Your guppy is curled up because it is suffering from scoliosis or fish tuberculosis. Both these diseases are incurable and many times they are even hereditary.
Guppy fish are likely to develop this disease in their adulthood and if the breeding is done in unscientific manner then most likely they will have this disease when they are born.
This disorder is considered as incurable in guppies and most of the times the fish is euthanized. As per wikipedia Euthanasia means ending life intentionally to relieve pain and suffering. There are ways to do this so that least pain is exerted on the animal and is considered the last option when every other treatment fails.
What are the primary causes of curled back in guppies?
- As mentioned earlier “inbreeding” is the most common reason why guppies are born with a bent spine. As per wikipeaid inbreeding means breeding the fish that are closely related genetically.
- If not inbreeding this disease is likely to be in a guppy if his parents are affected by this spinal condition. This means this disease or condition is hereditary. Because this condition can pass on to next generations many times it is advisable to prevent the fish with this spinal condition from breeding so that the cycle breaks and fish die with this condition with them and don’t pass it to another fish.
- Extremely poor tank and water conditions can cause great amount of stress in fish and they are likely to catch this disease quickly because of low immunity. That’s why following a strict cleaning and maintenance schedule is must in any tank.
- Poorly maintained tanks have less oxygen and high levels of toxic gases because rate of change of water is very low. In such conditions all types of diseases are likely to catch the fish very quickly.
- The bacteria that is responsible for the bent spine disorder is the same that cause Fish Tuberculosis (Fish TB) and is present in extremely poorly maintained tanks. Fish that are infected with TB also have bent spine just like this condition called as “scoliosis”.
- Females can develop this spine condition after pregnancy due to pressure of the fry.
The problem with fish TB is that the bacteria can live in fish body for more than week to a month. This makes it difficult to detect TB in fish. Normal practice is that when you buy a new fish you must quarantine him for at least 30 days so that you can detect fish diseases, but in case of fish TB, it becomes a little difficult to detect this.
Once the bacteria causing TB gets matured enough, this disease gets developed really fast and is highly contagious to other fish as well as humans. If fish gets affected with TB it cannot be cured and only way left is Euthanasia, which means to pass him away with as humanly method as possible. Since this disease is highly contagious, it is best to do this in a quarantine tank.
What are symptoms of scoliosis?
Guppy fish is born with this disorder will have bent spine in the form of “S” or “C” shape. He or she will feel great difficulty in swimming like normal fish and in most case other fish will bully him often.
Because of this bullying, his life is miserable and will soon develop extremely low immunity and catch up with other most common diseases.
What can I do to cure “bent spine” of my guppy?
Unfortunately you can’t do anything to cure this disorder but to leave him to die as humanly as possible.
Some people suggest allow guppy fry that are affected with this disorder to live with adult guppy fish so that they will eaten one day and end this suffering once and for all.
The worst part is if this disease is caused because of TB then this can quickly spread in the entire tank and every other fish and the next generation will have this disorder in them genetically.
Is you guppy suffering from “scoliosis” or “Tuberculosis”?
These two are different diseases but the bacteria that causes TB also causes scoliosis and that’s why many times a bent spine is misinterpreted a TB in fish.
Let’s have a look at what are differences in the symptoms of both these fish related diseases.
Symptoms of Fish TB
- Loss of strength.
- Lethargic movements and weakness
- Belly is sunken
- Bent spine
- Fins start to erode
- Skin deformations
- Extremely weak apatite
Symptoms of Fish scoliosis
- Bent spine
- Difficulty in swimming normally
Is this disease contagious in guppy fish?
Yes, this disease is highly contagious if it is because of fish TB. That is why when you see any guppy fry or an adult fish getting developed with such abnormal spinal deformations you should immediately shift him to a hospital tank and start medications. Scoliosis in fish is even hereditary and transform from one generation to the next.
That is why many times fry with this disorder from the birth are either purposefully kept with an adult aggressive fish so that he can eat them or such fry is strictly prevented from breeding/mating so that the disease does not transform to the next generation.
This sounds cruel from human perspective but in the fish keeping community it is considered that living with a bent spinal cord is like living in hell for a fish point of view because such fish are constantly attacked by bigger and stronger ones and live an extremely scary and stressful life because of these attacks. Because of living under constant stress such weaker fish easily attract several other diseases and live a poor life.
In such cases it becomes necessary to purposefully end their life using as human methods as possible and end their suffering. Such ending a life intentionally to end pain and suffering is called as Euthanasia.
How to prevent this disease in adult fish?
You can’t do anything when guppy fry is born with bent spine but you can do a lot to prevent this disorder developing in adult guppies.
1) If you find one or more of fish has developed a bent spine then immediately shift them to a new tank or hospital tank and see how you can humanly help them pass away without pain or harassment. Unfortunately anti-biotics won’t help much in restoring this disorder.
This is especially true if you see symptoms of Tuberculosis in fish. TB in fish develops fast and even spreads fast. Once it gets spread in the entire tank it becomes extremely difficult to control. By shifting the affected fish to a hospital tank you can prevent other adult guppies catching the disease.
2) Maintain a strict schedule of cleaning your tank. This one habit itself will take care of most of your health related issues. Aquarium fish whether they are guppies or any other tropical and freshwater species are practically living in a toxic gas chamber because of the solid waste (poop) that gets generated by fish every day after eating food.
By cleaning the tank you are doing a “partial water change” that helps to maintain levels of toxic dissolved gases in fish tank water and form a healthy habitat for fish to live happily.
Tanks that are not maintained have extremely high levels of toxic gases which exert lots of stress on fish and fish under stress have highly weak immunity. A weak immune system in any living animal is a sure way to catch up disease quickly.
3) Keep a habit of visually observing your fish behavior. This includes their natural movement, skin colors, eating habits, playing with each other’s, their aggression under certain conditions, mating and breeding habits etc.
Any sudden change in water conditions or diseases will affect their behavior. Many times fish are carrying a disease but it takes months to develop to a stage that is visually visible from outside. But by that time the disease has progressed so much that it sometimes becomes out of control and even harmful to the entire community. In such cases keeping a habit of observation helps a lot
4) Always put newly bought fish first in a quarantine tank for at least 30 days. This helps to prevent spreading the disease to the main tank if the newly fish are already sick or carrying any disease within them.
Most of the times fish bought from a pet store are under stress and carrying some kind of bacterial, parasites or worms within their body. You never know at what stage the disease has developed in the new fish that it can transfer to the entire tank.
Euthanasia of fish is emotionally painful, is there any other way?
Yes, letting your lovely fish to die is certainly painful and is inhuman. But many people look at it the other way round. It is better to help him end life than to live in pain and suffer a lot. It’s like living in hell with stress and fear all life.
You can avoid these practices if you have emotional attachment to your fish
- Removing them out of water so that they suffocate and die
- Let bigger and stronger fish eat them one by one
- Boil them in hot water
All these will immediately kill your adult fish or fry. There are easier ways to end their life that are considered slightly less painful.
The method is to add clove oil to separate fish tank where you can have all the affected guppies shifted to. When clove oil is mixed in water fish lose consciousness and eventually die because they stop breathing. For this the dosage of clove oil recommended is 400 mg/litre of water.