FISH TB, Serious questions, help!

[stalefish83]

It appeared as though our gourami had Terbuculosous. He had a growth protruding through his scales behind his eye. It started out looking like a cut, like he ran into something in the tank, and we thought it was just a cut at first until it started growing. He still appeared happy, he was very active and would eat everything we put in there for him, but after doing some research and looking more closely at him we realized that he had lost weight and it appeared as though what we mistook for happiness was really him desparetly trying to get more food as the TB (or whatever, I know TB is rare) depleted his resources.

Here's my questions, I've read that Fish TB can effect humans and is transferred through cuts and is manifested in humans by bumps under the skin. Are there are any other ill effects (I read it's not the same as TB in the lungs) and how treatable it is?

Also, if my son sat his sandwich down on the counter near the tank where it's likely water has spilled can he contract it orally even if the counter was dry (how long will the virus survive out of the water)?

Any other information that I should be aware of? Thanks! RIP Regel :scry:

[stalefish83]

just realized you totally have a stickey for this... my bad *goes to read*

Anyone is still certainly welcome to respond tho =)

[Lady Hobbs]

Are you seeing something coming from the lump at all. Like a whitish tip? I almost would have to wonder if this is an anchor worm.

But, no, your son will not get TB. It's different from human TB and will cause scratches or sores on hands or arms to become infected.

[stalefish83]

It started out looking like just a scratch, then turned into a white bump protruding through his scales. The bump was probably just a little smaller than a beebee cut in half. When I took him out of the tank to flush him it the bump went down and it looked like a really bad cut (and was red).

Doing a google search it could have been anchor worm, though it did look like it came from inside the fish rather than being a parasite that attatched itself.
That's certainly a possibility. the whole bump was white, not just the tip though.


Thanks for the reply

[Lady Hobbs]

Anchor worms crawl inside the fish and will cause an ugly mass when they start to back out. You flushed it? Next time, do not flush a fish so they aren't swimming in sewer water for however long it takes to die.

Drop him in a bucket of ice water or chop his head off.

[Scrup]

A few things. Fish TB is not actually TB, but humans can catch it like LH said, through cuts on your hands or arms.

Could have been some sort of parasite, or an infection that got out of hand, or a cyst.

Most importantly, never flush your fish. Not only is it cruel if the fish is still alive (you are putting them in chlorinated water, then they get transferred into raw sewage. This is if they actually make it all the way to the sewer, though chances are they will get caught in a pipe somewhere and just slowly suffocate. And gouramis are actually air breathers, so it would probably last quite a while and just slowly dry out and die. Might be easier on you, but it is not even remotely humane.

Second reason is there is a chance, albeit small, that whatever your fish has will end up in a lake or stream somewhere. Then, oh hey...this entire lake has fish TB and no resistance against it. Oh look, it feeds into this creek, which feeds into the Mississippi river.

Oops.

Might be an exaggeration, but it is far from something that could be dismissed outright.

[stalefish83]

It's sounding more and more like anchor worm is what it was. I feel really bad about flushing him, I don't have the heart to cut his head off but the ice water would have been a much more humane way to go.

Thanks again