Help needed desperately

HI everybody
I know it has been a while but things have been going crazy in my life right now besides my fish tanks.

I first have to start out by saying I have tried everything you could possible think of to try and save my fish. But at this point it has to be tb or neon tetra disease. I have been through to much to try and tell you everything so I will just get to the point.
So please don't go into all that because trust me they have something that cannot be cured. I just need help on how to determine for sure what they have and take action.

Can anyone tell me or show me with pictures on how these 2 disease(fish tb and neon tetra disease) look like under a microscope? How you can tell them apart? I'm leaning towards more of the tb because I have cardinals instead of neon's and I have read conflicts opinions that they are immune and then read they are not immune so I have no idea. I do have a microscope but I don't know how to do bacterial cultures so is that the only way to identify tb? If so does anyone know how to do this step by step or is it to complex for the beginner. If I cannot do it myself what do I need to do or who do I need to contact? I ask my vet but they do not deal with fish diseases. Where do I need to start?

When I determine the tb in my tank. I will be throwing everything away I cannot bleach but was wondering does bleach kill tb? The only things I will be keeping is of course the tank itself and the gravel,heater,filter itself, and my real piece of wood if I can save it and all the things to clean the tank with that can be bleached.

If anyone dealt with this for sure knowing it was tb? If so how did you go about getting it determined? Please if anyone can help please share with me I would greatly appreciate it.

 

^just posted about "tb" there

 

Here I'll copy and paste:

"Fish TB": The infection commonly referred to as fish tb is not actually caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, it's usually caused by M. marinum or M. triplex, bacteria in the same family. Common symptoms include loss of color, lack of appetite, lethargy, bent spines, bloat, and open sores/patches of discoloration. It's estimated to be present in about 70% of fish in the trade, but in environments with a healthy variety of bacteria to keep it in check it rarely takes hold of the fish (with the exception of labyrinth fish, who are very very susceptible to it). The bacteria can survive heat, salt, drying out, etc etc. You know how household cleaners always say "kils 99.9% of germs"? The mycobacterium family is that .1%. And yes, M. triplex and marinum ARE transmittable to humans. They rarely cause life threatening problems except in the immuno-compromised, but they cause nasty sores on your hands and symptoms can take 6-9 months to appear (still waiting to see whether I got hit...).

Once a fish is symptomatic, you have two humane/effective options: Install a UV filter on your tank, NEVER EVER EVER share ANY equipment between that tank and any of your other tanks, ALWAYS wear disposable gloves when working in the tank, and pray. The second and most advisable route is to humanely euthanize all infected and exposed fish, destroy plants and filter media, and completely sterilize all equipment with an approved cleaner (there's a list somewhere, have to go hunt for it, but I used 99% isopropyl followed by bleach). You MUST use an approved cleaner for the recommended duration to kill the bacteria or it will just bounce right back.

 

Oh, and the only way to have it determined 100% is to have the fish sent to a lab for a necropsy, but if you've got reasonable suspicion that's enough to shut the whole thing down in my book. I waited too long and ended up losing $500+ worth of bettas earlier this year. Also, no bleach does not kill it, so I would throw away and replace everything except the tank itself, which you'll need to sterilize with 99% isopropyl, *HOSPITAL* strength lysol, or similar.

 

^just posted about "tb" there

I read that thinks....Did you find the 99% isopropyl? If you did where or can I find it in stores?
Thanks for the post

 

I got mine off amazon, it was the most economic effective cleaner I could find!

 

Oh, and the only way to have it determined 100% is to have the fish sent to a lab for a necropsy, but if you've got reasonable suspicion that's enough to shut the whole thing down in my book. I waited too long and ended up losing $500+ worth of bettas earlier this year. Also, no bleach does not kill it, so I would throw away and replace everything except the tank itself, which you'll need to sterilize with 99% isopropyl, *HOSPITAL* strength lysol, or similar.

Oh no I guess that plan of mine will be gone. Will the isopropyl not work on gravel? I would have to know for sure that it is tb before I throw all that away but if it is I will. Thank you so much for all your help. I will start calling around and see if I can find someone in a lab that can do it.

 

I got mine off amazon, it was the most economic effective cleaner I could find!

Ok I will see if I can find some. Can you post me a picture please of it so I will know exactly what I need?

 

Oh no I guess that plan of mine will be gone. Will the isopropyl not work on gravel? I would have to know for sure that it is tb before I throw all that away but if it is I will. Thank you so much for all your help. I will start calling around and see if I can find someone in a lab that can do it.

Eh, theoretically it will, but all those nooks and crannies would make me mighty nervous :S Plus it would probably be cheaper to replace the gravel than to buy enough isopropyl to soak it properly. Good luck getting it confirmed, I hope it's not mycos!

 

I read that thinks....Did you find the 99% isopropyl? If you did where or can I find it in stores?
Thanks for the post

Actually, 70-90% isopropyl alcohol is effective. This has been written up in scientific studies. Just use what you have in your medicine cabinet or get from your local drugstore. It will kill gram negative bacteria in about 5 min.

 

Wow. I think I may have had tb in my tank. I didn't really do much except new decor and gravel. I hope my new fish will not catch it.

 

What about a quaternary disinfectant? That is used to sterilize medical equipment, surfaces and kills human TB.

Here's a link.

This is what barbers use to kill everything from instruments and surfaces.

 

Yeah that'll do the trick too! I think the Bettasource article about mycos has a full list of everything that's effective if you want to track that down.

 

Actually, 70-90% isopropyl alcohol is effective. This has been written up in scientific studies. Just use what you have in your medicine cabinet or get from your local drugstore. It will kill gram negative bacteria in about 5 min.

I tried the link and it doesn't work for me it says I do not have permission to do so....

 

What about a quaternary disinfectant? That is used to sterilize medical equipment, surfaces and kills human TB.

Here's a link.

This is what barbers use to kill everything from instruments and surfaces.

Oh thanks that looks to be a good one. Have you or anyone you know tried this?

 

Yeah that'll do the trick too! I think the Bettasource article about mycos has a full list of everything that's effective if you want to track that down.

Ok I will try and see if I can find it....Thanks

 

Ok I will try and see if I can find it....Thanks

I can't find it if you find it will you please post it for me. Thanks

 

Oh, and the only way to have it determined 100% is to have the fish sent to a lab for a necropsy, but if you've got reasonable suspicion that's enough to shut the whole thing down in my book. I waited too long and ended up losing $500+ worth of bettas earlier this year. Also, no bleach does not kill it, so I would throw away and replace everything except the tank itself, which you'll need to sterilize with 99% isopropyl, *HOSPITAL* strength lysol, or similar.

I checked on getting someone to do a necropsy on one of my fish but it is to expensive so I have decided to put them all down as they get sick....