Euthanize?

[3fsh]

I have a female fancy guppy that has been battling a case of columnaris for the past 3-4 days. I've been giving her daily 10-15 minute salt/melafix baths and after every bath she seems to do great. But the next day, it's back again in full force and she has a little bit of trouble swimming. She's still eating like a pig and chasing the other guppies... I'm just not sure when it would be alright to... erm... let her go. I don't want her to suffer needlessly.

 

[WILDER]

Do you have any antibiotic treatments.

 

[3fsh]

I've been using Melafix, but I'm trying to find some potassium permagament to dip her in. I don't have a quarantine tank, and I don't want to try anything drastic on the entire tank because there are small fry, plants, and ghost shrimp in it.

 

[BettaMomma]

You can save her if you get her quarantined and get her in some Maracyn, but you will have to treat her with Maracyn.

So, I guess the choice is up to you - if you can, get her separated and medicate. If you don't, I can almost assure you that you'll have a tank full of columnaris stricken fishies cuz it's HIGHLY contagious. AND, it is very slow to progress so she could suffer for quite a while if you keep doing what you're doing.

If it were me, i'd separate & medicate PRONTO, even if it meant a special trip to the store (Yes, I'd even go to WalMart for this one, it's an emergency) and get a small tank for quarantine.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

actually if you have an extra airstone & pump and a fairly large bucket, then you could whip together an emergency tank quite quickly. i'm actually keeping some cories in my 5-gallon i use for water changes even as we speak. there's not too terribly much difference between a big glass tank and a big clean bucket if its just temporary. but you'll defintely need something keep the water aerated and don't forget to do daily water changes.

i'm sure if you ask around in livebearers, you can get some even better info.

 

[3fsh]

Well, I have been threatened with serious bodily harm if I buy any more tanks... but I'm going to desperately plead with my mom and see if she'll let me buy a small 2.5-5g tank for a permanent quarantine tank. I'm so ticked off that I haven't gotten one so far. (I haven't had any problems so far so I was stupid and assumed that I wouldn't have any.) *kicking myself repeatedly*

 

[3fsh]

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssss!!! After a loooong phone conversation and lots of , I finally convinced mom to let me get a quarantine tank!!! I bought a small critter keeper from Pecto (*barf*, I know, but it's an emergency) that I think holds about 3 or so gallons of water. I also bought a small sponge/carbon/zoolite filter with air pump that I'm going to throw away once her treatment is done. I put half a tablet of Maracyn in, and a nice hornwort plant for her to hide in. I hope she gets better soon... I think I will cry if I have to euthanize her. How long should I give her to get better? I've decided to use isopropyl alcohol to euthanize her if I have to do it. (We used to use that to euthanize bugs to pin them on our science projects and it basically puts them to sleep. )

 

[BettaMomma]

I'd personally give her sevvvvveral days.
Some of the meds take a while to work and you'd really hate to have to wonder if you waited JUST one or two more days.....

Just see how she does in the first few days too - if there is even the slightest improvement there's great hope.

What exactly are all her symptoms?

and CONGRATS on convincing to get the tank! yeehaw!

 

[rdd1952]

It's good that you got your tank. BettaMomma mentioned treating with Maracyn. I think that would have been ok to treat with that in the tank. A lot of people use that to get rid of blue green algae. Just make sure you don't get Maracyn 2. Below is a link to a thread in the plants section of this forum. I think they start talking about Maracyn on the 3rd page.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=71446&st=32

 

[3fsh]

She has the following symptoms:

• small, fuzzy, white, saddle-like lesion on her back

• one fin looks like it is rotting away and it also has fuzzy white stuff on it

• gills are covered in fuzzy white stuff and are slightly red

• "shimmying"

• slightly clamped fins

• very fast/quick breaths

BTW- She's looking a little bit better now that I've put her in the quarantine tank. Her fins have unclamped slightly and she's swimming a little bit easier. She's kinda pissed off about the size of the tank and is trying to find a way out, but other than that I think she's doing well. *fingers crossed*

rdd1952:

I would have put stronger meds in the tank, but there are 5 or so tiny fry in there right now and I really don't want to risk it.

 

[BettaMomma]

Did you get any Maracyn?
That's definitely what you should start with, pronto.
I'm going to see if I can dig up anything else you should be using along with it.
Just make sure that you cut the tablets up to be the right size.!

 

[WILDER]

Saddleback is columnaris, you are going to need afairly strong antibiotic to treat the sick fish to stand a chance.
http/www.flippersandfins.net/flexibacter.htm

 

[3fsh]

Yes, I bought some Maracyn and put a half a tablet in with her as well as some salt. Today I put in another half a tablet. *fingers still crossed*

 

[BettaMomma]

My sick fishy, my fishy with a shredded tail and my other boys wish her all the best.

 

[WILDER]

Fingers crossed for the fish.