# Columnaris Problems



## Sorafish (Sep 15, 2011)

So, after one of my females developed a hole in her mouth and started pretty much rotting away while alive, I figured out that my main take has a rather scary case of Columnaris and my secondary tanks have smaller cases. It seems to be picking off the weakest fish first, so I'm kinda panicked. I know that there are some medicines that can take care of it such as Maracyn, but does anyone have some experience with this bacteria and have some advice on how to make this easier on my fish?
I have cory, otocat and guppies (moms and babies) and I'm not sure if any of these are particularly sensitive to Maracyn...I'm really worried as one of my female cobra just gave birth yesterday and since this is a external bacterial infection, I'm terrified it will become internal...please help!


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

This is nasty stuff, and hard to treat. Cleanliness and medication in combination are your best hope. Those other fish shouldn't have much trouble with the maracyn, but if you can, move them all to a clean new container for treatment. The idea is to get them away from the bacteria.
When the fish are out of the tank, go ahead and tear down the tank, bleach it, and start it over again. ( bleach filter, too )This infection is very hard to eliminate by medicine alone, so you'll actually save yourself a ton of hassle by doing it this way instead of spending weeks trying to just fight it.

Bleach = 10% bleach, 90% water. be sure to get under the rim of the tank. Rinse very thoroughly afterward!!!


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## Sorafish (Sep 15, 2011)

I was very afraid of doing a bleach on the tank, as I've always been told that soap/chemicals were bad for the fish, but now I'm thinking I'm going to need to do just that. I did a aquarium salt soak on the tank, gravel, decs and filter yesterday, as the medicine treatment just finished. Unfortunately, I think I may have misdiagnosed as they haven't gotten better at all and new fish have gotten it. I'm going to try attaching pics I just took. 

Just attached to original post. Please take a look.


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## Sorafish (Sep 15, 2011)

Ok, all three of the fish in the pics are dead now. Can someone PLEASE give a positive diagnosis or confirmation of what they probably have? I've treated for columnaris gram + bacteria as an external infection, as a true fungal, for ick and protizoan, could it be fluke or an internal parasite or something?!?!
Medicine used:
Maracyn 2
Maroxy


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Its really hard to tell from a pic. I had a fish vet tell me the only way to be "sure" of a good diagnosis is to bring her a live fish to dissect and make slides from. Decay, alcohol, formalin, freezing, etc. all destroy 'evidence' pretty quickly. Columnaris usually starts with white fuzz on the lips, but not always. Fin rots and fungus can mimic it. Black mollies are really prone to it, but guppies are susceptible also. Poor water quality beats down a fish's immune system and they can catch anything they've been carrying. 

If you have fish still alive, continue the treatment for the recommended time, the last thing you want is this stuff getting med-resistant. If they've all died, I would defiantly bleach (tank, filter, decor) or toss (gravel and media) stuff and start all over, never buying fish from the source of the first fish.


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## Sorafish (Sep 15, 2011)

All fish are not dead. It seems to be picking off the weak ones. I said that all the infected were dead, but the red female who's tail looks...screwed, to say the least, is still alive and doing fairly good in my hospital tank.
I contemplated it being fin rot and fungus, which is why i've treated for fungus (true fungus) But the white, clearish waste threw me off completely.
I have thus far completed treatments with Maracyn 2, Maroxy(a fungal treatment) and a ich+gram positive protozoan parasite. Also been feeding them a treated medication that is supposed to help fight internal bacteria. The Maracyn 2 was supposed to treat the col. Aside from the two fish that died this last week, the rest are looking perfectly happy after I did a salt soak. My mothers tank (which I also maintain sometimes) is not having so much luck. I did not do a salt soak (she had not approved of the treatment yet) and she has another fish having this problem now. The white fuzz started on another of her fish.


I HAVE noticed something from all of this though, which may help figure out what it is. In all of these fish which developed the white fuzz (which really kinda looks more like a patch of dead scales) its been in the same place on ALL of them, and has not progressed any further before they die. I'm wondering if something is attacking their system/organs? Its been RIGHT above the left fin, between the fin and the dorsal. Is there something special that resides here that may clue me in?


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