Columnaris is vicious

[BettaMomma]

3 of my girls have been attacked with it.
Each of them is in her own hospital tank now - the rest seem to be doing fine.
Steady temp of 75 degrees in each tank, giving them maracyn, a tad bit of salt and some colloidal.

Millie is looking great - she's been on meds for 7 days.
Cloey just went into quarantine yesterday - she looks okay.
Nellie had the grey/white spots on her head - moved her yesterday, too.
Looked her over good this morning, not worse but not better. Then I went out for a while, came back and she has (after just a couple of hours!) nasty stringy stuff hanging off her tail & fins.

Does anyone else have any magical treatment that worked well for them, or do I just keep doing what I'm doing?

 

[wuvmybetta]

Your fish seem to be having one problem after the other. What does your PH test at? Something must be terribly wrong with the water...

EDIT~ also, I know you're a big fan of heaters (which I'm not) what do you usually keep the temperature at? I see you finally got the silver (missed that the first time!) what ppm is it and how much are you using?

 

[Styx]

My sister's female betta fish, Dynasty, has it. We're treating with tetracycline in fairly cool water. I'll let you know how she's fairing.

 

[3fsh]

Ack!!! That's one thing I forgot to tell you... TURN DOWN THE TEMPERATURE!!! Keep it as low as possible. This will slow the disease down. I would also recommend large doses of Stress Coat. Hope the little girlies are feeling well soon!

 

[GSD]

hope it clears up soon good luck

 

[Raechal]

I hope your girls pull through. My mom's 55 gallon had a columnaris outbreak. One tiger barb died because I had no idea they had it, and one Black skirt tetra died after being isolated in a hospital tank for 3 days. He was treated with salt and maracyn. The last thing that happened to him before he died was that his eyes bulged out of his head and his skin started to kind of peel near his tailfin. It turned white and red.

I hope your girls get better, they sound like they aren't too bad right now. I think I was already too late for the black skirt when I started treating him.

I also lowered the temp to about 72

 

[WILDER]

I agree with turning the temp down, as bacteria thrives in warm water, good luck, hope they pull through, a few salt baths should help out also.

 

[mrplaty]

if you dont have heaters how can you guarentee the temp your tanks are at???

 

[wuvmybetta]

if you dont have heaters how can you guarentee the temp your tanks are at???

I firmly believe that when it comes to bettas- fluctuation is OK and makes them more resistant.If you're comfortable, then your fish are too. My fishroom starts off at 72'ish in the am and jets up to 82, then back down to the low 70's at night, my fish are more than fine. When the temp gets up to 80'ish though they act like they're dying Not really, but they're clearly miserable. I don't think one steady temperature without any change is good for them. Just my opinion though
I keep my big tanks heater-less during the spring and summer, they fluctuate willy nilly and my fish don't even notice.

 

[BettaMomma]

Okay, lots of things to answer here -
Keep in mind that part of the reason it seems like I have sick fish all the time over other people is because I always buy them that way. lol

Charlie's velvet - that was my own fault, I slacked off on water changes.
The issue w/the sick girls now are Gary's fault. He got in the tank, ate off all my plants, I took them out, and since the cycling was at the very tail end, there was a spike of some sort and they got sick.

The other fish I have who had major problems were Archie and Harvey. And their problems were all attributed to temp fluctuations. I had them in tanks with just the little mini hydor heaters - and their temps varied almost 10 degrees in a day, then back and forth and they just completely hated it. They both ended up eating their tails off, Harvey ended up with some sort of infection that wound up permanently damaging one of his gill rakers, and Archie just ate his tail and dorsal half off because he was so miserable. I said screw it one day, and went out and got them a 10G divided tank, they're now at a steady 78 degree temp and both of their tails have grown back very nicely and Archie's made the biggest bubble nest I've seen of any of my fish. I guess this also depends on the fish - wuv says her temps fluctuate and her fish do just fine, so some fish can tolerate it I guess, some can't. Maybe mine are just fussy wussies, who knows.

Other than that right now, everyone's doing just fine. Jack is beautifully healthy even tho we pay hardly any attention to the poor guy. Louis the blind-as-a-bat betta is doing fabulously in his sans-decor little tank (so he doesn't hurt himself on anything), Archie and Harvey LOVE their new tank and are doing very well in it, Six and Jasper are fabulously healthy too. My 3 remaining girls in the big tank seem to be perfectly healthy still, too.

As for the 75 degrees - I read on several sites that you should "lower the temp to 75, anything less than that doesn't really help"... so should I go lower than 75? I just picked that temp because I saw it repeatedly??

wuv - my pH is always high, it always has been. It consistently tests out at 8.4. It's never fluctuated and I thought that steady pH was okay, based on things I've read and heard. Is that anything I need to worry about or do anything about?
Dosage for the colloidal. I asked Sorrell for advice, and ws told w/the 550 ppm strength, to put in 8 drops for 5 gallons. That's what I've been doing. And for the most part, everyone's tank stays at 78 degrees all the time.

also - the girls are ALL improving. Nellie's white stringy stuff is all gone today, and Millie appears to have made a full recovery, even tho she's going to stay in the hospital tank for a full 10 days. Cloey's spots haven't gotten any worse (She's white to begin with so they're hard to see) but they look like they're starting to get better.

Hopefully it's the beginning of the end of the illnesses. Uugh.

 

[WILDER]

Encourage bacterial diversity in the aquarium. This may be unfamiliar advice. I encourage bacterial diversity in several ways. I add a pint of water drawn from a fish-free plant nursery to each aquarium, from time to time. I also vary water temperatures, keeping within comfortable tolerance ranges of the fish, of course; after a couple of months at 77°F, for instance, I might re-set the heater to 74°F for six weeks or so. Why? Well, our constant thermostatically-controlled temperatures favor the success of whatever strains of bacteria are the most ideally-suited to that particular temperature. Mycobacteria marinum reproduces best in the lab at a steamy 33°C. Varying the temperature may avoid inadvertent culturing of dominant strains of bacteria. Seasonal variation of temperature--— within the limits tolerated by the fish--— seems to have a protective effect: Dr. H. Reichenbach-Klinke was suggesting in the 1960s (Diseases of Fishes, TFH, 1965, p. 23), "Obviously the adaptability of the fish has to be considered, but attempts to protect them by varying their temperature seem to be well worth while." I think we've ignored this sound old-fashioned advice, which I first read in William T. Innes' Exotic Aquarium Fishes. As far as tropical fishes are concerned, the difference between surface waters in a slow-moving stream at dawn and at mid-afternoon may be as great as any seasonal differences. "Night is the winter of tropical waters," I recently read.

I am not the writer of this article.

 

[BettaMomma]

That's really interesting stuff.

I suppose it makes sense - sort of like in humans when people say that it's best to have kids play with other kids at an early age so they're exposed to germs and things from other kids, so they can build up their tolerances and immune systems.

I wonder if the fluctuations were just too often and too severe for Archie and Harvey, maybe and that's why they had so many issues with it... Hmm...

 

[cerulean]

Encourage bacterial diversity in the aquarium. This may be unfamiliar advice. I encourage bacterial diversity in several ways. I add a pint of water drawn from a fish-free plant nursery to each aquarium, from time to time. I also vary water temperatures, keeping within comfortable tolerance ranges of the fish, of course; after a couple of months at 77°F, for instance, I might re-set the heater to 74°F for six weeks or so. Why? Well, our constant thermostatically-controlled temperatures favor the success of whatever strains of bacteria are the most ideally-suited to that particular temperature. Mycobacteria marinum reproduces best in the lab at a steamy 33°C. Varying the temperature may avoid inadvertent culturing of dominant strains of bacteria. Seasonal variation of temperature--— within the limits tolerated by the fish--— seems to have a protective effect: Dr. H. Reichenbach-Klinke was suggesting in the 1960s (Diseases of Fishes, TFH, 1965, p. 23), "Obviously the adaptability of the fish has to be considered, but attempts to protect them by varying their temperature seem to be well worth while." I think we've ignored this sound old-fashioned advice, which I first read in William T. Innes' Exotic Aquarium Fishes. As far as tropical fishes are concerned, the difference between surface waters in a slow-moving stream at dawn and at mid-afternoon may be as great as any seasonal differences. "Night is the winter of tropical waters," I recently read.

I am not the writer of this article.

this makes a lot of sense. if we check the weather in the area they are native the weather there does fluctuate, as it does everywhere, sometimes quite a bit which would also mean the water temp fluctuates. all species of everything adapt to their surroundings otherwise they become extinct. i also agree totally with Wuv. all the other types of fish i've ever had i've NEVER worried about them being sick and jumping right in and putting them in a hospital tank, making sure i've had medicines handy and have always just run heaters in the winter only if it's cold. i have had very few problems with other types of fish and the fluctuations, they are now and in the past amazingly healthy. an occassional tank problem would occur but it was/is rare. the bettas have been getting "special" treatment, medicines and hospital tanks, regular heat, and guess what. they are getting sick more often. granted, i am purchasing them sick so i'm starting out behind but i definately feel that too much medicine, especially on a regular or constant basis, is a bad thing and can lower resistance. actually, all the fish are coming from lfs or chains so none are/were probably healthy in the beginning lol, so it's truly the same thing, the bettas are no different. none of any types of fish were bought from a breeder who had taken care of them. i'm reverting to the same thoughts for the bettas as the other fish - so far it's proven true with the boys.

Archie and Harvey could have had other problems that weren't immediately visible, such as something internal or who knows what (considering the conditions you found them in) and it wasn't actually the temperature that did it. all we really can do is try to make a good judgement of what is wrong

 

[BettaMomma]

I'm almost positive their issues were, at least partially, due to temps.
There was an incident way before all of that where I O.D.'d them on MelaFix (before I found out you need to use different dosages w/bettas than regular fish) and so they were in a bit of rough shape from that, but the temp fluctuations proved to be way too much for them and they could not heal from ANYTHING until they got their temps regulated.
It didn't start occurring until the dead of winter when the temps started dropping here (below zero) every single night, and therefore making our temps in here hovering around 70. Then, by mid-day they were up in the high 70's. They both showed the exact same signs - tailbiting and all. Once they were put into the steady temps, problem solved.

I do have a couple of fish at work who are at the mercy of room temperature, but thankfully it's a central heating system there that keeps the temps very steady and they're all (except Charlie which was my fault) completely healthy.

So - after all that, I'm sorry in advance if I've pissed anyone off - it seems as if I've been very good at that lately. I really think I might just start keeping my fishy ventures to myself from this point forward - it seems like everyone has different opinions on how to do it right and I really don't want to offend, irritate or annoy anyone anymore.

 

[wuvmybetta]

Why would you think that a difference of opinion would piss anybody off? It's not the first time people have begged to differ around here.

Anyway,hopefully the silver is working for the girls. Don't be scared to go crazy with it. Your PH is really high, maybe add some blackwater extract or Amazon Rain to your water, if possible. It would help a lot.