Is a bacterial infections contagious to other fish?

[Charles]

My yellow tang is still a little red. His behavior is much better and he is eating. I have him in a QT tank that is not cycled. INow that he is better I would like to put him in my cycled QT with my other fish but I do not want to infect them. Can they get a bacterial infections from him or not?

 

[leebca]

It depends on the conditon of the fishes and the type of bacteria. If the bacteria are of the 'opportunistic' kind (that is, they infect weakened fishes) and your other fishes are not being fed properly or stressed from water quality issues or some other reason(s), then 'Yes.' If the fishes are healthy then, 'No.'

If the bacteria are of the kind that it doesn't matter if the fish is healthy or not, then the answer is, 'Yes.'

The problem is, we can't tell which/what kind of bacteria it is and I'm not too confident your other fishes are as healthy as they should/could be.

 

[DaveK]

When your in doubt about the condition of a fish, keep it in QT and don't try to mix it with other fish, even if they are also in QT. You went to a lot of trouble to get the tang back to where it is now. Don't rush things and risk blowing the whole deal.

 

[fishguy4]

When your in doubt about the condition of a fish, keep it in QT and don't try to mix it with other fish, even if they are also in QT. You went to a lot of trouble to get the tang back to where it is now. Don't rush things and risk blowing the whole deal.

So true. That has happened to me way too much but I came across RS and now ive been doin great! Hope ur fish gets better but like Dave said when in doubt QT!