RandomWiktor
Rabid Betta Activist
I thought I would post the progress of a betta I am treating for columnaris. I have never had to treat this before, but combined knowledge from several sites and helpful fish-folk, and I am pleased to report that so far, he is recovering. I figured I would talk about it here, so that people treating could get ideas, and people who have treated could offer some advice. As we know, columnaris is a common problem in bettas, and kills very rapidly - often within 12-48 hours. So, early detection is a must; this is why you should really thoroughly look over every fish, every day. I am confident that had I noticed the columnaris just 6 hours later, this fish would have been dead by morning, based on how rapidly it was spreading.
Sept. 15, 2005
General Info:
Jeff Klee is a ~ 9 month old male VT betta with a tendancy to mutilate his own fins if under stress. He is in a 5 gallon filtered, uncycled tank with partial, significant water changes performed twice weekly. The tank is heated when necesarry (fall/winter/early spring). A lack of AC eliminates the need for heating during the summer. His tank currently has a screened hood to allow better water cooling. His diet is a mix of BettaBites pellets, BioBlend pellets, Nutrafin flakes, frozen blood worms, and frozen brine shrimp. He is fasted twice weekly and fed a pea sporadically.
Noon
I arrive in my apartment to find that a temperature spike during the day, paired with inadequate apartment ventallation, has brought the temperatures in my tanks from the ~76-78 degrees they have been for weeks up to a dangerous and sudden 84. While all of the fish look decent, I opt to do water changes on all of them to get the temp back down to around 80.
When I get to Jeff's tank, he presents with the following symptoms:
- Paleness
- Slightly elevated breathing (gill movement)
- Grayness around the eyes, mouth and forehead - not yet manifested as fugus-like growths.
I knew for a fact that just 4 hours ago, this fish had no grayness or palor. I am immediately concerned from the location that this is columnaris, but have a class to attend, so can not begin treatment.
1:00
I return to find that the grayness on the face has become "fuzzy" within just one hour, and has spread to the back. The gray patchiness is now accompanied by some small projections as well. The fish is increasingly pale and mildly bloated. I perform a full water test, and all values are within safe limits, the most "off" being hardness, which can not be prevented and is the case in all tanks without incident. I suspect the temp. spike paired with the recent move to PA from NY created the right stress conditions to make him prone; Jeff is a tail-biter to begin with and responds very poorly to any stressful condition. After consulting several "fish people" and webpages, I decide it seems like columnaris, and leave to go buy treatments.
~ 2:00
I arrive home with meds. Jeff is breathing heavily, has shown rapid, significant fin loss, and the columnaris has spread. I start immediately with sterilizing the tank and doing a full water change to kill the bacteria as well as I can. The following is preformed:
- Removal of all water from the tank.
- Removal of gravel, (silk) plants, and ornaments from tank
- Thorough flushing of filtration system with alternating hot and cold water; new filter cartridge added.
- Boiling of gravel, plants, and ornaments, following with subsequent dunking and rinsing in alternating cold and hot tap water.
- Tank itself is scrubbed and rinsed with alternating cold and hot salt water.
Once the tank seems to be thoroughly sterilized, I replace the ornaments and plants in a fashion as similar as possible to thier previous state, in order to help prevent additional stress. I have added a long line of airline along the perimeter of 3/4 of the tank, as I'd read columnaris likes low oxygen, stagnant water.
Now for what I add to the tank for treatment:
- Water at 75 degrees; it is suggested by several sites that columnaris likes higher temps - which is probably why it started with a temp rise - and dislikes lower temps.
- Water is of course dechlorinated
- 1 tbsp of aquarium salt added (I've read that columnaris is salt sensitive)
- 1/2 capful stress guard added
- 1 tsp stress coat added
- 1/2 tsp BioCoat added
- 1/2 packet (roughly 1/8 tsp) Maracyn Fast-Dissolving Powder; the box indicated that it was useful for columnaris.
Once all of this is added, I float the fish for ~ 40 min, during which he appears extremely stressed and ill. He is introduced to the water, and after some lethargy and clamping, perks up slightly and comes looking for food. I begin my next weapon in fighting the Columnaris: Jungle's antibacterial medicated fish food. Luckily, he loves it.
By Later that Night
I check in every hour on the fish; he is being kept downstairs with the lights off to reduce stress from noise and light. I use a pen light to watch him and illuminate the affected areas. I find that though his fins are still deteriorating, the columnarus has begun to redece from the back, and is mostly on the face now. His color is still extremely poor, however, and he appears somewhat bloated (maybe from food?). At 2:00am, I decide I can not do much else and call it a nigh.
Sept 16, 2005
7:30am
I am too busy to do much of a quick check to make sure he is not dead. I note that the columnaris has further receded, but the finnage and coloration look poor. I go to class and hope for the best.
2:30pm
I finally arrive back, expecting the worst. I am instead pleasantly surprised to observe that all of the columnaris, save for some slight grey discoloring between the eyes, is gone, and the remaining columnaris is loosing its "fuzzy" look. The spot DOES look a bit irritated, but not yet ulcerated. The tail still looks very poor, but the fish is bright, alert, active, and responsive with a good apetite. His coloration is now normal, and the distention I'd seen earlier of his stomach is now gone. I feed more anti-bacterial food, and later tonight, will add the next dose of Maracyn powder.
I am still aware that we are not out of the woods yet, and that this fish will need continued monitering and full treatment despite today's promising signs. But because it does seem to be working, I thought I'd post it here, both on input for the method of treating, and to offer people an idea of how quickly and viciously columnaris spreads. Please feel free to share your experiences and methods as well.
Sept. 15, 2005
General Info:
Jeff Klee is a ~ 9 month old male VT betta with a tendancy to mutilate his own fins if under stress. He is in a 5 gallon filtered, uncycled tank with partial, significant water changes performed twice weekly. The tank is heated when necesarry (fall/winter/early spring). A lack of AC eliminates the need for heating during the summer. His tank currently has a screened hood to allow better water cooling. His diet is a mix of BettaBites pellets, BioBlend pellets, Nutrafin flakes, frozen blood worms, and frozen brine shrimp. He is fasted twice weekly and fed a pea sporadically.
Noon
I arrive in my apartment to find that a temperature spike during the day, paired with inadequate apartment ventallation, has brought the temperatures in my tanks from the ~76-78 degrees they have been for weeks up to a dangerous and sudden 84. While all of the fish look decent, I opt to do water changes on all of them to get the temp back down to around 80.
When I get to Jeff's tank, he presents with the following symptoms:
- Paleness
- Slightly elevated breathing (gill movement)
- Grayness around the eyes, mouth and forehead - not yet manifested as fugus-like growths.
I knew for a fact that just 4 hours ago, this fish had no grayness or palor. I am immediately concerned from the location that this is columnaris, but have a class to attend, so can not begin treatment.
1:00
I return to find that the grayness on the face has become "fuzzy" within just one hour, and has spread to the back. The gray patchiness is now accompanied by some small projections as well. The fish is increasingly pale and mildly bloated. I perform a full water test, and all values are within safe limits, the most "off" being hardness, which can not be prevented and is the case in all tanks without incident. I suspect the temp. spike paired with the recent move to PA from NY created the right stress conditions to make him prone; Jeff is a tail-biter to begin with and responds very poorly to any stressful condition. After consulting several "fish people" and webpages, I decide it seems like columnaris, and leave to go buy treatments.
~ 2:00
I arrive home with meds. Jeff is breathing heavily, has shown rapid, significant fin loss, and the columnaris has spread. I start immediately with sterilizing the tank and doing a full water change to kill the bacteria as well as I can. The following is preformed:
- Removal of all water from the tank.
- Removal of gravel, (silk) plants, and ornaments from tank
- Thorough flushing of filtration system with alternating hot and cold water; new filter cartridge added.
- Boiling of gravel, plants, and ornaments, following with subsequent dunking and rinsing in alternating cold and hot tap water.
- Tank itself is scrubbed and rinsed with alternating cold and hot salt water.
Once the tank seems to be thoroughly sterilized, I replace the ornaments and plants in a fashion as similar as possible to thier previous state, in order to help prevent additional stress. I have added a long line of airline along the perimeter of 3/4 of the tank, as I'd read columnaris likes low oxygen, stagnant water.
Now for what I add to the tank for treatment:
- Water at 75 degrees; it is suggested by several sites that columnaris likes higher temps - which is probably why it started with a temp rise - and dislikes lower temps.
- Water is of course dechlorinated
- 1 tbsp of aquarium salt added (I've read that columnaris is salt sensitive)
- 1/2 capful stress guard added
- 1 tsp stress coat added
- 1/2 tsp BioCoat added
- 1/2 packet (roughly 1/8 tsp) Maracyn Fast-Dissolving Powder; the box indicated that it was useful for columnaris.
Once all of this is added, I float the fish for ~ 40 min, during which he appears extremely stressed and ill. He is introduced to the water, and after some lethargy and clamping, perks up slightly and comes looking for food. I begin my next weapon in fighting the Columnaris: Jungle's antibacterial medicated fish food. Luckily, he loves it.
By Later that Night
I check in every hour on the fish; he is being kept downstairs with the lights off to reduce stress from noise and light. I use a pen light to watch him and illuminate the affected areas. I find that though his fins are still deteriorating, the columnarus has begun to redece from the back, and is mostly on the face now. His color is still extremely poor, however, and he appears somewhat bloated (maybe from food?). At 2:00am, I decide I can not do much else and call it a nigh.
Sept 16, 2005
7:30am
I am too busy to do much of a quick check to make sure he is not dead. I note that the columnaris has further receded, but the finnage and coloration look poor. I go to class and hope for the best.
2:30pm
I finally arrive back, expecting the worst. I am instead pleasantly surprised to observe that all of the columnaris, save for some slight grey discoloring between the eyes, is gone, and the remaining columnaris is loosing its "fuzzy" look. The spot DOES look a bit irritated, but not yet ulcerated. The tail still looks very poor, but the fish is bright, alert, active, and responsive with a good apetite. His coloration is now normal, and the distention I'd seen earlier of his stomach is now gone. I feed more anti-bacterial food, and later tonight, will add the next dose of Maracyn powder.
I am still aware that we are not out of the woods yet, and that this fish will need continued monitering and full treatment despite today's promising signs. But because it does seem to be working, I thought I'd post it here, both on input for the method of treating, and to offer people an idea of how quickly and viciously columnaris spreads. Please feel free to share your experiences and methods as well.
) 
