# Does my dwarf neon rainbowfish have Fish TB?



## iRonBalls (Sep 18, 2016)

Hi, Im a new member posting here for the first time. There seems to be some bulging and redness near the tail of my rainbow fish, and it does look like its bent/curved. Colour is somewhat pale, and i noticed that other fishes chase her away sometimes. 

More often than not i see her hiding below my water sprites, but no issue with feeding. I have 8 of them and another one seems to be having the same manifestations, minus the bulging/redness. I euthanized a leopard danio probably 2 mos. ago, with a curved body and swollen gills. Any thoughts? Thanks...


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## PPulcher (Nov 17, 2006)

I would certainly suspect it is fish TB. It's hard to know exactly what it is unless you have someone who can dissect one  

I saw something similar years ago in a group of praecox rainbows I kept, but the lesion was more of a red bump. I ended up having to euthanize the whole group as they didn't respond to treatment.


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## iRonBalls (Sep 18, 2016)

Thanks for your reply. Upon closer inspection, it does look like a red bump near the caudal fin. My next concern would be for the remaining inhabitants. I have read that some fish keepers euthanize all their fishes and disinfect the tank, but in my case, i only have two sick fishes. The rest may be carriers, but im not sure if their immune system will be able to keep it at bay if i keep the maintenance and diet in check.

My tank is somewhat heavily planted, i do PWC when nitrates reach about 20ppm, so about every 9 days, in my case. Ammonia and nitrites are always 0ppm, and ph is on the high side, but is consistent at 7.8. 

Oh, and another thing.... if it is indeed fish tb, do i kill the plants as well? Can i transplant them to another tank? Any info provided would be greatly appreciated...


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## planter (Jun 9, 2008)

I would nuke everything.

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/blog/articles/should-you-be-worried-about-fish-tb


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## iRonBalls (Sep 18, 2016)

Thanks for all your help! I will monitor the situation to see if its indeed fish tb, then make a decision whether I should fold this tank or not.


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## Fisheye (Jan 13, 2015)

Hi iRonBalls,

Just read your posts and was curious about a follow-up. Hopefully the situation with your tank and Rainbow is better now than in October?


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## iRonBalls (Sep 18, 2016)

Hi there, thanks for following up. A friend of mine mentioned to me that it might be parasite issue, and i did about 2 treatments of prazipro. Then all of a sudden i had a massive fish die-off. I was really baffled. I probably lost close to 20 fishes (neon tetras, danios, blackskirt tetras, and of course my dwarf rainbows, and a corydora). This time no signs of illness. I have a somewhat heavily planted tank and readings were very consistent (24 degrees celcius, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 5ppm nitrates and 7.6ph)

I really thought it was fish tb and i was gonna fold the tank, then i noticed one thing: my tank has no lid, and just a little above it is a big bottle of alcohol gel dispenser. My kids would use it for several times during the day, and somehow when they press the nozzle too hard, they would end up squirting alcohol gel inside the tank! 

I moved the bottle, did several water changes, that week, and slowly added some fishes. I still have 1 female dwarf rainbowfish (down from 14), but my blackskirts, danios, neons and ember tetras have been solid, except one time when i bought some "ghost shrimps". Well, i slowly lost a few fishes and upon further research, i found out that theyre not ghost shrimps, theyre macrobrachiums!!! :scream: I saw them gang up on my healthy adult neon, mid tank, and turned it into a snack. Shrimps have their own tank now...

Everything is stable now, i think. I have a 4 year old panda cory who's still swimming strong, but yeah, some hard lessons learned.......


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## iRonBalls (Sep 18, 2016)

Picture taken 12 days ago...


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## Fisheye (Jan 13, 2015)

Hey! So glad for you that your tank is still up and running-even though you went through quite a bit of drama. Die offs are so so so hard. Hope it really was just the gel and everything is normal moving forward. Your tank looks nice and lush btw!!


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## iRonBalls (Sep 18, 2016)

Thanks! :+1:?:+1:?:+1:?


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