What meds to treat columnaris

FishForums.net Pet of the Month
🐶 POTM Poll is Open! 🦎 Click here to Vote! 🐰

Navfish

Fish Fanatic
Joined
Mar 16, 2022
Messages
192
Reaction score
68
Location
United States
I think my tetras have gotten columnaris, so which meds should I use?

I am currently using kanaplex but will that be enough? I noticed the white patch show up 2 days ago.

And should I repeat the kanaplex dosing after a week treatments done or should I leave it?
 
Pictures of the fish so we can confirm the disease?

How long have you had the fish?
Have you added anything to the tank in the 2 weeks before this started?

How long has the tank been set up for?
What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the water?
What sort of filter is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?

----------------------
If the antibiotics haven't fixed the problem in a few days, or at least made a huge improvement, they probably aren't going to work.

I have no idea if Kanaplex works on Columnaris.
 
Pictures of the fish so we can confirm the disease?

How long have you had the fish?
Have you added anything to the tank in the 2 weeks before this started?

How long has the tank been set up for?
What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the water?
What sort of filter is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?

----------------------
If the antibiotics haven't fixed the problem in a few days, or at least made a huge improvement, they probably aren't going to work.

I have no idea if Kanaplex works on Columnaris.


How long have you had the fish?
5 ish months

Have you added anything to the tank in the 2 weeks before this started?

Nope

How long has the tank been set up for?

6 months

What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the water?
0 0 10 ph:N/A
What sort of filter is on the tank?
Regular filter with no carbon ( sponge inside)

How often and how do you clean the filter?

Haven’t until yesterday since I heard detritus is where it’s found in and there was a bunch of detritus in the filter. But I left some of the sponges intact and didn’t clean them. (For cleaning them I simply took a bucket of old fish water and rinsed it in there)

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
once a week 25% to 35%

Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?

Recently no, but sometimes

Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?

Yes

pics: in the photo, there a white particles because i just dosed kanaplex

Important to note: another one of my tetras 4 months ago has this same thing but died a couple of months later. His health got worse and was clear that something was wrong.
 

Attachments

  • D03F45CE-DCB0-4EA6-8A77-644DC9DD7963.jpeg
    D03F45CE-DCB0-4EA6-8A77-644DC9DD7963.jpeg
    53 KB · Views: 34
  • 83237508-1914-4236-992B-91954CE88B56.jpeg
    83237508-1914-4236-992B-91954CE88B56.jpeg
    114 KB · Views: 31
So often I see on this site people treating for diseases they don't know they have. Fish get bumps and bruises and blemishes it doesn't always mean they are going to die. Medication should always be a last resort.
 
mportant to note: another one of my tetras 4 months ago has this same thing but died a couple of months later. H
That was not columnaris then, columnaris spreads extensively and fish die within hours.
Tell us more about the disease symptoms and progression.
 
It's not Columnaris.

It could be a microsporidian infection or intestinal worms, possibly even both.

The Kanaplex might wipe out the filter bacteria so monitor ammonia and nitrite levels for a couple of weeks. Do a 75% water change any day you have a reading above 0ppm.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

---------------------
FILTERS
You should clean filter media at least once a month after the filter has cycled. The gunk that builds up in tanks and filters is a home to harmful disease organisms and needs to be removed regularly.

Filter media/ materials can be washed/ squeezed out in a bucket of aquarium water. The media is re-used and the bucket of dirty water is poured on the lawn.

---------------------
WATER CHANGES
I would do bigger water changes too. I like to do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate once a week. At the very least do a 50% water change and gravel clean the substrate once a week.

You do water changes for 2 main reasons.
1) to reduce nutrients like ammonia, nitrite & nitrate.
2) to dilute disease organisms in the water.

Fish live in a soup of microscopic organisms including bacteria, fungus, viruses, protozoans, worms, flukes and various other things that make your skin crawl. Doing a big water change and gravel cleaning the substrate on a regular basis will dilute these organisms and reduce their numbers in the water, thus making it a safer and healthier environment for the fish.

If you do a 25% water change, you leave behind 75% of the bad stuff in the water.
If you do a 50% water change, you leave behind 50% of the bad stuff in the water.
If you do a 75% water change, you leave behind 25% of the bad stuff in the water.

Fish live in their own waste. Their tank and filter is full of fish poop. The water they breath is filtered through fish poop. Cleaning filters, gravel and doing big regular water changes, removes a lot of this poop and harmful micro-organisms, and makes the environment cleaner and healthier for the fish.

---------------------
WHAT TO DO NOW?
Stop adding medications.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.

If there's no improvement after a couple of big water changes, add some salt, (see directions below).

---------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.
 
I was told from another site that it seems like this was columnaris so I did what they said! However I will stop medication.
With it's very knowledgeable and experienced members, this site is your best source for proper information for keeping your fish healthy. Why go anywhere else ;)
 
It's not Columnaris.

It could be a microsporidian infection or intestinal worms, possibly even both.

The Kanaplex might wipe out the filter bacteria so monitor ammonia and nitrite levels for a couple of weeks. Do a 75% water change any day you have a reading above 0ppm.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

---------------------
FILTERS
You should clean filter media at least once a month after the filter has cycled. The gunk that builds up in tanks and filters is a home to harmful disease organisms and needs to be removed regularly.

Filter media/ materials can be washed/ squeezed out in a bucket of aquarium water. The media is re-used and the bucket of dirty water is poured on the lawn.

---------------------
WATER CHANGES
I would do bigger water changes too. I like to do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate once a week. At the very least do a 50% water change and gravel clean the substrate once a week.

You do water changes for 2 main reasons.
1) to reduce nutrients like ammonia, nitrite & nitrate.
2) to dilute disease organisms in the water.

Fish live in a soup of microscopic organisms including bacteria, fungus, viruses, protozoans, worms, flukes and various other things that make your skin crawl. Doing a big water change and gravel cleaning the substrate on a regular basis will dilute these organisms and reduce their numbers in the water, thus making it a safer and healthier environment for the fish.

If you do a 25% water change, you leave behind 75% of the bad stuff in the water.
If you do a 50% water change, you leave behind 50% of the bad stuff in the water.
If you do a 75% water change, you leave behind 25% of the bad stuff in the water.

Fish live in their own waste. Their tank and filter is full of fish poop. The water they breath is filtered through fish poop. Cleaning filters, gravel and doing big regular water changes, removes a lot of this poop and harmful micro-organisms, and makes the environment cleaner and healthier for the fish.

---------------------
WHAT TO DO NOW?
Stop adding medications.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.

If there's no improvement after a couple of big water changes, add some salt, (see directions below).

---------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.
Just did a 75% water change plus gravel cleaned. Will follow ur instructions and hope everything will go back to normal 😅
 

Most reactions

trending

Staff online

Back
Top