Betta with Tuberculosis?

[Alybrooke]

Hello all.

I got my first betta a year ago. He took to his tank really well. Had a small filter, heater and treated water. He got sick off and on throughout the year. He had Popeye in one eye. Treated that. Got it in the other eye. Treated that. Off and on again.
Recently he had another episode of this and then developed a red lesion on his face. No plastic plants were in his tank. Only really plants. He lost his appetite completely but went after the food like he wanted it but then spit it back out. He seemed to have some neurological issues as well when swimming. Kind of shaking. Had a couple of scales raised on his snout. Is this tuberculosis?? After a week of not getting better at all or eating I decided to euthanize him. It makes me sick thinking about it.

 

[Colin_T]

Pop eye is normally caused by a bacterial infection.
Fish wanting to eat but not being able to is usually bacterial.
Raised scales on the head or body is usually bacterial or protozoan.

Fish Tuberculosis (Mycobateria sp) are a genus of bacteria but they don't normally cause pop eye or raised scales on the head.

The fish possibly had a minor infection and a weakened immune system, which allowed the bad bacteria to infect him and he couldn't shake it.

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The best way to prevent pop eye and other diseases in a fish tank si by good husbandry. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every week. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Clean the filter at least once a month and wash filter materials in a bucket of tank water before re-using them.

 

[Alybrooke]

Thank you for the reply. What are the typical signs of fish TB?

 

[Colin_T]

There are no typical symptoms for fish Tuberculosis until the disease has done its damage, then the fish dies within 24 hours. Fish can look normal and swim around eating and breeding, then one day they have massive internal organ failure, their belly bloats up, they do a stringy white poop, stop eating, breath heavily at the surface or near the filter outlet, and die within 24 hours of showing those symptoms.

Sometimes fish will develop sores or ulcers on their body but not always.

Some fish (narrow bodied fish like zebra danios or neon tetras) can develop a curved spine over a period of months. This is caused by the granuloma (clump of TB bacteria) growing in the body and putting pressure on the spine cause it to bend slightly.

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If you lose one fish every few months to the above symptoms (sudden bloating, not eating, stringy white poop, breathing heavily, death within 24 hours), and everyone else in the tank seems fine until a few months later when another dies from those symptoms, then you get a couple of fish necropsied (animal autopsy) and investigate them for Fish TB.

 

[Alybrooke]

There are no typical symptoms for fish Tuberculosis until the disease has done its damage, then the fish dies within 24 hours. Fish can look normal and swim around eating and breeding, then one day they have massive internal organ failure, their belly bloats up, they do a stringy white poop, stop eating, breath heavily at the surface or near the filter outlet, and die within 24 hours of showing those symptoms.

Sometimes fish will develop sores or ulcers on their body but not always.

Some fish (narrow bodied fish like zebra danios or neon tetras) can develop a curved spine over a period of months. This is caused by the granuloma (clump of TB bacteria) growing in the body and putting pressure on the spine cause it to bend slightly.

-----------------------
If you lose one fish every few months to the above symptoms (sudden bloating, not eating, stringy white poop, breathing heavily, death within 24 hours), and everyone else in the tank seems fine until a few months later when another dies from those symptoms, then you get a couple of fish necropsied (animal autopsy) and investigate them for Fish TB.

Thank you for the helpful information!

 

[FishGuest5123]

I agree 100% with Colin_T. I highly doubt this is TB. As soon as I looked at the swollen lips and you mentioned Popeye, I thought of bacterial infection.