Red Gills On Rainbow (not Ammonia!)

Hi. I'm looking for some opinions. Here are my numbers:

Tank size: 55 Gallons
pH: 7.4
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 10
tank temp: 74F 23C

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior):
Red mark on gill area. Poor appetite.

Volume and Frequency of water changes: 20%/Week

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:
Maracyn2 and Tetracycline. Aquasafe. Melafix. 10 tablespoons Aquarium Salt.

Tank inhabitants: 4 Boesmani Rainbows (Now 3). 2 Kribs. 10 feeder sized convicts soon to be removed. I had the feeders in there for 2 weeks AFTER the tank was cycled fishless.

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): Those very same 4 Boesmani Rainbows and 2 Kribs


One of the Rainbows I purchased from the LPS was infected either with a mouth fungus or Flexibacter (Columnaris) as soon as I got him home. My bet is on the Columnaris. In any case the one died withing 24 hours in the hospital tank. The remaining 3 Rainbows are not eating too well and have very red gills. The 2 Kribs seem to be doing fine. I've included some camera phone pics of the Boesmani's.

I am treating the whole tank with Maracyn2 and Tetracycline which should cover any Columnaris and secondary bacteria that remained. Any other ideas on what could be going on or other treatments I should consider for the current problem. I am only on Day 2 of the antibiotic treatment. As noted above I do not have an ammonia problem and I have added extra bubblers. Any opinions welcome!

The tetracycline would of been enough of its own as its a gram neg and gram pos antibiotic.
With using the maracyn aswell you could be over dosing the fish.

If water quality is good red gills can be bacterial gill rot or gill flukes.

Signs of flukes are.
Pale gills with excess mucas or red inflamed gills.
Opaque body with excess slime.
Flicking and rubbing.
Darting around the tank or erratic swimming.
Gasping at surface of tank or laboured breathing.
Sores on the body of the fish.
Swimming in a jerky movement.
Spitting food out.
Wieighloss sometimes.

Also antibiotics wipe the benefical bacteria out in your filter.
The ammonia problem before of after the meds.
As ammonia reading can cause red gills in fish.

Thanks for responding.

The only symptom my fish have for gill flukes is the redness. This leads me to believe that
it is most likely bacterial. I do admit that looking at other pics on the net it looks like an ammonia problem, but I test daily with
different test kits and ammonia is a solid 0. So far the antibiotics are not causing the tank to minicycle or otherwise.

I suppose that at the end of the 5 days of antibiotic treatment I could try some Fluke Tabs, but like I say the fish are not flicking or scratching
whatsoever.

If there showing no other flukes signs it dosn't sound like flukes.
Red gills can mean bad water quality, gill flukes, bacterial gill rot.

Is there enough aeration in the tank.
Have you had an ammonia reading before you added the meds.
I wouldn't add anymore maracyn the tetracycline fine on its own.
You either use maracyn one and two together, but never use it with another antibiotic.
The tetracycline will wipe most of the benefical bacteria out in your filter, thats why it should only be used in isolation.

Wilder said:

If there showing no other flukes signs it dosn't sound like flukes.
Red gills can mean bad water quality, gill flukes, bacterial gill rot.

Is there enough aeration in the tank.
Have you had an ammonia reading before you added the meds.
I wouldn't add anymore maracyn the tetracycline fine on its own.
You either use maracyn one and two together, but never use it with another antibiotic.
The tetracycline will wipe most of the benefical bacteria out in your filter, thats why it should only be used in isolation.

Click to expand...

I've read where TC and Maracyn2 were used in combo for Flex. So far my numbers are as good as when I got them.
Plenty of aeration. 1 bubble wand, 1 other bubbler, and lots of aeration from the HOB with lowered water levels.

0 Ammonia
0 Nitrite
5 Nitrate after a WC

I did the water change because I've given up trying to help these fish. One developed some cotton on the nose today
similar to the first fish and the others still have the red gill. Hopefully the 4 days of treatment killed all the bad bugs in the
tank because 2 Kribs remain. Any suggestion on what my next step should be concerning the tank? I'm thinking of tearing it down
and sterilizing and moving the Kribs to a isolation tank for 2 weeks. Think this is necessary? Should my filter now be cleaned (disinfected)
as well?

All opinions appreciated.

I don't know who's told you to use to meds when tetracycline treats both gram and pos bacteria.
No the filter should be fine as the antibiotics should of wipe the bad bacteria away.
The filter will need cycling again due to using the antibiotics.



Tetracycline
Manufacturer: Aquatronics
A broad-spectrum antibiotic used in the treatment of gram-positive and some gram-negative bacterial infections. For infections of fin and tail rot, frayed fins, popeye, inflamed gills, mouth and body open sores/ulcers, livebearer disease, dropsy, Columnaris, and secondary infections such as fungal. Specific for livebearers and goldfish. Aerate the aquarium well when using. Useful for the control of some common bacterial diseases, including Aeromonias and Pseudomonas Genera and the Mysobacterial group.

The idea is that the TC is used to treat the Columnaris and that the M2 is used to treat any secondary infections that frequently develop. Also, TC and especially M2 have not been known to have a major effect on the cycle... and so far I have had no effect there.

Edit: I may have it backwards. It possibly could be M2 for Columnaris and TC for secondary infections.

See this for the explicits: Flexibacter

Wilder said:

I don't know who's told you to use to meds when tetracycline treats both gram and pos bacteria.
No the filter should be fine as the antibiotics should of wipe the bad bacteria away.
The filter will need cycling again due to using the antibiotics.



Tetracycline
Manufacturer: Aquatronics
A broad-spectrum antibiotic used in the treatment of gram-positive and some gram-negative bacterial infections. For infections of fin and tail rot, frayed fins, popeye, inflamed gills, mouth and body open sores/ulcers, livebearer disease, dropsy, Columnaris, and secondary infections such as fungal. Specific for livebearers and goldfish. Aerate the aquarium well when using. Useful for the control of some common bacterial diseases, including Aeromonias and Pseudomonas Genera and the Mysobacterial group.

Click to expand...