GeckoGirl76

Hello,

I have a major question and can't find the answer to it so far. I finally realized I was losing my fish to TB. I had 7 danios in a 20 gall tank, cycled, added fish all was hunkey dorey. Then they started wasting away one by one. I could never really figure out what was causing it since they never had sores or visible worms, I didn't know what to do to treat it.

Now I know the recommended treatment is to just throw everything that touched the sick fish away. My problem is I have 3 living dalmatian mollies. I have a new 20 gallon that I am starting to set up today, but is it safe enough to let them stay in the old tank while the new one cycles? I am doing frequent water changes (once a week, 10%) and making sure the water stays within healthy parameters for pH, ammonia, nitrites, etc.

I am also worried about moving them to a new tank only to have that tank infected too. If they have already been exposed should I just treat the tank and keep my fingers crossed they don't get sick? I'd hate to buy all new stuff only to have to throw that away too.

Any advice is appreciated.

capekate

hi there,
I have also dealt with fish TB in my tank. I thought you may find this link informative. It talks about it in great detail and some treatment options as well.
Best of luck, ~ kate
http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/...er_FishTB.html

here is another good link.
http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/articles...cteriosis.html

GeckoGirl76

Thanks for the advice. I had found the articles too and was planning on picking up the Kanamycin after work today.

Do you think if I medicate it would be the best bet to keep them in the old tank and hopefully kill any TB that might be left and therefore not risk contaminating my second tank?

cerianthus

Before doing anything, do test your water for pH, Ammonia, nitrite. It may not be piscine TB. From my experiences, this is usually related poor water conditions, especially exposing fish to very low pH for prolonged period. Correct the water condition before medication if required. Medication becomes meaningless when water is not at optimal conditions.

As far as Kanamyacyn, Kanacyn by Aquatronics, may not be available anymore. From what i heard, Aquatronics pulled the entire fish med off the retail market. You may be able to obtain thru Vets.
If some LFS/online stores has some left, grab what you can. If Kanacyn is not available, try looking for Spectrogram by Aquatronics.

Good Luck!!

GeckoGirl76

Thanks, I was also planning on getting new tests kits as well today since I am unsure how old my current kit is. I have been testing since the fish first started getting sick and haven't had anything out of the ordinary.

If my pH is currently 7.1, should I add some salt to make it more alkaline as well?

capekate

I hear that the spectrogram is also a good product. Its always hard to say exactly what is wrong with the fish, we are not vets, and do not have the fish with us or really know a lot about the conditions. But I have had to deal with this first hand and when you loose a lot of fish to the wasting and the scoliosis it most of the time is a TB. bacteria. With this said, cases of scoliosis has also been caused by poor nutrition. Not sure if the low PH will cause scoliosis tho, but it will affect the fish if at an extreme to show signs of actual red burn marks. Your PH would have to be below 6.0 for that to happen.
To answer your question, if it were my tank I would treat the fish in the old tank and set up the new tank in the meantime to get it cycled. I left my sick fish in a QT for almost four months before it showed signs of recovering and moving back to the main tank. If its possible for you, I would leave the sick fish in the old tank,and treat it, til you are really sure that it has recovered before putting it in the new tank with new fish.

GeckoGirl76

Ugh, no kanapro or spectrogram at LFS or even Petsmart...might have to order online. I did get new testing and everything is coming out within range. The only thing I am seeing now that I haven't tested before is GH and KH. I knew I had hard water with lots of minerals, but my readings are on the high end of the spectrum. I am guessing this is okay since i haven't had any problems using my tap water (treated for chlorine and chloramines) until my fish got the plague!

Should I worry about lowering the GH and KH? According to the sheet that came in the API kit, I'm 60 PPM GH and 120 ppm KH over what mollies ideal conditions are.