# Fish TB?



## kay-fishy (Mar 2, 2014)

:help:
I upgraded from a 5 gallon to a 20 gallon tank about 3 months ago. I started by moving a neon tetra and a guppy from my old tank into my new one. I left them for a little over a week then started adding fish. I realized I needed more tetras so I got 2 more for starters, as well as a platy. A few weeks later I got a molly, a barb, and another guppy. Then a week later, I got another platy, another molly, and a female guppy for the two males I had at that point.
Somewhere along the way, the tetra I originally had from the old tank died, but I didn't think much of it because at that point I had owned him for 2+ years and he was on the older side of most other fish I had owned. That started the downhill slide...
The female guppy (in the last group of fish I had gotten at that point) had some tail rot when I first got her. I assumed she was healthy because she was swimming around and figured that she was just being picked on or the water conditions weren't ideal. However, less than a week after I got her, she ended up very sick and then died. After the fact I noticed some raised scales. I'm not sure if she passed something on to my other guppies, who didn't have any signs of tail rot or other diseases, but both of my males died around 5 days after her. They looked perfectly normal, even after they died. I kind of brushed it off, did water changes and resolved to not add any more fish until I knew it was safe to do so (AKA when things stopped dying).
That was maybe 2 or 3 weeks ago. Now, the platy I first bought is just about on her death bed. From the day I got her she was sort of strange, as she was a little on the small side and extremely shy. I thought something might have been wrong originally because she hid in the upper corners of the tank all day, but after I did a water change she was more at ease and swam around a bit more. She didn't have any problems eating ever. More recently, she retrogressed into her corner and slowly began to eat less. She's no longer eating, and her spine has started to develop a sort of hump-shape. Her scales are sticking up a bit, and she's not swimming around much. Her tail also looks frayed. Currently she's stuck to my filter, so I took a picture for reference. It's really blurry, but you can sort of get an idea about it. It's at a weird angle too so bear with me...







I don't think she's not going to make it at this point, but I want to know what's going on. Is this fish TB? And what do I do if it is?? The rest of my fish seem extremely happy and healthy, but I'm worried about their long term health. Sorry it's so long, I just don't know what's the cause! Thanks in advance


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

If it is fish TB, you wear gloves and don't siphon by mouth. A fish stuck to a filter is not strong enough to survive a course of treatment, just wait it out.


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## kay-fishy (Mar 2, 2014)

I didn't think it would... She died last night  do you think the rest of my tank is safe if the other fish all seem healthy??


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Maybe. It might not be TB, though. The fish are dying too quickly for that.
Hexamita might be the culprit, and that's curable.


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