What Is This?

[Dawnrader]

Can someone tell me what this is on my molly?

I noticed it last night and took the pictures.


Bit of background. I recently had a water issue which i have yet to figure out as to why it happened, anyway, my nitrates went mad and it took me around 10 days of daily water changes to get it fixed, it's been a week since it's been back under control so im now less than 10 for nitrates, both ammonia and nitrite are sitting at 0, the temp is 80 and the ph is 7.6. Normally i change around 20% weekly.


As you can see it's not fluffy, i originally thought it might have rubbed itself on the background or burnt herself on the heater but its not likely, so any ideas what it is?

 

[snazy]

Check out columnaris, very contagious, caused by poor water conditions. If your nitrAtes were so high, there must have been a lot of waiste buildup and ammonia. There is another thread with the same problem somewhere here......with some info what you can treat with.

Here it is:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/406708-white-ring-around-swordtail/page__p__3421770__fromsearch__1#entry3421770

 

[Chad]

+1
It's a bacterial infection. Flavobacterium (formerly Flexibacter). If you catch it early you can treat it but if you don't catch it in time it infects the organs. Clean water, and an antibacterial or phenoxyethanol-based solution works. Anytime you use such medications treat the fish in a hospital tank otherwise all your beneficial bacteria get destroyed along with the bad.

Also lower the tank temp as the bacteria likes warm water.

 

[Dawnrader]

Can you recommend a good brand to use, or the name of a treatment? I've googled the disease but no treatments were stated.

Cheers
x

 

[snazy]

+1
It's a bacterial infection. Flavobacterium (formerly Flexibacter). If you catch it early you can treat it but if you don't catch it in time it infects the organs. Clean water, and an antibacterial or phenoxyethanol-based solution works. Anytime you use such medications treat the fish in a hospital tank otherwise all your beneficial bacteria get destroyed along with the bad.

Also lower the tank temp as the bacteria likes warm water.

As far as I know columnaris is mostly gram negative bacteria and the beneficial bacteria in a tank mostly gram positive so treating with medication for gram negative bacteria that treats columnaris(flexibacer/flavobacterium) would not affect the filter, or not too much.

 

[Chad]

I'm not sure if the antibiotics descriminate or not but even if they do Nitrobacteraceae are gram negative. I'm not sure all the bacteria in the nitrogen cycle are but enough that care is required. API recommends having back up bio-filtration on their medication page (http/www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Medication.html) I guess that would work as well if you didn't have a hospital tank to use for treatment.

 

[Chad]

I've had success using salt baths as a treatment. This is especially useful on molly since they can tolerate the salt.

 

[Dawnrader]

I now have a second fish with the same sort of marks on it.... not good!

I'm in the UK so can't get Maracyn over the counter.

I'm going to do a big water change tonight, turn the heater to 74 and add salt, what else do you suggest?

Any meds you can think of?

 

[WILDER]

Myxazin by waterlife.
The med Ok for mild columnaris infections.
Furanol 2 By JBL.
For severe cases of columnaris. But the med wipes the good bacteria out in your filter.

 

[Dawnrader]

Thanks wilder, was about to start crying before i saw your post.

with the Myxazin, will my filter be alright?

 

[WILDER]

It might knock your good bacteria a little bit. so just keep a close eye on your water stats.

I've used myxazin by waterlife and it never did knock by good bacteria.

If there no improvement in 5 days. Get back to the board.

Good Luck.

 

[mossonthemoon]

Good luck with the treatment. I don't really know how viable this is, but perhaps it would be possible to get some new sponges and preserve at least some of the cycled sponges whilst treating? I don't know how long the treatment will last, but it was just a thought I wanted to put out there.

 

[WILDER]

There no need to remove filter sponges as myxazin by waterlife doesn't really affect the good bacteria in your filter. Antibiotics do.

 

[Dawnrader]

Well it's day 6 and i've just done the full 5 day treatment of Myxazin and it doesn't look like it's made any difference to the fish. Should i do a water changed and another 5 days or switch on to something else?

The Myxazin hasn't made any difference to the filter which i'm thankful for, i don't think any of the waterlife ones do.

Any further suggestions on this i would be most grateful. I'll see if i can get a pic of what it looks like now.

nic
x

 

[snazy]

The only incredient in Myxazin that may help against columnaris is acriflavine, but this is to treat only mild cases of columnaris.
For advaned disease, combo of medication that contains Kanamycin(kanapex) and Nitrofurazone(furan2) are best. They also potential secondary infections. Or you can start with Kanamycin medication(does not affect the filter in the recommended dose) and if the fish have not fully recovered, get furan2(nitrofurazone). Medication that contains minocycline also helps, but kanamycin and furan 2 together are better.
Another option is to treat the affected fish individualy with baths of either Methylene Blue or Potassium Permanganate.