Columnaris

[Abbeys_Mom]

I give up! I've had it! This is the second time I have got this sickness in my tank! The last time Columnaris showed up I lost $200 worth of fish. The stupid male dwarf gourami has the first signs of it. Now I am going to lose all my fish that I just bought. Back to just a 10g and a pleco, I'd say, in about a week from now. Stupid pet store with their sick fish! I am not going to bother treating them, I know it's horrible to just let them die, but it's $12 worth of fish and $10+tax for the stupid medication. Of course I don't have any laying around, I have everything but. THIS is why I got rid of my larger tanks. If it's not one thing, it's another.
P.S. I refrained from swearing, but it's certainly warranted.

[Nautilus291]

What exactly does this sickness do to your fish?

[Lady Hobbs]

Well, when I read your post, I swore for you so you won't need to know.

This is a pretty easy disease to treat. My shark had it once and it 3 days it was gone after treatment. Come on now. Be nice to your fishies. You are a softie, I know.

[Lady Hobbs]

Hi Adam, it's a fungal disease of the mouth. Fish get to where they can't eat.

[Nautilus291]

ok, thanks for the info.

[jeffs99dime]

here you go. i didn't write this--

Articles: Columnaris Disease
(Flexibacter columnaris, Cytophaga columnaris, Bacillus columnaris)

In many cases, we receive calls from customers stating that they have white wavy worm-like parasites attached to the glass in the aquarium that tend to sway back and forth with the water circulation in the aquarium. Often, the fish do not seem to be affected at this stage. Given time for this disease to spread, the infestations usually begin on the fins, which usually become frayed and ragged. The disease will spread to the skin, eventually causing ulcerations and irregular areas of epidermal loss. Aeromonas hydrophila is commonly present in advanced lesions and contributes to the pathology.

In the gills, Flexibacter Columnaris will color them light to dark brown and you will also notice some necrosis. On the skin, the fish will appear to have mold growing on it, with a slight cottony look, due to a fungal infection that has attacked the lesions and ulcerations. The lesions and ulcerations in advanced stages are usually infected with a secondary motile aeromonad. So as you can see, here is a situation where you have multiple infections present.

Flexibacter Columnaris can persist in water for up to 32 days when the hardness is 50ppm or more, but a hardness of 10ppm reduces viability considerably. The addition of carbon to the system increases the survival of this disease in hard water, but this is not the case in soft water.

Columnaris is prevelant in systems with high organic loads, crowded conditions, handling and low dissolved oxygen content. Lesions generally develop in 24 to 48 hours following handling, followed by death at 48 to 72 hours if not treated.

Treatment and Control:

For a purely external infestation, when there are not any secondary bacterial infections present, Potassium Permanganate or Forma-Green will work well.

In cases of multiple infections, it is suggested to give the fish a bath in Postassium Permanganate or Forma-Green and thereafter, treating with antibiotics such as: Oxytetracycline, Oxolinic Acid, or a sulfa drug combination such as TMP Sulfa. The antibiotics will need to be used on the fish for 10-14 days depending on the severity of the infection. The antibiotics may either be used in the water (as a long term bath), or mixed into the feed (suggested). By mixing the antibiotics into the feed, you may continue to treat the fish externally with the Potassium Permanganate or Forma-Green. This treatment strategy will work well if started in the early stages of this disease.

[Abbeys_Mom]

The problem is that it is a quick disease, by the time you notice it's usually got a good hold. I have some malachite green for parasites and some anti-fungal, but no anti-biotic. The infection is a bacteria, so I am out of luck. It eventually invades the internal organs causing death, Quickly too. By the time I get out to the pet store tomorrow, it will be too late to save the fish I have. It's my husbands birthday and I don't want to spoil it with an emergency trip to the store. I already kicked my daughters step-stool in a fit of anger and I think I pretty much done now. I just don't have it in me to deal with it right now. Maybe I'll get some more fish after Christmas. Who knows, maybe I'll just lose the one fish and the rest will be ok.

[kimmers318]

Well, Abbeysmom.....can I get you to help us at least get some good from your bad? A brief description of what you saw previous, how you treated and what made you realize you had it again, and if you tried anything to rid the tank of the disease after the last death. Pictures with that cool new digital camera of yours would help alot of people who can't always picture something til they see it. This information might be extremely helpful to any of us who might encounter something like this in the future.

[jeffs99dime]

yeah. can you please post some pics of it as kimmers stated? i'm interested in learning more about this subject. thanks--jeff

[Abbeys_Mom]

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i162/MacawCichlid/1.jpg
It started with the way he held his mouth open. There is a small lesion on the left side on his lower lip, it won't show up in the pics. This pic however does show the beginnings of the lesion on his side. It protrudes from his body and doesn't look like ick, more like a pimple. I just noticed the lesion when I went to take pictures of him. He's still eating and looks fine, but I know from past experience that it comes on really quick. Like ick, once you have seen it, you know EXACTLY what to look for and can spot it right away. I will take more pictures as things escalate.

It won't be long till he is cover in lesions and fuzzy patches.

[jeffs99dime]

thank you abbeysmom! i hope he gets better.:ezpi_wink1:

[jeffs99dime]

you should make this an article. it's definitely worthy! good job

[kimmers318]

Not that I want to see your fish suffer, and I truly hope you win the battle this time, but I am curiously waiting for future pics like a storybook following the disease. I haven't ever seen it in person (Thank God!) but would love to have the knowledge of recognizing it if needed. I know that until I saw a male dwarf puffer in person I could not begin to picture exactly how a male looked...now I can spot them quite easily.