Angelfish With Columnaris Or Saprolegnia

[emmsy]

Great buddy. I know it means spending, but when you've got it, then u got it to hand the next time.

Please update us

Emma

 

[WILDER]

White mouths are columnaris that was the big give away.
I would do what emmsy says and carry on with the tetracycline, give it time to work.
If no improvement in 5 days get back to the board.
Good luck.

 

[Captain Retardo]

This just isn't working, the sick angelfish is just not getting any better, the white stuff is really thick, and looks likes its peeling his skin off, its progressed to his other side, and his fins are mostly clamped now as it has progressed onto his other fins as well. The only good news is he's still eating. However the bad news is abundant, I'm starting to notice signs of it on the other angelfish on his front and caudal fins. And one more harlequin rasbora has it as well, since the other rasboras have died within 1 or 2 days, i expect him to die soon as well.
I just can't stand this anymore, I don't think the tetracycline is working, I wouldn't be suprised if the black angelfish is dead within a day or two, his skin just looks so bad.
I think I'm about to perform the salt dip in the bucket method, just to try something new and see if it works, especially since it's just salt, not a different medication.

I think it might be a parasitic infection instead, check out the 6th point in this website:
http/www.####.co.uk/Diseases1.htm (that's www. tropical fish centre.co.uk/Diseases1.htm
Like I said the white stuff on his mouth has been there long before any fish got sick, he was in there a month, with a more whitish mouth than body, and he didn't get sick, no other fish got sick either, it was only when I bought the Harlequins did this infection happen.

 

[WILDER]

Ok.
Peeling skin can also be columnaris.
I will take a look at the link.
Salt bath will help or a methylene blue bath,
Link not working.

 

[emmsy]

Is the angel in a Qtank?

Emma

 

[emmsy]

Okay, I've had a good hard think about this. Put the angel back in the main tank. Add methylene blue and tetracycline to the whole tank. Obviously, other fish are now being infected. A salt bath is never a great idea IMO, it stresses the fish out something terrible.
I have researched and the methylene blue and tetracycline combination will not react badly or cancel each other out.

Get back to us

 

[Captain Retardo]

Sorry i haven't been on the forum lately, but I do have an update, and what I hope is the end of this madness. So this is the state of my tank now, the black angelfish died earlier today, and yesterday another harlequin died. It seems like the infection is dieing down though, the only fish that shows symptoms of it still is the other angelfish, but they are just small white splotches on his fin right now, they are not progressing, and he is still acting healthy. I did some research of my own, because obviously the Tetracycline wasn't working, turns out it is mainly a gram-positive antibiotic, whereas Columnaris is gram-negative. According to this website: ( [URL="http/www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Columnaris.html"]http/www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Columnaris.html[/URL]" target="_blank">[URL="http/www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Columnaris.html"]http/www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Columnaris.html[/URL]</a> ) the best antibiotic to treat it with would be a mix of Kanamycin (Kanaplex) and Nirofurazone (Furan-2, Furanase) or Minocycline (Maracyn 2). I will be going to the pet store again, hopefully I will be able to find some Kanamycin, but it seems very rare to find (even on the internet) so I will probably have to settle for the Maracyn 2

So assuming that everything goes according to plan, and the fish heal up, this columnaris will bring my fish total from 20 to 10 in my 29 gallon tank. This is the first time I've had to deal with any serious infection, I've had the 29 gallon for 2 years now, and have prided myself on having good maintenence of the tank, It was unfortunate that it had to end up this way, especially with the death of the black angelfish who I've only had for about a month, but have grown attached to.

Before the infection I had:
10 Harlequin Rasboras
4 Kuhli Loaches
4 Cherry Barbs
2 Angelfish

After the infection:
1 Harlequin Rasbora (as you can see these guys took the brunt of it)
4 Kuhli Loaches
4 Cherry Barbs
1 Angelfish

I just have a few questions though:
Should I add half dose of antibiotics (Kanamycin and Furan or Maracyn 2) because of the loaches?
How long before I can get another black angelfish and restock the harlequins?
Will either antibiotic kill the filter bacteria? and if so, would a good way to keep some be taking some filter foam from the tank and keeping it in an aerated 1 gallon bucket, adding ammonia once in a while? Or will that also keep some columnaris alive?

So to the 10 fish that died in the first tank infection i've had.

 

[WILDER]

R.I.P.
Teracycline is a gram pos and gram neg antibiotic it can take a while, you can be treating fish up to 3 weeks.
For columnaris in the united states maracyn one and two.
Tetracycline
Manufacturer: Aquatronics
A broad-spectrum antibiotic used in the treatment of gram-positive and some gram-negative bacterial infections. For infections of fin and tail rot, frayed fins, popeye, inflamed gills, mouth and body open sores/ulcers, livebearer disease, dropsy, Columnaris, and secondary infections such as fungal. Specific for livebearers and goldfish. Aerate the aquarium well when using. Useful for the control of some common bacterial diseases, including Aeromonias and Pseudomonas Genera and the Mysobacterial group.

 

[emmsy]

Damn Damn Damn. I'm so sorry for the loss of your fish mate. I KNEW I should have stuck with my first gut reaction of kanamycin laced food. As I said earlier in this thread, judging on what you said earlier, I would have actually gone as far as to have prescribed kanamycin.

Damn

I got to trust my gut instinct more, and be a bit more forceful and trust my initial reaction.

Damn

God, I am so annoyed with myself.

Still, did you get a Qtank setup? If you did, then something good has come out of this whole sorry mess.

As I said earlier, Teracycline would have worked, but it can take time to work.

kanamycin should only be available from a vet

Damn

Sorry
Emma xxx

 

[Captain Retardo]

Damn Damn Damn. I'm so sorry for the loss of your fish mate. I KNEW I should have stuck with my first gut reaction of kanamycin laced food. As I said earlier in this thread, judging on what you said earlier, I would have actually gone as far as to have prescribed kanamycin.

Damn

I got to trust my gut instinct more, and be a bit more forceful and trust my initial reaction.

Damn

God, I am so annoyed with myself.

Still, did you get a Qtank setup? If you did, then something good has come out of this whole sorry mess.

As I said earlier, Teracycline would have worked, but it can take time to work.

kanamycin should only be available from a vet

Damn

Sorry
Emma xxx

That's alright emmsy, I learned alot from this experience, And I now know what to do in case of future infections.
Unfortunately I couldn't find a 3 gallon tank at petsmart, and I couldn't find a heater for it aswell (don't want to get a 50 watt for a 3 gallon). But I wasn't able to go to the other petstore, which I was sure had the tank atleast. However, the disease had spread to the other angelfish by then.

Yesterday I bought the maracyn-2, when I got back I noticed the other angelfish who had little splotches of columnaris on his fins, seemed to be getting better, even before I added the medicine, I of course added the medicine anyway, I only did half-dose because of the loaches in my tank, but they didn't negatively react to it so I added one more packet to the tank, and they were fine, and now I'm adding full doses.

Today I woke up and noticed there is only one very small columnaris splotch on the angelfish now, on the very tip of his fin, and all the other fish are still healthy, so that is good news, and probably the end of this ordeal.

I took some filter media out of my filter before I added medicine though, and put it in a 1 gallon bucket with aquarium water, and added some ammonia, just incase the minocycline kills the bacteria in my filter.

I still plan on buying that quarantine tank though, as soon as I get to that particular pet store.

 

[WILDER]

I would of carried on with the tetracycline, or did you run out of it.

 

[Captain Retardo]

I didn't run out of the tetracycline, it's just that it didn't work very well, It was a type where the fish had to ingest it, the only fish that will come up to eat it are the angelfish, the black one gets bullied by the other one though, and when he was sick he wouldn't eat as vigourously as before. The tetracycline is probably the reason why he lasted so long though. He lived about a little more than a week with columnaris, while the harlequins who wouldn't be getting tetracycline would live about a day, at most 2 days.

 

[WILDER]

Ok I get you now.
Medicated food only good when you can issolate a sick fish and there still eating.
Good luck hope thing are back to normal soon.

 

[afireinside]

Hey man, the last time I saw your fish last week, your angel was really starting to look better. I'd like to come and see them, but I'm sick (with pnuemonia, so I'm really not contagious), so hopefully tomorrow I'm better so I can look. Sorry for your losses though.