Columnaris In My Sorority Tank

[jess6905]

i just noticed that one possibly 2 of my females in my sorority tank look like they are just starting to get columnaris!!! what should i do im about to change out some of thier water, but how should i treat this?? the tank is a 15 gallon eclips if that makes any difference. i know this can be a tough desease but i dont want to lose any of my girls, so if you can help at all then please do.

 

[Dibari]

Columnaris is a tough disease, and being that it's flexibacter, not fungus, it needs to be treated as such.
You need to do a waterchange, completely wash the gravel out and add aquarium salt to your tank.
After that, you need to treat with a copper sulfate based medicine, or antibiotics.
If they're in a sorority, remove them immediately and quarantine (If there's enough female bettas that you can remove the two without suffering fighting) (That means atleast 6 females need to be present so you can safely remove 2 without the hierarchy falling apart).
Hope this helps.

 

[jess6905]

thanks i have 12 girls and a place i can put them so i'll do that and go see what i can find in way of medications.

 

[jess6905]

another thing what specific medications do you recomend??

 

[Dibari]

Tetracycline treats columnaris. So does Maracyn..
Super Sulfa says it treats cottony bacterial/fungal infections so It should treat columnaris.
Aaand, I think Myacin.
All of those should be available at local fish stores and Petsmart/Petco.

 

[girl4God81]

I would definately suggest Maracyn 1 and II at the same time! They are gram + and - and will fight it together. I wouldn't try one or the other though, you will need both. I'm treating two of mine with that right now. This is a tough disease and you don't want to mess around with trying out different things too much. These meds are strong and have a good rep for being effective.

 

[slipperysucker]

Hi I have also had this problem in my tank... Very tough indeed. Although I used Pimafix and melafix in conjunction with each other. I ran two courses. It is safe with corries and fry with low dosage and dosnt harm bio filter or plants...also you need to slow filteration etc. My fish are all extremely healthy now. I now have a new 30 litre fry tank as all my gups and plattys have been thriving and dropping. I think my corries are now mating too. What Im saying is I know these products work without fail. I myself went through mis-diagnoses twice before finding right disease and treatment.

If you are in Australia Pimafix and Melafix should be easy to find. These products treat for fungas and bacteria.

G'Luck

 

[Dibari]

Hi I have also had this problem in my tank... Very tough indeed. Although I used Pimafix and melafix in conjunction with each other. I ran two courses. It is safe with corries and fry with low dosage and dosnt harm bio filter or plants...also you need to slow filteration etc. My fish are all extremely healthy now. I now have a new 30 litre fry tank as all my gups and plattys have been thriving and dropping. I think my corries are now mating too. What Im saying is I know these products work without fail. I myself went through mis-diagnoses twice before finding right disease and treatment.

If you are in Australia Pimafix and Melafix should be easy to find. These products treat for fungas and bacteria.

G'Luck

I'm afraid I'm going to have to disagree with you.
Melafix is not meant to stop columnaris - It's a tonic for open wounds and sores, and it's awfully bad for bettas.
The tea tree oil it's made from coats their gills and makes it very difficult for them to breathe.

Pima fix is not made from tea tree oil, so I don't know much about it.
But no, please no melafix on your bettas. It's just no good for them.

 

[jess6905]

thanks guys i'll have to remember them when i go to the store later tonight.

 

[slipperysucker]

Hi I have also had this problem in my tank... Very tough indeed. Although I used Pimafix and melafix in conjunction with each other. I ran two courses. It is safe with corries and fry with low dosage and dosnt harm bio filter or plants...also you need to slow filteration etc. My fish are all extremely healthy now. I now have a new 30 litre fry tank as all my gups and plattys have been thriving and dropping. I think my corries are now mating too. What Im saying is I know these products work without fail. I myself went through mis-diagnoses twice before finding right disease and treatment.

If you are in Australia Pimafix and Melafix should be easy to find. These products treat for fungas and bacteria.

G'Luck

I'm afraid I'm going to have to disagree with you.
Melafix is not meant to stop columnaris - It's a tonic for open wounds and sores, and it's awfully bad for bettas.
The tea tree oil it's made from coats their gills and makes it very difficult for them to breathe.

Pima fix is not made from tea tree oil, so I don't know much about it.
But no, please no melafix on your bettas. It's just no good for them.

Sorry for that....i dont know about bettas... I do know about guppies etc...I know it worked for them when they had saddleback columnaris...my tank is healthy now.

Like I said I know nothing about Bettas...sorry again. Im glad you were able to amend that for me...ta