Columnaris Diagnosis And Treatment Help! Infected Fish

[aquababy]

Hi Wilder.

I desperately need your help. jollysue recommended you so you must be very good. I have white cloud minnows die alot. They develop a white mark/spot on their lower lip and then hours later the top lip also becomes white. This then spreads slowly to all the face and at this stage the fish can't close their mouths . The fish then become unable to swim and then die. All this can happen within a day . I have one sick minnow at the moment who has developed the white lower lip last night and the top lip became white this morning. He is still swimming and eating. I have been doing weekly water changes and siphon any leftover food once a day. I have 3 neon tetras, 2 rummynoses, 1 bronze cory, 2 panda corys and 2 minnows in the tank. I feed the corys twice a day and the others get fed twice a day but very small amounts. My tank is 28 litres and has an Elite internal filter and a air pump attached to a airistone. It has 3 live plants and one artificial plant. The temperature in my tank was 27c but jollysue suggested reducing it to 21c so I am slowly turning the heater down a tiny bit each time. I have had at least 4 minnows die in this way.
Please please help. I can't quarantine the infected fish because I don't have a quarantine tank. None of the other fish have died in this way except one neon tetra who developed a white bleached look on his back and then died the same day. My other fish look perfectly fine.

 

[WILDER]

Are the fish mouth rotting away.
Antibiotics but they will wipe the benefical bacteria out in the filter.
Once mouth and head regions start to rot away best really to detroy the fish sadly.
http/www.articledepot.co.uk/article-29320.htm

 

[aquababy]

Hi Wilder.

Thanks for reply. Heres a picture of my minnow when she was ill. It was taken shortly before she died.


I have a few more pictures which I'm posting next. I hope they make it easier for you to diagnose the problem. I also have some pictures of the minnows after they died. I'll post those too if thats ok with you.

 

[aquababy]

 

[aquababy]

This is the last picture I took. Sorry its so blurred.

 

[aquababy]

Its so terrible to watch the poor darlings suffer so much and die so painfully. It was so difficult for me to take pictures of her while she was hanging on to her last breaths. All my minnows have died in exactly the same way but all the other fish are ok.
I have managed to get the temperature to 25c but noticed all my other fish were huddled together this morning at the back of the tank where the heater is. Normally the bronze cory and pandas are always sat/sleeping at the front or in their cave Which again is near the front of the tank. Is the water too cold for them?

 

[jollysue]

You may be taking the temp down too fast. Panda temp range is 71 - 77, bronze range 70 - 81.

But maybe give it some time. Everyone has to adjust.

Of course the problem is again that columnaris is generally treated by raising the temp.

 

[Colin_T]

yep the white cloud in the picture definitely has mouth fungus (Columnaris)

 

[jollysue]

fungus/mouth fungus/columnaris

columnaris science

I have by the way effectively treated this innumerable times. It is less successful the more advanced. My preferred treatments are not available in the UK. But I have effectively treated it with salt baths and MelaFix/PimaFix. I have not treated minnows. But asyou can see from the links there are some treatments available in the UK other than antibiotics.

One thing to understand is that these things are generally present in our aquaria. It is stress and tank conditions that lead to virulent outbreaks.

I see that one of the links is an article at a forum. It is so good that I will take the chance and leave it for now. I will look for a safe ay to post it later,

 

[WILDER]

Bless him R.I.P.
The fish that are the worst affected sometimes its just best to end the misery to save the rest.
Columnaris can do internal damage aswell.
When you have a bad strain raise temp and antibiotics.
If no fish are now showing symtoms I would preform some daily water changes, and increase aeration in the tank.

 

[jollysue]

Here is an excerpt from the scientific article linked above. Notice that the columaris bacterium is not tolerant of 1% salt solutions and salt dips are an effective treatment.

It appears that the columnaris disease is under scientific study and the understanding of it is changing rapidly.

the cut and paste summary:

In summary, columnaris disease is a deadly and common disease which can have a catastrophic affect on fish populations; whether the fish are from temperate water, tropical water, brackish water or sea water. The ubiquitous organism can reach epidemic numbers when fish are subjected to stressors e.g. the conditions that commonly occur during the handling and transportation of fish. Currently, F. columnare is said to be the organism responsible for columnaris disease; however there are a number of strain permutations of this species. The most virulent and deadly strain in tropical fish has been identified as AJS1 with the least deadly being AJS4. These strains manifest themselves in slightly different ways; therefore one fish keeper whose stock is suffering from AJS1 may loose his or her entire stock overnight; whilst someone else’s stock that have contracted AJS4 may suffer a lengthy period of infection prior to recovery. Within the range of strains discovered: all are tolerant of higher temperatures than previously believed; all have a lower reproductive rate when exposed to salt solutions from 1% upwards; all are affected by antibiotics in a similar way. If visible symptoms are present, the likelihood that internal damage is occurring is high. The more deadly strains have a higher ability to attach themselves to the gills of their hosts. It is likely that more strain variations will be found as research continues, therefore the important thing to remember is to: keep an open mind; note the symptoms; perform an accurate diagnosis of the gross organism involved using a microscope, or an aquaculture expert; and rapidly follow up with the preferred choice of treatment, whether it be a salt dip, potassium permanganate bath or the use of antibiotics – coupled with: scrupulous tank hygiene and appropriate stocking levels and feeding regimes. Finally, if faced with an emergency and you suspect that your fish may be suffering from a virulent form of columnaris disease, and you neither have access to a microscope or an appropriate expert, the ‘broad spectrum effect’ on a variety of microbes, that can achieved by 2 days of repeated salt dips; coupled with large regular water changes; may have wondrous results – and is certainly worth a try.

 

[WILDER]

Thanks jollysue that was interesting.
I would get the article pinned if you can,.

 

[jollysue]

Thank you Wilder. I have emailed the author for permission to post his article apart from the other forum.

 

[WILDER]

Laurafrog had a bad strain of columnaris she lost quite alot of fish due to it.
Does burn itself out eventually.

 

[jollysue]

I thought that possibly aquababy's continuing problems with her minnows is that she has been keeping them at 27C. which I believe to be very high for minnows. She has apparantly been unable to keep a string of them any more than a few weeks before they die of the disease.

What do you think is the correct approach given that she has no qt tank and has a selection of community fish? Most would do ok around 70 to 74 degrees. She has had some other losses. A few Tetras or something, but I think not the same symptoms.