# Mystery disease. Possibly fish TB? Help



## Pete112288 (Mar 1, 2011)

I have a 55 gallon aquarium. I have had it set up for 3 or 4 months now. I have mollies, platys, a few tetras, pleco, and a couple cory cats. 
My fish are slowly one by one wasting away and dieing. 
The only ones that have really been affected that I have noticed are the mollies, platys, and guppies. I did loose several tetras, but I know those were because of ick.
What is happening is a fish will get really thin, no matter how much it eats, itll get a hunched spine, sometimes get a funky look to its side, kind of like the scales look all scuffed up. Then eventually die.
When I googled it the only thing I found that matched the symptoms is fish TB. They said that the only way to for sure get rid of it is to euthinize all the fish and serilize everything with bleach. 
I dont really want to kill off all my fish, thats a good chunk of money.
I have removed every one showing any symptoms the second I notice. I have scrubbed down and cleaned the entire tank, filter, and decor. After I did that it was fine for a couple weeks but lately I noticed another getting the symptoms again. 
My very original fish are all fine, they are staying strong and healthy. The ones that have died are the ones I added a week or so after the first ones.
Is there something else it could be that I am not aware of?
Please any help would be awesome.
Thank ya

1. What is the size of your tank? 55 gallon

2. What are your water parameters? not sure on that, havent had the money for a test kit lately

3. Is your aquarium set up freshwater or brackish water? fresh

4. How long the aquarium has been set up? 3-4 months

5. What fish do you have? How many are in your tank? How big are they? How long have you had them? Mollies, neon tetras, pleco, guppies, cory cats, platys, dinos gourami 3-4 months some mollies, platys, tetras, and a pleco added less then a month ago

6. Were the fish placed under quarantine period (minus the first batch from the point wherein the tank is ready to accommodate the inhabitants)? no, i quarantine the ones showing symptoms though

7. What temperature is the tank water currently? 75

8. Are there live plants in the aquarium? yes

9. What filter are you using? State brand, maintenance routine and power capacity. PETCO 65

10. Any other equipment used (aside from heater and filter which are two very important components of the tank)? 2 air lines bubbling up from under some rocks

11. Does your aquarium receive natural sunlight at any given part of the day? What is your lighting schedule (assuming you do not rely on sunlight for our viewing pleasure)? I turn the light on around 6 or 7 am and off around 7 or 8 pm. no direct sunlight but has a window across the room 

12. When did you perform your last water change and how much water was changed? How often do you change your water? Do you vacuum the substrate? Complete water change a 2 weeks ago. The water slowly drops from evaporation, every 10-15 days when it gets low, I remove another few gallons and add fresh. about 5-6 gallons fresh total

13. What foods do you provide your fish? What is the feeding schedule? I feed once in the morning once in the evening, and drop some algea wafers for the plecos when i turn off the light at night

14. What unusual signs have you observed in your fish? thin fish, hunched spine, ruffed up looking scales

15. Have you treated your fish ahead of diagnosis? If so, what treatments did you use? State your reasons for planning ahead of proper diagnosis. I have not put any treatments in besides when it got ick about a month ago.


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## Beaches (May 28, 2011)

*My answers/questions are in green/bold...* 

[quotePete112288;690943] 
I have a 55 gallon aquarium. I have had it set up for 3 or 4 months now. I have mollies, platys, a few tetras, pleco, and a couple cory cats. 
My fish are slowly one by one wasting away and dieing. 
The only ones that have really been affected that I have noticed are the mollies, platys, and guppies. I did loose several tetras, but I know those were because of ick.
What is happening is a fish will get really thin, no matter how much it eats, itll get a hunched spine, sometimes get a funky look to its side, kind of like the scales look all scuffed up. Then eventually die.
When I googled it the only thing I found that matched the symptoms is fish TB. They said that the only way to for sure get rid of it is to euthinize all the fish and serilize everything with bleach. 
I dont really want to kill off all my fish, thats a good chunk of money.
I have removed every one showing any symptoms the second I notice. I have scrubbed down and cleaned the entire tank, filter, and decor. After I did that it was fine for a couple weeks but lately I noticed another getting the symptoms again. 
My very original fish are all fine, they are staying strong and healthy. The ones that have died are the ones I added a week or so after the first ones.
Is there something else it could be that I am not aware of?
Please any help would be awesome.
Thank ya

*I have never encountered TB, it could be but I honestly think it is pretty rare (just my take on it). A bent spine can be from a number of reasons, I agree TB is one of them, but water quality, overstocking, malnourishment, genetics/deformity can also cause it, another possibility could be internal parasites causing the wasteing away, there is also a "wasteing" disease. I would eliminate those factors first.*

2. What are your water parameters? not sure on that, havent had the money for a test kit lately

*I can understand that, but I would strongly advise investing in the kits....you really need them so you can tell where you are up to in the cycling process/ if your tank has cycled properly, whether your water parameters/PH are fluctuating etc. Until you can get one (they can be cheaper buying them on-line), your LFS should/can test your parameters for free.*

I have scrubbed down and cleaned the entire tank, filter, and decor. After I did that it was fine for a couple weeks but lately I noticed another getting the symptoms again.

*If your tank was cyclied, doing a thorough cleaning could have killed off most or all of the nitrifying bacteria and caused a mini cycle. This is another reason you need the test kits. *

5. What fish do you have? How many are in your tank? How big are they? How long have you had them? Mollies, neon tetras, pleco, guppies, cory cats, platys, dinos gourami 3-4 months some mollies, platys, tetras, and a pleco added less then a month ago

*Could you give the exact number of fish in the tank? It may be overstocked.*

6. Were the fish placed under quarantine period (minus the first batch from the point wherein the tank is ready to accommodate the inhabitants)? no, i quarantine the ones showing symptoms though

*I would recommend quarantining any new fish before introducing them to the main tank. This can avoid spreading any illness/disease to your existing fish as well as protecting the new stock too.*

12. When did you perform your last water change and how much water was changed? How often do you change your water? Do you vacuum the substrate? Complete water change a 2 weeks ago. The water slowly drops from evaporation, every 10-15 days when it gets low, I remove another few gallons and add fresh. about 5-6 gallons fresh total

*Depending on your stocking level, you may need to revise your routine and do weekly partial water changes. Did you syphon the gravel? Doing a complete water change can stress fish (many may disagree perhaps).*

13. What foods do you provide your fish? What is the feeding schedule? I feed once in the morning once in the evening, and drop some algea wafers for the plecos when i turn off the light at night

*How much and what are you feeding? Do you think everyone was getting their share?* 

15. Have you treated your fish ahead of diagnosis? If so, what treatments did you use? State your reasons for planning ahead of proper diagnosis. I have not put any treatments in besides when it got ick about a month ago.

*What did you use to treat the Ich?*

[/quote]

I'm sorry you are loosing so many fish!


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## Pete112288 (Mar 1, 2011)

I used Aquarium Products QuICK Cure. 10 mollies, 2 gourami, 4 platys, 2 swordtail, 2 zebra dinos, 6 neon tetra, 2 small plecos, 3 cory cats, 4 guppies, and a handfull of molly and platy babies that i will be giving away soon. I watch all the fish feed and I see all of them getting thier fair share. I feed Aqueon tropical fish flakes.


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## Beaches (May 28, 2011)

They could be from bad stock when you bought them also! What did their poop look like..was it stringy, white or look normal?

Good that you are quarantining them whem you notice the illness. I wouldn't like to advise any treatments at this stage without knowing the water parameters/water quality, but I would recommend doing the more frequent partial changes and syphon the gravel to start with.

To me, you are overstocked especially since you do not know if the tank is properly cycled or not...PLEASE get the test kits as soon as possible or at least have the LFS test the water for you. Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate can be lethal to fish, some fish can tolerate higher lievels than others, but it still causes stress and bring on health problems. 

I would not add more fish, I am only guessing but it sounds like you added too many fish too soon. I also would not add anymore due to the continual production of fry from the livebearers.

I would feed a much more varied diet to include frozen brine shrimp, shrimp pellets, the occassional frozen blood worms, try and get fish flakes that contain garlic which can help boost their immune system. Possibly an anti-bacterial fish food may help also, if there is a bacterial infection present. Do you have driftwood in the tank for the plecos? 

Your stocking list may pose a problem and I personally wouldn't keep guppies in with swordtails/mollies which both can be aggressive and might harass the guppies. If it is mainly the livebearers that are affected, perhaps the water quality/PH level isn't suited to them. Do the fish have plenty of places to hide?

Good Luck! I'm not sure what else to advise at this stage.


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## bettababy (Oct 12, 2006)

I think Beaches said it pretty well, there isn't much to add. There are a great many illnesses and diseases that livebearers are prone to, and your description of the problem is a bit vague. Can you post any clear photos of the affected fish?

I agree that your stocking level is a bit heavy, especially with livebearers giving birth regularly. The heavier the tank is stocked the more frequently water changes need to be done. Based on your description I would have to guess that your water chemistry is probably all out of whack right now. I can't see how it would be otherwise... fully breaking down the tank is not a good thing, not something I would suggest doing again. Once the fish have all been together and exposed to an illness, changing and cleaning the environment is pointless because most fish illnesses will be transmitted from fish to fish, or will reinfect the new tank water once they are in it. That's a lot of added stress which can not only make the original problem worse and fish less capable of fighting it on their own, but it also can mask the original problem which makes it harder to diagnose and it can bring with it new problems, such as cycling the tank with a full population in place. 

Beaches, thank you for not offering treatment suggestions without knowing water chemistry! That is something often missed and so important. Medications can be toxic if water quality is not optimal, and some meds react differently in the presence of ammonia, nitrite, and/or nitrate, which can cause more harm than good. Also, at this point, as was mentioned... there is no clear diagnosis so no idea what to treat for. Mistreating can be worse than no treatment. 

Knowing your water chemistry is vital to a healthy aquarium. Test kits are a must!


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## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

To be on the safe side, until you have a diagnosis, don't touch the water or decor with your bare hands, and try not to start the siphon for water changes with your mouth.


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