is less than 7.5, and hardness less than 12 DGH, then perhaps the water does not suit their longterm health for they need rather hard alkaline water.
Might also consider that fancy guppies are not all that hearty in best of condition's .
They are bred more for finnage,and coloration, than for improving, or stenghtening the strain.
Is wise to quarantine, and then introduce new males or females every so often to prevent inbreeding and weaker genetics from same. (new blood ).
If I was unsuccessful with above, coupled with every week, once a week water change, and disease persisted,,,spread,,,then I might consider removing all fishes (euthanize),and let the tank run without fishes for a month. Perhaps adding a pinch of fish food every other day to keep biological filter ticking.
Many parasites and or pathogens (not all) that affect the health of fishes cannot survive long without host fish or fishes to infect.
This does not alway's work but I would try this before tearing down the 50 gal tank ?
 
#5 ·
Thanks everyone. I am not sure how I'd do cutting open my fish... :S But maybe I will. I almost never catch them right when they die. When i get to them they are usually rotting already.

I've had this same problem like 2 times before, each time it's gone away for a while and come back. I always bite my fingers and have had no symptoms of fish TB, even though I've had my hands in the fish tank alll the time.

It's hard to imagine that there could be much ammonia or nitrate in my aquarium since there's only about 12 fish now in my 50g tank! I have been feeding them more though, because along with the 12ish fish, there's maybe 7-10 baby platies swimming around.

Would TB affect the babies first?
 
#6 ·
Would TB affect the babies first?
probably, if only because being smaller they would have less of a chance of fighting off the disease.

my understanding is that TB is a virus, which is much harder to get rid of than bacteria. most viruses can survive outside of a host as long as they stay wet but die if they dry out (not all, and i don't know about this one specifically). your best bet, if you rule that it is in fact TB, might be to take everything down, dry it out, wash it thoroughly, and start again. i know that drying also kills the bacteria needed in a tank, but i don't know what else you could do against the virus.
 
#7 ·
I would not jump to the conclusion that it is TB so far I don't see any major sign it could be TB not that I've ever had it but I have read about it.

How long has the tank been set up? What are your ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate #'s?

Do you have a heater and is your temp staying stable?

When is the last time you added a new fish?

I would cut back on your feeding as that can cause problems. Your fry will find the food. Make sure they get fed but fry don't need much extra.
 
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