Fish disease

I've got a mixed tank with Neons and Pristella tetras.

One of the pristellas has developed a curved spine and swims
vertically.

I've heard that Neon Tetra Disease can be a bit like this. Does that
sound like the right diagnosis?

If so, presumably I should euthanise the fish?

Travis

Travis wrote:
I've got a mixed tank with Neons and Pristella tetras.

One of the pristellas has developed a curved spine and swims
vertically.

I've heard that Neon Tetra Disease can be a bit like this. Does that
sound like the right diagnosis?

If so, presumably I should euthanise the fish?

Travis

I can't find out on a search whether Pristellas are susceptible to neon
disease. There are other sporozoans that can encyst in muscles
producing similar symptoms, though. The other disease that comes to
mind that can curve the spine is fish TB, which is dangerous to you and
difficult to cure. I agree that euthanising is a good course of action
in this case. Do you know about using clove oil to anesthetize the fish
to death?

--
__ Elaine T __
__' http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

On 3 Apr 2005 03:51:00 -0700, "Travis" wrote:

I've got a mixed tank with Neons and Pristella tetras.

One of the pristellas has developed a curved spine and swims
vertically.

I've heard that Neon Tetra Disease can be a bit like this. Does that
sound like the right diagnosis?

If so, presumably I should euthanise the fish?

Travis

I have or have had 3 or 4 fish, platies and swordtails that have had
curved spines. I have a large female swordtail in my quarantine tank.
She is partially blind. I feel sorry for her, but she is quite
aggressive about getting her share of the food. I know she can't swim
directly for the flakes, but has worked out a random search that
works. I cheer everytime she gets a flake in her mouth.

Would I put her down? No, I respect her efforts to survive.

As to diagnosis, I don't have one, but the condition is not lethal if
your fish is the same as mine. I have a young Platy in a community
tank that was born with the twisted spine or developed it early on,
whereas the swordtail was about 2 years in my tank before developing
her problems.

dick

Dick wrote:

As to diagnosis, I don't have one, but the condition is not lethal if
your fish is the same as mine. I have a young Platy in a community
tank that was born with the twisted spine or developed it early on,
whereas the swordtail was about 2 years in my tank before developing
her problems.

Well, the thing is that this curved spine thing may be contagious.

When I got the pristellas I bought a whole heap of them at a cheap
price. The fish shop was clearing them out because for some reason
they had masses of them and they weren't selling.

One of the pristellas they gave me (I bought 10) had a badly curved
spine and I returned it and swapped it. The remainder of my fish
appeared to be ok. This was over a year ago.

However over the last twelve months two more have developed twisted
spines and an upright swimming posture. They don't merely swim
vertically, they actually seem to be really struggling to stay afloat.

The two new twisted spine fish appeared one after the other, the first
a few months after I got the fish and the other not too long ago. The
first new twisted spine fish died a while ago and I suspect the second
is going to go as well some time soon.

So I do suspect it is some sort of disease or parasite. Its mildly
contageous, though not instantly fatal to the whole tank.

(NB: Most of my neons died about 6 months ago, all pretty much
overnight. I don't know if this was linked or whether there may have
been something wrong with the water. None of the pristellas died back
then and the neons which survived are doing well today.)

Travis

Travis wrote:
Dick wrote:


As to diagnosis, I don't have one, but the condition is not lethal if
your fish is the same as mine. I have a young Platy in a community
tank that was born with the twisted spine or developed it early on,
whereas the swordtail was about 2 years in my tank before developing
her problems.


Well, the thing is that this curved spine thing may be contagious.

When I got the pristellas I bought a whole heap of them at a cheap
price. The fish shop was clearing them out because for some reason
they had masses of them and they weren't selling.

One of the pristellas they gave me (I bought 10) had a badly curved
spine and I returned it and swapped it. The remainder of my fish
appeared to be ok. This was over a year ago.

However over the last twelve months two more have developed twisted
spines and an upright swimming posture. They don't merely swim
vertically, they actually seem to be really struggling to stay afloat.

The two new twisted spine fish appeared one after the other, the first
a few months after I got the fish and the other not too long ago. The
first new twisted spine fish died a while ago and I suspect the second
is going to go as well some time soon.

So I do suspect it is some sort of disease or parasite. Its mildly
contageous, though not instantly fatal to the whole tank.

(NB: Most of my neons died about 6 months ago, all pretty much
overnight. I don't know if this was linked or whether there may have
been something wrong with the water. None of the pristellas died back
then and the neons which survived are doing well today.)

Travis

When I wrote the last post, I went through the charts in Untergasser's
book to figure out what could cause a non-developmental curvature of the
spine. Of course, exact diagnosis is impossible without a muscle biopsy
and microscope. Untergasser also says that sporozoans like neon disease
spread when one fish dies and others pick at the carcass. That would
explain the rather slow spread and lack of contagion to all the fish in
the tank. Only those that happened to nibble at an infected corpse got
the disease.

Another option besides euthanizing is to separate all of the fish with
twisted spines, any showing abnormally light color, and any showing
abnormal swimming patterns into quarantine. That way your other fish
won't nibble at them if they die while you're not watching the tank.

--
__ Elaine T __
__' http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

Thusly Elaine T Spake Unto All:


Another option besides euthanizing is to separate all of the fish with
twisted spines, any showing abnormally light color, and any showing
abnormal swimming patterns into quarantine. That way your other fish
won't nibble at them if they die while you're not watching the tank.

Good advice. However, if it's fish tuberculosis or sporozoans, it's
probably best to destroy any fish you suspect to be infected on sight,
as those diseases are effectively untreatable, plus we're talking
cheap fish.