tukituki Posted April 5, 2008 Report Share Posted April 5, 2008 i have a few fish in my tank that have a curved spine (that has appeared over a few months). there are a few female guppies with this and one zebra danio. would this be due to a genetic trait (no doubt from inbreeding) or could there be another reason? all of the other fish in the tank are fine and this curved spine has not been seen on any of the male guppies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozski Posted April 5, 2008 Report Share Posted April 5, 2008 how old are the fish? Can be genetic defect, tho I think you see it from when they are young, rather than developing. Curved spine is also one of the signs of fish tuberculosis. I had a zebra danio that got a bit kinky before it finally died, though it was old and I suspect it may have just been old age hunchback No problems in my other fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karlos Posted April 5, 2008 Report Share Posted April 5, 2008 Yep I have a zebra danio I call swayback sam who is bent up like a banana . He was like that when I bought him. I hadn't realised at first and I was a bit dissapointed but now I like him more than all the rest... It doesn't slow him down at all either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted April 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2008 the danio i think was probably like that when we got him a year or so ago and it has got a bit worse with time. we have culled a couple of female guppies with this a few months ago that could hardly swim. the latest female guppies that are showing the curved spine are a mixture of youngsters that we have bred & are now fully grown & a few that were bought as adults. they swim around fine, my partner is fond of a couple of them, i think its not their fault if they are disabled etc but don't want more of the same being bred if this can be passed on. strange how its only the female guppies. can someone tell me a bit more about fish tb please? sounds scary! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted April 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2008 i've just read this: http://www.torrens.org.uk/NatHist/Aqua/disease/tb.html on tb, sounds horrible! i don't think my fish are suffering from this as they are healthy apart from the spine being a bit crooked (and this is only 5 out of 50 or so), well i hope i don't have a tank full of tb infected fish - seriously nasty!!! i'm still half tempted to cull the crooked spine fish but that is so mean eh? what would you do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted April 5, 2008 Report Share Posted April 5, 2008 We get 'Banana' fish occasionally, it can be quite difficult to spot in smaller fish, and seems to become more apparent as they grow larger. I must say that now that you mention it, the incidence seems to be more female than in the male fish. Our banana fish go 'upstairs' - this is the tank above that houses a Senegal bichir. Whilst they appear to be able to swim alright and eat and breed ok and appear 'happy', we cull ours so that we ultimately do not end up with a tank full of banana fish. As I sometimes sell our fish to the LFS and at club auctions, I don't want to be passing on fish with genetic faults. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted April 5, 2008 Report Share Posted April 5, 2008 i've just read this: http://www.torrens.org.uk/NatHist/Aqua/disease/tb.html on tb, sounds horrible! i don't think my fish are suffering from this as they are healthy apart from the spine being a bit crooked (and this is only 5 out of 50 or so), well i hope i don't have a tank full of tb infected fish - seriously nasty!!! i'm still half tempted to cull the crooked spine fish but that is so mean eh? what would you do? If your fish have TB all the fish in the tank will have it already Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted April 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2008 definately only 5 with the funky spine or banana syndrome so no tb then, great . i think culling is best but i feel mean playing god! a tank full of banana fish is not desireable! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted April 6, 2008 Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 what i meant is that if you think some have it, they will all have it, regardless of wether you can see they have it or not... if you get what i mean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted April 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 well they all seem healthy, just a few with "banana syndrome" that seem in good health despite their spine issue. hopefully my tank does not have a tb epidemic going on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMAZONIAN Posted April 6, 2008 Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 Hi All. Fish get deformities 99% of the time by continual inbreeding and line breeding. You have to be very careful in selecting your breeding stock and EVERY Third spawning you should introduce new blood into the line. That is the surest way of producing good quality fish that are lacking in ant deformities or flawed genes that can cause deformities. It is also possible for "Guppy's" to be born with no apparent bend in their spine, but if they are from inferior stock then the deformity or the gene is there and bending of the spine will progress and become apparent within about 6 weeks. Tha is a reason that none of the fish I breed leave my Fishroom for at least 4 or 5 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted April 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 thanks amazonian. i think i need some new female guppies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted April 6, 2008 Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 I can offer you some, if you like, just let me know - this may help soften the blow for your partner if you cull some, they will have some new fish to look at! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heir Posted April 6, 2008 Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 i often see danio forsale with this curvedness... :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted April 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 thanks zev, sounds good and i see that you are a 5min drive from me! maybe its best to organise through a pm! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted April 6, 2008 Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 No probs, pm sent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMAZONIAN Posted April 6, 2008 Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 Hi All. Yes Heir, I have seen them myself in the shops, and it is those fish that are "Buggering" up the fish on sale in shops. You have to be sooooo careful when you buy fish from a shop as even first class looking fish can be flawed or carrying the faulty genes. This is exactly what happens when the "QUICK BUCK BREEDERS'" are able to sell fish to shops direct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna_&_Chris Posted April 6, 2008 Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 i had 3 danios like this back in russia,they were fantail and had a curved back,i think that made them look very stunning. and they were healthy and happy and breeding ,but the babies got eaten by other fish that was in the tank. so i never saw them grow out so couldnt tell if they were same with curved backs or not. i dont think its a problem,i assume it sjust a type of danio.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted April 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 the trait looks slightly more desireable on the danio than the guppies. i've had no luck breeding the danio's so maybe he will get to stay! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spink Posted April 14, 2008 Report Share Posted April 14, 2008 Hey there! I breed guppies but only as a fun thing, not for commercial reasons or anything like that, but every time my female births her fry (usually every 6 weeks to the day, and both my females are timed in together now!) I put the fry in my grow on tank, and move the male into my 4 foot tank with all my other male guppies. I try to prevent the in breeding thing to avoid deformities by chaning males everytime. And once I know my fry are big enough to be moved on, I pass them on to my LFS to try and stop them from inbreeding in my fry tank as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scuba Sam Posted April 14, 2008 Report Share Posted April 14, 2008 I'm pleased to hear that I am not the only one with this problem. I recently purchased 25 leopard danios from someone on this forum, and at least twenty per cent of them are deformed. Really disappointing and I will know to ask only for normal shaped fish in future!! I will be breeding only from the ok fish, but from what you are saying Amazonian, they may be all carrying a dodgy gene. Good luck Tuki on sorting out your guppies etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted April 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2008 thanks for the advice spink, we've been letting the guppies "freestyle" it in the big tank and breed with whom they please but just set up a separate tank so we can be more selective! hopefully it works! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted April 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2008 sorry to hear about your danios scuba sam, thats a shame Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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