Warning!

Mycobacterium marinum

Some fishy bacteria you can catch Too!

Your best friend can carry your worst enemy!

By: Shaun Hayes

Tuberculosis in fish.

From some reading that I have done on Fish Tuberculosis, most writers say that Tuberculosis occurs in saltwater and not freshwater tanks but, they have been proven wrong by thousands cases when the aquarist only had freshwater tanks.

Your fish are most at risk if, they are crowded or overstocked or if new fish are constantly being added.

The bacteria will look different from species to species and because it does, it might look similar to other diseases.

Tuberculosis is a widespread bacteria that mainly attacks the heart, liver and kidneys which eventually leads to the Wasting disease..

Tuberculosis affects the skin as well as major organs. On the body you can see nodular legions, raised lesions, darker or lighter coloration than usual, fins can have a rotten appearance and eye protrusion. If the gills are affected by the bacteria, you may notice rapid breathing and/or uncoordinated movement.

Tuberculosis in Aquarists.

In aquarists, the infection usually appears in the dominant hand. It usually occurs when cleaning your tank(s) when a small cut is received, allowing the bacteria of M.marinum into your system. When the bacteria are in the system,they multiply extremely slow: 2 -9 weeks for a single bump to appear.

The bump can be slightly raised, scaly, warm and/or red with mild to no pain at all. In some cases the bump evolves into a pus bump that will drain yellow pus off and on. If you have a deep injury infected with M.marinum, tendon or joints may swell, be warm and stiff. Infected areas may require surgery.

Other than the bumps on the hand or arm, there are no signs or symptoms. There will be no fever, stomach aches, cramps etc. These bacteria are often mis-diagnosed as some other infection. M.marinum cannot be detected by blood tests, X-rays and can be only weakly detected by a tuberculosis test.

Prevention

One of the simplest ways of to prevent the infection is to wear gloves, especially if you have a weak immune system, and to have minimal contact with the inside of your aquarium.

Other things that you can do are wash, wash, wash your hands with anti-bacterial soap after contact with the inside of your aquarium.

You can cut the number of this bacteria in half by lowering the temperature to between 70 & 82 degrees.

Symptoms Summary

Fish symptoms

Human symptoms