Columnaris, ick, and starting over...

[Nubster]

My new tank got hit hard with columnaris and a secondary infection of ick. I lost close to 20 fish so far. All surviving fish are in quarantine (yeah, I know, that's were they should have been too start) and now my main tank is empty except for rocks, sand, and a few plants. What do I do now?

 

[SouthernSon]

Since it's empty and your fish have a place to stay out of your main tank I would personally just empty the main tank, clean all the decorations etc and start again from scratch. Either that or treat your main tank for all its illnesses but that can be a pain.

 

[LyndaB]

How long has the tank been without any fish in it? You may have lost your beneficial bacteria if it's been long enough and will have to cycle all over.

I'd do a couple of really good gravel vacs, scrub down the interior walls, rinse the decor in hot bleachy water and then refill and start over.

How are the fish doing in the QT tank?

 

[Nubster]

Empty since last night...lol...so bacteria still good not to mention I dosed the tank with a little ammonia just to make sure. I want to maintain the bacteria until I decide how I am going to proceed.

Fish are ok I guess. Lost one more this morning but I was expecting that one. Rest appear to be settling in. They are just in a small bucket at the moment with a small pump move some water around, a heater, and sponge from my filter. I hope to grab a proper hospital tank this week(end).

 

[LyndaB]

When I went through columnaris, as soon as I saw the first fish exhibiting symptoms, I culled them. By doing that, and a healthy water change, I was able to save the rest of my fish. Columnaris strikes fast and it strikes hard. Your fish might not even exhibit symptoms prior to passing from it.

Good luck to you.

 

[Nubster]

Well...that's kinda what happened. I had one fish that I came home to from school that developed the white patch on it's head/back. Did some research and finally came to the conclusion that it was columnaris. Treated immediately with Furan-2 that I had on hand and continued to treat since this past Friday. Only two out of the 20 or so fish I have lost had the signs. A couple developed ick a few days into treatment but they died too. So out of 28 fish, I have maybe 5 left. Pretty disheartening. I'll certainly not mess around with columnaris again.

 

[LyndaB]

It strikes by chance. Not much you can do to avoid it other than keep your tanks clean and properly stocked.