# Lymphocytosis Contagious? Please help with a tough decision



## SldgXXDz (Jan 20, 2014)

I have a Blue Royal Spotted Trout (Barillius Bakeri) who is in a 10g hospital tank with an 30g aqua clear filter and air stone. I've been treating him for a large tumor like growth that was filled with fluid and popped when he jumped out of the main tank during a water change. The fluid in the growth was a bloody/ puss like liquid- which in a panic of him flipping around on the floor I immediately put him back in my main tank (fluid exposed to main tank). Prior to that, his growth looked like a large pink pimple where his pectoral fin met his body. He has had it for approximately 1 month.

After the growth had burst I noticed the beginnings of a similar cauliflower like growth starting where his dorsal fin meets his body, and he now has another pink pimple type growth in his other pectoral fin, so they are spreading for a total of 3 large growths. He appears to also have 2 areas of raised scales, where I am suspecting another growth may show up? His has also started to get worse when I moved him into the hospital tank.

I've treated him with one full course of Triple Sulfa that had no effect, in fact his growths got bigger, and he is now on day 3 of a Kanaplex & Nitrofurazone combo in his hospital tank. The hospital tank is cycling so he has been exposed to elevated ammonia levels (.25-1) although I am treating with Prime every 48hrs and do a 25% water change every other day so that should detoxify the effect of elevated ammonia levels and should not be adversely affecting him (he has been in the hospital tank for 6 days). At first I thought this might be TB, but his energy levels are high as ever and appetite is good, so I am wondering if it might be Lymphocytosis and getting worse due to being exposed to elevated ammonia levels and antibiotics in the I cycled hospital tank.

My dilemma is that on Friday Jan 31st I have a 2 week vacation planned out of the country. I have someone coming over to feed my main tank (73g community tank)- but I can't leave my afflicted fish in the hospital tank as the water needs to be regularly changed to keep the parameters good as the tank is far from cycled. Leaving him in the uncycled tank for 17 days is certainly leaving him to his death.

Given that he lived for over a month in the community tank with these growths, (meaning if contagious the other fish have already been exposed) and that he will have completed full treatments of Triple Sulfa, Kanaplex, and Nitrofurozone, do you think it would be ok to put him back in the community tank while I am gone on vacation where he will be in a stable Eco-system?

I feel really in a bind here and don't know what to do. Euthanasia doesn't feel like an option because other than these growths he is swimming energetically, acting and eating normally, and if if it Lymphocytosis my understanding is that it will run it's course. 

Please help- I'm facing a tough decision here with my upcoming vacation and can use any help I can get.

Thanks~!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## SldgXXDz (Jan 20, 2014)

*Is this Lymphocyctosis and is it contagious? Please help*

































I have a Blue Royal Spotted Trout (Barillius Bakeri) who is in a 10g hospital tank with an 30g aqua clear filter and air stone. I've been treating him for a large tumor like growth that was filled with fluid and popped when he jumped out of the main tank during a water change. The fluid in the growth was a bloody/ puss like liquid- which in a panic of him flipping around on the floor I immediately put him back in my main tank (fluid exposed to main tank). Prior to that, his growth looked like a large pink pimple where his pectoral fin met his body. He has had it for approximately 1 month.

After the growth had burst I noticed the beginnings of a similar cauliflower like growth starting where his dorsal fin meets his body, and he now has another pink pimple type growth in his other pectoral fin, so they are spreading for a total of 3 large growths. He appears to also have 2 areas of raised scales, where I am suspecting another growth may show up? His has also started to get worse when I moved him into the hospital tank.

I've treated him with one full course of Triple Sulfa that had no effect, in fact his growths got bigger, and he is now on day 3 of a Kanaplex & Nitrofurazone combo in his hospital tank. The hospital tank is cycling so he has been exposed to elevated ammonia levels (.25-1) although I am treating with Prime every 48hrs and do a 25% water change every other day so that should detoxify the effect of elevated ammonia levels and should not be adversely affecting him (he has been in the hospital tank for 6 days). At first I thought this might be TB, but his energy levels are high as ever and appetite is good, so I am wondering if it might be Lymphocytosis and getting worse due to being exposed to elevated ammonia levels and antibiotics in the I cycled hospital tank.

My dilemma is that on Friday Jan 31st I have a 2 week vacation planned out of the country. I have someone coming over to feed my main tank (73g community tank)- but I can't leave my afflicted fish in the hospital tank as the water needs to be regularly changed to keep the parameters good as the tank is far from cycled. Leaving him in the uncycled tank for 17 days is certainly leaving him to his death.

Given that he lived for over a month in the community tank with these growths, (meaning if contagious the other fish have already been exposed) and that he will have completed full treatments of Triple Sulfa, Kanaplex, and Nitrofurozone, do you think it would be ok to put him back in the community tank while I am gone on vacation where he will be in a stable Eco-system?

I feel really in a bind here and don't know what to do. Euthanasia doesn't feel like an option because other than these growths he is swimming energetically, acting and eating normally, and if if it Lymphocytosis my understanding is that it will run it's course. 

Please help- I'm facing a tough decision here with my upcoming vacation and can use any help I can get.

Thanks~!
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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

Antibiotics don't do anything for a viral infection. The only thing you can do is provide a low stress environment and hope for the best. I think the reason it has gotten worse is because the fish is in a high stress environment. Yes, lympho is contagious - keeping the fish in a low stress environment is key to keeping the break outs in check. Too, another precaution you can take is to remove any fish that sustain any injuries and reintroduce them once healed.

It's imperative to have a cycled quarantine/hospital tank. If you have a cycled main tank then all you have to do is add some media from that filter to the QT filter, and PRESTO! Cycled tank.


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## SldgXXDz (Jan 20, 2014)

Does this look like a viral infection to you? I'm only deducing the possibility of Lymphocytosis based on the lack of response to the antibiotics and ant-fungal, but I am not sure. I did use the bio-media (Matrix) from my main tank, but the sponge is new. I'm guessing the large quantity of anit-biotics has likely harmed the established bio-media, and I have recently started adding Seachem Stability to help it along. 

You're right about the stress - I took the fish last Monday to a vet who works with fish (the one that recommended the Kanamaycin) and during the exam (despite my warnings that he was a jumper) he jumped out of the cooler and onto the vet floor, and that was incredibly stressful. 

Any thoughts on what to do about my upcoming vacation? Thanks for your help~


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

Lympho is a viral infection, and it looks like lympho to me. What did the vet have to say?

I've been in a similar situation and decided it best to euthanize the fish before I left. However, lympho is different in that the fish will most likely still be alive when you return.


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## SldgXXDz (Jan 20, 2014)

Thanks for your perspective. The vet thought it was bacterial upon first glance, but didn't take a sample to biopsy as the fish was too jumpy and he thought it was just stress him further. He recommended the anti-biotics (Kanamycin and Triple Sulfa) but based on the lack of response from both, I'm thinking it is viral as well.

I'm not sure I can bring myself to euthanize, especially if he has a chance of survival. My main thought / question is the decision of whether or not to put him back in the main tank, where I'm sure he will do fine, but I wonder about the risk to my other fish. Although being that he was already in that tank with the illness, I'm wondering if it doesn't matter because they have already been exposed?


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

If it's lympho then the fish will live fine, so long as the growths don't inhibit functions or secondary infections don't set in. So, you could add the fish back to the main tank I think. Te other fish have been exposed, but that doesn't mean that they've been infected. The risk of communicability increases dramatically if the other fish have open wounds.


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## SldgXXDz (Jan 20, 2014)

Just an update. This fish was eventually biopsied and it was Myco-bacterium Marinum (fish tuberculosis). He had to be euthanized.


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## Romad (Jun 28, 2009)

Ugh! Sorry to hear  Are the other fish still OK?


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## SldgXXDz (Jan 20, 2014)

The other fish seem to be doing well so far. I took the ill fish to an aquatic veterinary center at UC Davis where they specialize in ornamental fish (where they biopsied the lesions and confirmed the diagnosis). She said that Mycobacterium Marinum (fish TB) is much more common that many aquarium keepers realize, and that many have it in their tank without knowing, as when fish show symptoms the symptoms often resemble other illnesses and get mistaken for those. 

She also said there is no need to euthanize the tank (as I had read online). She said to think of fish TB in a similar way to HIV & AIDS, many fish may carry the bacteria in incubation for year or their lifetime without showing symptoms, and only if the immune system is weak. Also is is not a guarantee that other fish get it once they've been exposed it, it would have depended on if there was an open wound in others at the time, and the strength of their immune system. Since I was doing such frequent water changes when the ill fish was in the tank, that helped dilute the illness. 

One recommendation she gave was that over time I change my substrate and slowly change out my filter media, as those are other places where this very resilient bacteria can live without a host. So I've changed out the substrate so far, and am slowly working on the filter media piece. Everything I used to work with the ill fish has been thrown away or scrubbed with bleach. So keeping my fingers crossed, but my main focus now is to keep everyone healthy and have pristine water conditions. 

Overall, while it was very sad to have to euthanize, it was a great learning experience for me.


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