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[billieollie]

Thanks, I am now going to do the salt.

I am in Hampton Court, Surrey.

I have just read the links that Wilder posted, they are all going to die aren't they. I'm not giving up, just sad.

 

[WILDER]

You really need antibiotics, but they are not available in the uk only from a vet, it sounds like you have a nasty case of it in your tank, when i took the goldfish off my sister hands that what they had columnaris, keeping fingers crossed, good luck.

 

[black angel]

Typical, i couldnt find a fish vet for Surrey in my list.
I really hope you have a good vet who can help you.

 

[billieollie]

Hi everyone,
I have been adding the salt every 12hrs, last dose is tomorrow morning, and I have also bought some protozin. Directions on the packet says not to add until 48hrs after previous medicine. so will not be able to add to tank until sunday. Do I need to do a water change, before starting with the protozin? If yes, how much? Do I continue with the salt if I need to do a water change??? There doesn't seem to be any change, which I suppose is a good thing as they haven't got any worse! Velma is still at the bottom, but she is still eating, unlike before with bille,ollie and tinkerbell. Jack Sparrow and Dotty seem OK, but they are still going behind the rock, but not all the time. Thanks for trying to find a fish vet, asked at the fish shop, apparently there is one in Chobbam, not to far from me, he is trying to find out the name and number for me.

 

[black angel]

Do a 40% water change before you add the meds. You will be at a .3% solution by then so when you take the water write down how many gallons you have taken out and then after you have filled it up again times the gallons by three and thats how many level teaspoons you add.
For instance if you take out 20 gallons you add 20 gallons and then 60 level teaspoons of salt. Dont do any water changes for the duration of the meds and what i do is write down the days the meds are due and then score it off as i go.
Your tank is 50 gallons so you have 225 litres which means 15 ml of the protozin on days 1,2,3 and 6.
At the end of the treatment which will be day 7 do a 40% water change and add fresh carbon.
I'm pleased you have found a fish vet and hope you get to see him soon with the sickest fish.

 

[xautomaticflowersx]

I haven't checked back on here for a bit, but I'm sorry to hear your other fish are displaying symptoms . I hope that the vet your fish shop suggested is a good one and can help you out.

 

[RandomWiktor]

What a shame that you can't buy anti-biotics in the UK for your fish. Columnaris is treatable with early detection and agressive anti-biotic use, but sadly once it advances, anti-biotics even become pretty useless. Hopefully your vet can help out by giving them something strong so that they have a better chance of recovery. I know sometimes injectables can really help; makes sense, since it is a much more direct route than orally on in the water.

If they do pass on, however, I would def. look at some of the articles on here about "nuking" a tank if you plan on getting more fish. Columnaris is sensitive to salt, cold, aeration, etc. but that alone will probably not fix a heavily contaminated tank. You will probably have to empty it, and do a major cleaning. When my fish had columnaris, I really had to bomb the whole tank, or he kept getting it again despite clean conditions, antibiotics, etc.

At least if you do end up getting more fish, you'll have learned a ton about fish care from this experience; perhaps it will help enable you to give a really awesome home to the next fish you get. I can tell that you care a lot about fish, so now that you know more on them, you will probably be a very good fishkeeper.

 

[billieollie]

Hi everyone,

Velma and Dotty died last night, it was a bit of a shock as I new Velma was ill as she had the cotton wool all over her, but Dotty wasn't showing any signs yet. The only thing she was doing was going to the bottom of the tank. Thought I had a few more days and maybe a chance with her using the new medicine. It was a sad end to the day as it was my daughters birthday, when we left for her party they were looking OK, added the medicine, gave them some food, which they all ate, but sadly when we got back from her party (only 3/4 hours later. it was so quick) they had died. I only have Jack Sparrow left, he was one of the new ones, and was the biggest in the tank, hopefully due to his size he might be a bit stronger.
As I want to get somemore fish, I was thinking of puting Jack into the old smaller tank and then start to clean the big one. Jack so far is not showing any signs, apart from every now and then he goes to the bottom, but I would say for about 75% of the day he is up and about. Would it be stressful for him if I move him? Should I move him using the tank water or should I use fresh? I have 3 days left of the medicine course, should I leave him in the big tank until the end of the course?
I will also need all of your advice on how to set up, add the fish, quarintine, water, and generally get the tank ready, so that hopefully my daughter and I wont need to go through this again, but think I need to open a new topic for that!! I am not going to give up on Jack Sparrow, as I need to save at least one from my mistakes.

 

[WILDER]

Sorry for your losses, R.I.P. Move him to the smaller tank just use abit of the old tank water to mature it, then use fresh to fill the tank, sterlise everything in the main tank, good luck.

 

[black angel]

Will you be using a seperate filter? I wouldnt add any from the other tank. Keep dosing him in the other tank with the protozin and dont add the salt. Keep the tank light off.
For the old tank do another big water change and salt it to 1% which is 10 teaspoons to the gallon and run it like that with the filters running for a week and hopefully that will kill anything in the filter and gravel. After the week empty it and give it all a thorough clean and start it up again.
Unless of course anyone else has any other ideas how to get rid of the columnaris?

Really sorry for your loss as well.

 

[billieollie]

The old tank has got a smaller filter, but the tank is a lot smaller. It is the same filter that I used for billie and ollie, but they were not ill in this tank, so I'm think that filter should be free of anything. I have been watching Jack most of the day and he seems fine with no cotton wool signs. I have still kept the light off.

With the big tank, I was going to throw everything away, e.g , plants, flter sponges, and give it a really good clean and start again or is it better as you suggest to do the salt treatment? What is the best product to use to clean the tank,gravel, rocks etc? If Jack survives, how do I mix him with new fish? How do I know if the new fish are OK? Once I have cleaned the tank, how do I know if it is safe? I am so worried about starting over again, couldn't go through this again. Would rather not get anymore fish after this experience to be honest, but my daughter has 'new fish' on her christmas list, and today she has said that Jack looks sad and is lonely.

 

[WILDER]

You can sterlise the gravel with boiling water and salt, or buy some new gravel, filter run in a bucket of hot warm salt water for a while, then throw salt solution away, add some more water to the bucket, and run the filter to clear the salt out, let dry out for a day or two, rock soak in a solution of bleach then rinse in hot salty water, then let them soak in a bucket of clean water, then let dry out. set tank up, add some salt and let the tank run for a few days without fish, i would introduce fish very gradually, maybe start off with one, to see how it goes, you could quarantine the new fish in the other tank.

Good luck.

 

[nonot8946]

Sorry for your loss. The fact that your ammonia jumped to 0.6 is troubling and may mean that you do not have adequate filtration and may also mean the test kit you have been using may be bad. Is it an old test kit? Or, the test kit may be fine if it has been awhile since you tested it last.

In general, you need to make sure ammonia and nitrite are always at 0, I lost several fish until I realized this is very important in keeping fish.

When the Fish Store tested water turned pink, what were the testing for? If it was ammonia, this is probably the reason your fish became ill. There are many links for fishless cycling you may find helpful on this website. I hope you do not give up on fishkeeping.

I recommend the liquid droppers and vial testing kits like it sounds you have, but some tend to go bad after sitting around several years I believe.

RIP Billie and Ollie.

Water changes are no substitute for a good filter, but are the only thing you can do until your filter is established. Anytime you measure ammonia or nitrite above 0.1, do a 30% water change (maximum 2 per day?) Do not worry about nitrate, that is only important in controlling algae, which is not your biggest concern right now. If you add medicine or salt do it after the water change, not before.