Betta with Mycobacterium triplex?

 

This Everything Aquatic blog post is condensed from this thread at the Everything Aquatic Forum Board:

"Need to update you guys"

Each members "forum name" will be followed by their comments (some edited here).

Suzie Q;
My Bettas most likely have Mycobacterium triplex which is "new" to the tropical fish area. This is a form of fish TB. I have to consider every fish I own contaminated. I am sending the adults that have the symptom - fin rot that won't go away - to the lab to have them tested and confirm that THAT is what it is. There is no treatment for adult fish, but I can breed the young fish YOUNG, and continue the breeding young for a year (destroying all parents in the process) or until no fish develop symptoms. The only other option is to destroy all my fish, nuke the tanks and start all over. I haven't quite decided what I am going to do yet about the fish.

I'm pretty sure I picked it up in February 2011 when I got new fish, so if you HAVE gotten fish/plants from me in the past, those are safe.

Please note that Suzie Q's Bettas pictured DO NOT have Mycobacterium triplex

babygeige;
Let me know what you find out about this. I'm wondering if my betta girls have it too. It seems pretty similar to what you've described. I removed them from the community tank and am just trying to keep them "comfortable" until the inevitable occurs. Fortunately I haven't noticed any symptoms in the other fish. Yet, at least.

That's hard decision you have to make. You hate to give up on the ones you have, but yet in some ways it might be the best route, for you and the fish.

goldenpuon;
I'm sorry to hear this Suzie-Q and that you have to go through putting down many of your fish. :'( It is a very smart idea on your part (IMHO) to send your fish to the lab for testing. On the positive side, at least you can keep the young fish so you can have more beautiful bettas! I hope an effective preventative and cure for this disease is found soon! R.I.P. bettas. :(

Suzie Q;
A lab in Florida are willing to test my fish, and they HAVE to be sent Fedex, so I gotta find a box big enough to insulate and ship. I hope to have them out this week, but may be next week.

I did decide to check the water just before a water change...I had changed it 24 hrs prior...so this reading really sucks!!! Ammonia IN the 24 hr old water was 2.0!!!! everything else was 0. gH/kH was....ummm I forget exactly...126 and 79??? sorry...something like that. I tested my 36 hr old stored water and ammonia was .5!!!

I made up some new water and instead of the 4 drops of Prime I had been using, I upped it to 6 and tested the water after 24 hrs...still at .5. Water is now 48 hrs old, and I will test it again today when I get home. I use Prime and I never really have worried about the ammonia....but now that it hit 2.0!!! I am now using the cycled water out of the 75g (readings are 0,0, .5). They are still getting daily water changes. The fish still look the same, even though they are getting the water out of there now.

I am hoping that most of my issues are coming from the water and NOT a contagious disease :D. I'm looking at building a barracks system using a canister filter, a 20 gallon planted tank and a UV...Just gotta figure it all out.

Carl;
Remember that Prime neutralizes Prime changing it from NH3 to NH4, so it will still test unless you use an Ammonia Alert Test by SeaChem

See; Aquarium Test Kits; Aquarium Answers

As for your findings, this honestly does not surprise me as I have seen this too in clients with Bettas in small containers (where I serviced larger aquariums in the office).
Hopefully a system we have talked about will help with this by allowing a true nitrogen cycle and better control of mineral ions as well (such as Wonder Shells in the aquarium system sump).

Since TB can be opportunistic, this system may help too even if the pathogen is present initially, although I think learning of your test results should be interesting.

BTW, this would be a good post/thread/discussion in the general area, as I get a lot of similar emails, this way others can learn from this too. But I also understand wanting to keeping this private too.

Suzie Q;
Carl, that is fine, but I'd like to wait on the results first. IF it is Mycobacterium (of any sort), I will go public with it, all fish in the fish room (offspring of these) will be destroyed and I'll start from scratch. Debbie at the lab said (I asked worse case scenario) what was the best way to sterilize. She said heavy bleach and spray with alcohol with ethonol(?) in it...I think I posted that already, but I didn't go back and look. I don't really care what people think if I do have this stuff. I haven't been selling my fish, and when they started showing signs, I pulled them from the show. We also heavy bleached all the show beanies between shows too.

Diagnosis is Mycobacterium. My fish had it so bad that they got results off a skin scraping. 3 out of 4 fish had Granuloma??? I asked Debbie to send me an email because my vet (well now that the dog is gone...lol) is very interested in this, and I wanted something to send to him.

This is not cure-able, and I can not "breed it out" of the fish. This is actually more in the hobby then we want to admit (per lab). I have to consider all fish (that in the last 2 yrs have been exposed to the Betta) to have it. The only ones I'm sure don't are both colonies of Endler's and the RCS. Everything else has been exposed through plants.

Carl;
You definitely need to consider this with all your fish that might be exposed. I would slightly disagree with the lab though; I would qualify that this disease runs in certain circles which I have observed over the years. Once the circle is broken along with fish disease resistance is improved the circle IS broken. It is these circles where this disease is common, not the hobby as a whole As well, while difficult, in non advanced cases I have cured mycobacterium

Parker002;
Just FYI but a granuloma (at least in humans) is just the term for a collection of congealed immune system cells. It's basically the body's attempt to build a firewall to block further infection.

---

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE READ:



TB in Fish, Mycobacterium Tuberculosis



Other Useful/Related Information:

*Aquarium Cleaning; Including Bettas
*Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle
*Aquarium Chemistry; Basic to In-Depth
*A Healthy Aquarium, Disease Prevention

Setting Up A New Saltwater Aquarium

 

If you've decided that you want to keep fish as pets in your home, then the first steps to getting ready is the purchase and setup of an aquarium to house them. Aquariums come in several varieties, here we'll be discussing the steps for preparing saltwater aquariums for their new inhabitants.
Saltwater aquariums differ from freshwater aquariums in that, obviously, the water used is saltwater which gives a home to a large variety of beautifully colored tropical fish, the same kind you would find natively living in the ocean. In order to make a happy, healthy home for these fish, there are some things you must know and have ready.

For starters, before you purchase your aquarium, you should know how many fish you are interested in purchasing, what sizes they will grow to be and whether or not they can live together. You don't want an overcrowded tank or one that is too small and you definitely don't want your fish fighting or even eating each other. Try to get a tank slightly larger than you need in order to accommodate any new fish you plan on adding to it. Then, if you decide to bring new fish into the aquarium, the room is already there and available without needing to upgrade in size. Once you have your aquarium tank, choose a place for it away from natural light sources (that will cause algae to grow in your tank). Also, make sure you have a sturdy stand capable of supporting not only the aquarium, but the water you'll be filling it with later as well.

Once set up, make sure to clean out your aquarium with a soft cloth or sponge to remove any potential residue left on the inside of the tank before you begin to fill the bottom with your sand, gravel or other substrate. Once the substrate is set, you can either add your pre-mixed saltwater to the aquarium, or add a tap water and sea salt mix (according to proper instructions). After you have your water, fill the tank to about one third full and check the gravity (amount of dissolved salts in the water) which should read about 1.025. Once it's filled, you can set up the rest of your aquarium accessories like the lighting, heaters, filters and pumps (depending on the size and placement of your aquarium) which you should let run for about a day while you measure water temperature, check the salinity balance and also check the tank for leaks.

Once you have the water and equipment of your tank prepared, you should be ready to introduce the underwater landscaping. The addition of live rock to an aquarium is incredibly important for many reasons. The first of which is to make the fish more comfortable, having live rock more closely simulates their natural home. One of the others is that live rock generates organisms such as bacteria that help your aquarium's inhabitants live long, happy lives. It can also be used as a hiding place for shy or easily scared fish as well as becoming an anchor for any corals you decide to introduce to the aquarium. Any live rock you purchase must be cured before adding it to your tank. If not, you risk polluting your tank with deadly ammonia which can, at best, make your fish very sick and at worst, kill them. It's simple to cure most live rock in around one to three weeks in any container large enough to house the rock. You can also cure your rock while setting up your tank before you introduce your fish to the environment.

When you have finished introducing rocks and other accessories to your tank, you can begin cycling by adding a source of ammonia to your tank. This can easily be done by adding manufacturer suggested fluids to your tank. When you do, bacteria that should be in your tank will begin to multiply and the ammonia levels will decrease, leaving behind nitrite. Eventually the rate at which the bacteria breaks down the nitrite will overtake the rate it is created and your tank's system will achieve a good balance of both nitrate and bacteria. This is the most time consuming step in the process and can take up to six weeks to complete. Note that while nitrite isn't toxic to your fish, it can have a negative impact on the tank as a whole and can be easily recognized by watching for an outbreak of algae. Be sure to test ammonia and nitrite levels regularly with testing kits.

Once cycling is complete, make any adjustments you may think necessary to your underwater landscape and you will finally be ready to introduce the fish to their new home! The safest way to add the fish is to place them only one or two at a time to the tank. This gives the tank's bacteria nitrogen cycle system time to adjust to the new ammonia production strain. Test your water until it has returned to normal and wait bout a week before adding more. There you have it, a fully functional and well balanced saltwater aquarium. While the process is time consuming, the end product of beautiful saltwater aquariums is well worth the wait. Just make sure to regularly clean, test and maintain your tank and equipment to ensure the safety and happiness of your new fish.

By Robert Lobitz

Resources:
See also Saltwater, Marine Reef Aquarium Care, Basics

For proper maintenance of your saltwater aquarium UV Sterilizer, the UV Bulbs should be changed once every six months, for further information, please read this article:
UV Sterilization; Facts & Information