Columnaris Treatment - Help Please
Posted: Tue May 28, 2013 2:28 pm
Hello everyone. I think have an outbreak of Columnaris in my 210g.
The tank is 210g with a 30g sump. I do weekly 40% water changes. It's stocked with clown loaches (5.5"-9.5") and assorted rainbows.
At first, it was just one rainbow. I thought she had a fungus infection, I put her in QT and started treating her with Maracyn 1 & Maracyn 2. Treated for a week. She did get noticeably better, but was still obviously ill. So I started hitting her with another round of M1&2... until I noticed 2 more rainbows coming down with what looked like the same thing. I pulled them out and added them to my QT tank. Did a bunch of reading, now I am pretty sure it is Columnaris. I am still dosing the QT with M1&2 and I have ordered Kanaplex (I plan on medicating the food) and a UV sterilizer to put on my 210g. Not really the ideal way to finally purchase one I know, but I have been meaning to do it for a long time and this justified it for the husband.
I read on another forum that Columnaris is sensitive to salt? Not sure if that is true or not, but I went ahead and dosed the QT tank with 1 TBSP per 5 gallons and the 210g with 1TBSP per 10gallons (slowly dosed over a few hours), as I also read the salt will help improve the gills that are affected by the disease? Does anyone know if either of those are true or am I wasting my time with the salt? I also put the temp on the QT tank at 78, as (I guess) Columnaris thrives in warmer water.
So I am wondering....
1. Am I doing this right? I have never had Columnaris before, and I am not 100% sure how to proceed. There is SO much information out there.. several different medications and treatment applications... what has worked for you?
2. Should I treat my 210g with the Kanaplex even though no other fish are showing symptoms at this time? Not to sound mean, but what I am really worried about are my clown loaches. If I lose a few rainbows it will suck, but I'll get over it. The clowns are my biggest priority. I am not sure if treating them is a good idea or not, since they are more sensitive to meds? ... =/ What would you do?
3. Should I pull all the rainbows out and treat just them? Even though the other rainbows aren't showing signs? Or would the stress that would cause them do more harm than good?
4. Should I lower the temp on my 210g from it's current 81 degrees down to 78 (or lower?) while I treat with salt?
5. Am I doing it all wrong and should be going about this another way?
I moved recently (purchased a home), so I think that stress may have been what brought this on?
All fish, including the 3 rainbows in QT, are active and eating. Any advice is greatly appreciated, I am really worried about my fish
The tank is 210g with a 30g sump. I do weekly 40% water changes. It's stocked with clown loaches (5.5"-9.5") and assorted rainbows.
At first, it was just one rainbow. I thought she had a fungus infection, I put her in QT and started treating her with Maracyn 1 & Maracyn 2. Treated for a week. She did get noticeably better, but was still obviously ill. So I started hitting her with another round of M1&2... until I noticed 2 more rainbows coming down with what looked like the same thing. I pulled them out and added them to my QT tank. Did a bunch of reading, now I am pretty sure it is Columnaris. I am still dosing the QT with M1&2 and I have ordered Kanaplex (I plan on medicating the food) and a UV sterilizer to put on my 210g. Not really the ideal way to finally purchase one I know, but I have been meaning to do it for a long time and this justified it for the husband.
I read on another forum that Columnaris is sensitive to salt? Not sure if that is true or not, but I went ahead and dosed the QT tank with 1 TBSP per 5 gallons and the 210g with 1TBSP per 10gallons (slowly dosed over a few hours), as I also read the salt will help improve the gills that are affected by the disease? Does anyone know if either of those are true or am I wasting my time with the salt? I also put the temp on the QT tank at 78, as (I guess) Columnaris thrives in warmer water.
So I am wondering....
1. Am I doing this right? I have never had Columnaris before, and I am not 100% sure how to proceed. There is SO much information out there.. several different medications and treatment applications... what has worked for you?
2. Should I treat my 210g with the Kanaplex even though no other fish are showing symptoms at this time? Not to sound mean, but what I am really worried about are my clown loaches. If I lose a few rainbows it will suck, but I'll get over it. The clowns are my biggest priority. I am not sure if treating them is a good idea or not, since they are more sensitive to meds? ... =/ What would you do?
3. Should I pull all the rainbows out and treat just them? Even though the other rainbows aren't showing signs? Or would the stress that would cause them do more harm than good?
4. Should I lower the temp on my 210g from it's current 81 degrees down to 78 (or lower?) while I treat with salt?
5. Am I doing it all wrong and should be going about this another way?
I moved recently (purchased a home), so I think that stress may have been what brought this on?
All fish, including the 3 rainbows in QT, are active and eating. Any advice is greatly appreciated, I am really worried about my fish