Columnaris Wiping Out Tank...Help!

[Silencedogood]

I think and look this is my opinion and I will probably get shot down for it would be to put the fish in a paper towel and put it out of it’s misery that way. The poor little sweets still have to go through the pain of the flesh eating disease eating it’s little body while slowly dying in a freezer to me that’s cruel in this situation, no offence Colin but I’d know you understand what I mean.
I’m so sorry about you fish, I was devastated reading your posts and seeing pictures.

Keep the salt in the water for at least 2 weeks and up to 4 weeks.

no it doesn't burn their gills.

Thank you. I haven't had any fish die today and this is after I added all of that salt yesterday. I'm relieved that it has slowed down a little. I found a guppy in my 30 gallon that has the same thing I can't really add too much salt to my 30 gal because it is planted. I recently treated with Furan-2 and I'm not sure why it is in that tank as everything has been separate.

@Colin_T will Maracyn-2 work on this?

 

[Aussie_Bristle]

Thank you. I haven't had any fish die today and this is after I added all of that salt yesterday. I'm relieved that it has slowed down a little. I found a guppy in my 30 gallon that has the same thing I can't really add too much salt to my 30 gal because it is planted. I recently treated with Furan-2 and I'm not sure why it is in that tank as everything has been separate.

@Colin_T will Maracyn-2 work on this?

My tank is heavy planted and I use salt with no reaction but Colin will be your best person to ask for measurements with how much

 

[Colin_T]

no idea if maracyn will work.

Use 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres on the plant tank. The plants will be fine.

 

[Silencedogood]

Update:
One of my juvenile mollies died last night. I'm not sure why; none of my mollies or swordtails have any external signs.
I just received the Maracyn-2 and it specifically says that it treats Flavobacterium columnare bacteria so I hope it works. I think Maracyn-2 can completely wipe out the tank's cycle; is there anything I can/should use during/after treatment?

 

[Colin_T]

Before you treat the tank, or re-treat the tank, do the following things.
Work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.
When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "FishForum.net Calculator" under "Useful Links" at the bottom of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

Remove carbon from the filter before treating or it will adsorb the medication and stop it working.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using medications because they reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water.

 

[Silencedogood]

Thank you for the advice and help. I'll update if anything changes.

 

[Silencedogood]

Lost another molly last night and now it seems like a bunch of fish have dropsy. @Colin_T could that be from the salt? Also, the fish that have dropsy don't have any external signs of columnaris.

 

[Colin_T]

salt doesn't cause dropsy in livebearers.

 

[Silencedogood]

salt doesn't cause dropsy in livebearers.

What would cause the dropsy?

 

[Colin_T]

Internal bacterial or protozoan infection, or chemical poisoning.

what's their poop look like?
are they still eating?

 

[Silencedogood]

Internal bacterial or protozoan infection, or chemical poisoning.

what's their poop look like?
are they still eating?

Yes they are still eating a lot. Could it be that they have internal columnaris?

 

[Colin_T]

I have never heard of internal columnaris.

What's their poop look like?

 

[Silencedogood]

I have never heard of internal columnaris.

What's their poop look like?

I've read a million articles online lol
Um greenish-gray strands.
Now one of my swordtails has a small lesion by its gills. Will an immune booster aid in treatment?
@Colin_T

 

[Colin_T]

you can try an immune booster but I have no idea if it will help.

pot a picture of the swordtail.

 

[Silencedogood]

you can try an immune booster but I have no idea if it will help.

pot a picture of the swordtail.

The water is super cloudy from the treatment; I don't think I'll be able to get a pic but it looks like the same thing the others have. Is there a treatment that you recommend that you know will definitely treat columnaris?