The Puffer Forum

Hi, I'm wondering if my tank contracted with fish tuberculosis, and I remove all the fishes from my tank, will the TB bacteria or virus (i don't know which) stay in the tank? If it does stay, how long will it stay? Any info would be nice.

Just curious, why would you suspect such a thing? I don't think I'd ever come to that conclusion on my own.

I'm just wondering if the TB bacteria will just die off if there's no fish for it to infect.

No, I mean why do you think there's fish TB in your tank to begin with? I can't say I've ever given that any thought whatsoever. Do fish even get TB?

Yes, fish can get TB, and I'm wondering if crustaceans can get TB. My figure eight is looking like it might have TB. It was in a really filthy tank back when it was at the LFS.

Symptoms?

Pufferpunk wrote:Symptoms?

I'm asking how long TB bacteria will live without fish to infect.

It can use the substrate as a media. It doesn't need an actual host to survive. The bacteria that causes it is Mycobacterium marinum, a close relative to Mycobacterium tuberculosis and is transmissible to humans. It is rare for a human to get it but it is mostly transmitted through openings in the skin, a secondary route of transmission is through inhaling mist from the infected tank and has been mistaken for blastomycosis infections. It is very difficult to treat in humans and nearly impossible to treat in fish, an extremely high (near 100%) mortality rate in fish. Invertebrates, such as snails, shrimp, and some bivalves can be carriers.

Suggestion, and I hate to tell people this, is to humanely euthanize all the fish and completely nuke the tank with bleach. When you do it, wear gloves and a particle mask (a painters mask will work).

so basicly i just have to pour bleach in the tank to kill off the TB right? Would normal tap water with chlorine in it work besides bleach?
and what are the symptoms for humans if they inhale mist from the infected tank?
thank you for answers

Ouch. Are you 100% sure that they have it?

Puffur wrote:so basicly i just have to pour bleach in the tank to kill off the TB right? Would normal tap water with chlorine in it work besides bleach?
and what are the symptoms for humans if they inhale mist from the infected tank?
thank you for answers

You need to totally strip the tank down and then bleach it with 10% bleach solution, regular tap water won't do it. Before you do that though, what symptoms are your fish exhibiting that you think you are infected with this? This is an uncommon ailment.

In people the biggest threat is cutaneous infection. It starts off as a small nodule that then spreads over a few weeks. Theses nodules grow, are filled with an exudate and usually open up. After that the person exhibits arthritic symptoms, ie.: deformity of the joints and tissue, severe aches, bone decay while the nodules continue to spread. Respiratory infection would show up similar to regular TB, fever, shortness of breath, persistent cough. Very flu like but a lot more severe in nature. Mind you, human infections from mycobacterium marinum is rare but if your fish do have it, safeguard yourself when cleaning the tank.

LilGreenPuffer wrote:Ouch. Are you 100% sure that they have it?

Nope, I'm not 100% sure, maybe I'm just being paranoid. I'm going to wait to see if there are more symptom that are unique to TB like curved spine. I'm hoping it doesn't have TB because the last time I cleaned the damn tank, I had a small cut on my hand. I'm not ready to die yet. Last thing I want is ending up in the hospital thanks to a fish. Thanks for your replies

I agree--you're being paranoid. Please don't be too hasty!

I don't know about puffers, but a curved spine is not necessarily a clear indicator of TB in many fish. Over the years, I've had many tetra, rasboras, endlers, and other fish develop a curvature as they got towards the end of their *natural* life. These are fish that have been healthy for as long as or longer than their life expectancy. I always think of them as a little old people with a hunchback...

Pufferpunk wrote:I agree--you're being paranoid. Please don't be too hasty!

+1 to this. Unless you are having definitive signs and symptoms I wouldn't worry or jump to conclusions. TB in fish is not a common thing and when they have it it's kind of like being pregnant, either you are or you aren't, there's no maybe involved, they become symptomatic quickly.