Gerald Bassleer examines a Pelvicachromis cichlid with bacterial infection and tubercles in the spleen and liver, likely Mycobacterium. The fish shows tail rot and gill damage under the microscope. Once fish tuberculosis reaches the organs, treatment options are limited and euthanasia is often necessary.
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Hello, dear aquarist, welcome again to one of my videos on fish diseases. And maybe you are a Chiclet lover, a Chiclet hobbyist. Because this video I will talk about Pelvica chromis cribensis, the Cribensis chiclet, a West African cichlid which is common in the aquarium hobby. And I will show you my findings with the help of a microscope. That tells me, well, what to diagnose and then what actions I can take. And today this Cribensis had a bacterial infection and tubercles in the organs most likely caused by fish tuberculosis. My books on fish diseases talk about cichlids. I have a specific chapter on cichlids. And I also talk about fish tuberculosis or mycobacterium. My books are available in different languages. Maybe also your language. Check on the link here. Below. Here is the Cribensis separating from the group. Getting darker in color. Had fin damage. Is wasting away. In the next hours he will die. And every day one was dying. Here is another one which is going to die maybe in two days or tomorrow or tonight. Something to watch for. The fish are telling you something. Hey, I'm wasting away. All my other friends in the aquarium are still okay for today, but not tomorrow or next week. So time for examination. So we took out this one. We saw the damage of the fins. We saw how very skinny this fish was. Time to examine. And we found tail rod. That's how tail rod looks like in a microscope. We saw the gills. Look at this. Part of the gills is completely gone due to a bacterial infection, which I call Gillmonia. This part of the gill gum by a bacterial infection. The internal organs. Here on the right we see the spleen with all tubercles. On the left here we see the liver with a large tubercle. And many other tubercles. Taking away healthy organs, damaging the organs. If fish is really badly infected. So bacterial infection can be treated for the gills. But the cause is the weakening of the fish due to the damaged organs, which are filled with tubercles. And many tubercles most likely are caused by. By Mycobacterium fish tuberculosis. You can send the fish to the laboratory and they can confirm in a couple of days. But it cost you money. Our findings checking fish diseases, checking studies done and reports and scientific references. Many cases tuberculos are caused by Mycobacterium, but also by other bacteria. Cannot exclude that, but a lab can confirm. Problem is, it's hard to treat. The burkers are encapsulated in the organs and no antibiotic or bacterial treatment can help. Luckily some of the fish are not so badly affected and the ones which are so badly affected like the black one here, less chance that it can be cured. So better to take it out and euthanize it at the same time. You can help the fish which are still eating and doing pretty well. You can help to improve the immunity and repair the fish with Dr. Basley or biofish food, Fuko or Forte. Get my books. If you don't have them yet, they teach you a more more detailed lesson on paper on fish diseases. Or go to my Patreon where I prepared classes and specific training on diagnosing on carantining fish. Many preventing fish diseases, many things that you can learn to become a better aquarist. So because you are watching this video, I'm happy because it made you today again a little bit more advanced acrist who understands fizz diseases. Thank you for watching.
