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Unknown freshwater issue


brett2003

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FMB = Fish Mycobacteria ??

Bactrim - don't think it's available anymore, too many side effects ( people crashed their bone marrows )

Mycobacteria marinum - long expensive treatment. Not worth it unless you've got some really precious fish.

Also it poorly gram stains.

Polymerase chain reaction probe would be quickest way to make a diagnosis.

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Just had a quick look at the spread sheet as about to go to work.

From the info that has been given so far I dont feel any conclusions could be drawn. You would expect most of the fish sold in Auckland to have been purchased from the bigger LFS. There is a distinct lack of data on ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels and given the huge number of people here with fish only a very small number at this stage appear to have been affected. Perhaps this is the norm but in this day and age with improved communications it is easier to find out from other fishkeepers how they are managing. I would recommend waiting a couple of weeks to see if any one else contributes as at the moment it all looks very random to me. However it is a worthwhile exercise for those who are really concerned and if you want to proceed with vets and testing then go for it!

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You would expect most of the fish sold in Auckland to have been purchased from the bigger LFS.

Would this be overly true when you included all of the private sellers, breeeders and the combinded % of fish sold from other retailers?

As a single % I would expect them to have a higher number but as a collective number I would think that they wouldnt be the bigger seller in the area

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By far most of the fish bought would be from retailers. The percentage of fish keepers on this site would be small as well. It is always difficult to treat a disease unless you know what you are treating. The days when we used to throw broad spectrum antibiotics like chloramphenicol are well gone so the best answer will be to find out who can do a reliable test at a reasonable price. Perhaps the polytech as suggested by LA or Massey. I had an autopsy done on beardie a wee while ago and they did bacto and viruses---cost nearly $300 and would have been done in a vet lab. I have heard of importers getting bills for $4000 for testing one species when done by maf.

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Mycobacterium marinum is the marine infective agent and I think we are talking fresh water here. In my view if it is piscene tb best to destroy and start again. It might be worth getting a suitable antibiotic and treating for aeromonus---it is pretty common in the environment.

Piscene TB just means fish tuberculosis. ie. disease

Mycobacterium marinum is one of the species that causes the disease in both tropical freshwater and marine animals ie. a bacterial cause of the disease

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/223363-overview

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Here's my input, since I started fishkeeping awhile ago every single fish I have purchased from the LFS - except for some neons and 2 male pearl gourami, have all died within a really short period of time after purchase. All of the fish I keep now have all been bred in NZ locally and are all really healthy and active. All my water perimeters are fine and within the suggested range for the fish I keep and yes all of my heaters work and I have separate gear for all 4 tanks.

I haven't noticed any scales missing but I do have the other symptoms that you guys seem to be having, there has to be some common denominator here surely! I am beginning to wonder if all the fish we are losing have come from the same supplier/importer? I am pretty sure that Wonderworld in Rotorua is our LFS supplier but don't quote me on that, they wouldn't tell me when I just rang them as they don't want me cutting out the middle man so to speak, even after I told them why I wanted it.

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Please excuse my ignorance but what is FMB?

From Gerald Bassleer "The new illustrated guide to fish diseases in ornamental tropical and pond fish" 2nd edition 2006:

"FishMycobacterium: Fish Tuberculosis - FishMB is usually caused by Mycobacterium fortuitum or Mycobacterium marimun."

Then they abbreviate FishMB down to FMB in the bit I was referring to earlier.

Previously when I was searching the Internet for Fish TB, I got more hits searching for Fish Mycobacterium.

Cheers.

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I never went to University so can someone who knows about research advise - if studying a particular scenario in order to look for a result, do you also study the opposite or other situations for comparisons?

For instance we are looking at fish that have died and the conditions around that, should we also be looking at fish that have not died from the same households and the conditions around those? If so, this spreadsheet needs to get even bigger.

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