Danio Fish With Bent Spine???

Hi, can someone please tell me why my danio fish has a bent spine that curves slightly? I also notice when looking at him from a birds eye position that he has a kink in his body which I’ve never noticed before??

 

Hi, can someone please tell me why my danio fish has a bent spine that curves slightly? I also notice when looking at him from a birds eye position that he has a kink in his body which I’ve never noticed before??

Inbreeding sometimes creates skeletal deformities in fish but they're usually detectable pretty early. How long have you had this fish and how much has he grown since you got him? Is he constantly 'bent' or does he straighten out at times? Have his 'cheeks' or gill covers always been that pink?
So can nutritional deficiencies. What do you feed your fish? So can a couple of diseases. Can you give us your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate numbers?
Any other fish in the tank having ANY symptoms of anything?

 

It could be a few things:
-Being exposed to high nitrates for a long period of time
-Vitamin C deficiency
-Genetics
-Fish Tuberculosis (heaven forbid as it is contagious to humans)

It would help to know how often you do water changes and how much water is exchanged, what you feed, and if you have noticed any other differences in behavior apart from the other fish in your tank, if they're exhibiting anything similar, or if you noticed any other symptoms on this fish.

 

Inbreeding sometimes creates skeletal deformities in fish but they're usually detectable pretty early. How long have you had this fish and how much has he grown since you got him? Is he constantly 'bent' or does he straighten out at times? Have his 'cheeks' or gill covers always been that pink?
So can nutritional deficiencies. What do you feed your fish? So can a couple of diseases. Can you give us your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate numbers?
Any other fish in the tank having ANY symptoms of anything?

Thank you for your response it’s really helpful. I had 4 danios bought in August and lost one who had a bent spine and a bulge on its belly that got bigger and smaller for no apparent reason. I wasn’t able to diagnose the problem through these threads and tried treating it but it died. I then bought 3 more danios including the one shown on 25th Nov and started to notice the bent spine about 3 weeks ago. Ammonia appears to be 0, nitrates keep rising to about 40 and I do 2 water changes per week one: 40% and the other about 15%. I feed flakes every other day and have 2 filters running with live plants. I was hoping the tank wouldn’t be getting nitrates by now.....

His spine is permanently bent and I’m pretty sure the gills have always been that colour which look the same as the other fish. (Picture below).

I am currently treating the tank with Melafix as I also noticed this fish had white stringy poo but he also has a mixture of reddish poo too on occasions.

 

It could be a few things:
-Being exposed to high nitrates for a long period of time
-Vitamin C deficiency
-Genetics
-Fish Tuberculosis (heaven forbid as it is contagious to humans)

It would help to know how often you do water changes and how much water is exchanged, what you feed, and if you have noticed any other differences in behavior apart from the other fish in your tank, if they're exhibiting anything similar, or if you noticed any other symptoms on this fish.

Hi, I’ve been reading up in the symptoms of fish tuberculosis and I’m really worried that this is what he has and what my last fish died of! What shall I do????? Please help

 

Oh! I didn't realize you already had one fish die of similar symptoms! Do you have a University nearby? You might be able to get them involved in diagnosing your fish esp. if it is a suspected zoonotic disease like TB especially in the UK.
Here is info about the risks of marine TB to you. Should you be worried about fish TB? You really need to find an academic or medical researcher/scientist to help you discover if that's TB or something more benign. In the meantime, wear long gloves when your hands are in the tank and wash and disinfect (wipes or gel) your hands afterwards. If you have a local Health Department, it's a good idea to get them involved as well at least at the local store where you bought those Danios.
Sorry but this really sounds like what you might have in there.

 

Oh! I didn't realize you already had one fish die of similar symptoms! Do you have a University nearby? You might be able to get them involved in diagnosing your fish esp. if it is a suspected zoonotic disease like TB especially in the UK.
Here is info about the risks of marine TB to you. Should you be worried about fish TB? You really need to find an academic or medical researcher/scientist to help you discover if that's TB or something more benign. In the meantime, wear long gloves when your hands are in the tank and wash and disinfect (wipes or gel) your hands afterwards. If you have a local Health Department, it's a good idea to get them involved as well at least at the local store where you bought those Danios.
Sorry but this really sounds like what you might have in there.

Thank you for all your advice. I don’t have a university close by and don’t seem to be able to get a clear diagnoses so despite telling a recommended pet store about this they are happy to have them so I am going to hand them in. I have tried really hard since August to do my best by the fish and it’s costing me far too much money and unfortunately no enjoyment.

 

Where is Hertfordshire? Aren't you somewhat near Cambridge? Could you at least call them and ask if they have an ornithology department that might be interested? I'm so sorry that you've had such a bad start! I know the UK has much more stringent surveillance of fish and a much lower incidence of aquarium diseases like TB than the US. It might be worth checking.