Columnaris Triple Sulfa didn't work. What next Jungle Fungus or Furan 2?

[jlk]

Your fish are flustering me! Ok, so the maroxy isnt working. There are a few big gun antibiotics that are available online. Gentamycin is available from National Fish Pharmecuticals. Theres a few others but aquiring them means a prescription or buying overseas. Copper sulfate is mildly antibacterial & antifungal but I would not opt for this if possible. You can try some old school fish meds (not together though!)- either methylene blue or malachite green/formalin combo (they usually are together in same product), though the mal/form product is more toxic and can affect more sensitive fish negatively (ie, neons). Im running out of ideas here....

 

[jlbfish]

They are flustering me too! LOL I am a beginner at all of this and it's actually very discouraging.

Should I start another thread about the pop-eye or just treat as I am? I pulled the whole school of neons. 1was pop-eyed, one was rapid breathing and another one looked a bit pop eyed. (hopefully the other fish in the 28 gallon aren't sick). The neons tetras from my main tank are in a 3.5 gallon and I am treating them with Kanaplex/Furan2 (hopefully that is good) and I am going to start to up the salt to the same as the other tank. 1 tsp per gallon.

NOW for the who knows what is wrong with them fish! I am concerned that they are overcrowded but I thought that it was only for a few weeks and could be ok. Anyway I swear the one neon has gotten a little better but some of the black neons have the white on their mouths and one has a floaty string off of it and it is more fuzzy. I can do a few things.

Finish Maroxy (which says it is used to treat real fungal infections) that has 3 more days I think.

I have a whole slew of antibiotics including the Jungle Fungus Clear so I am not sure where I will go from here I was trying to treat them because I thought i could and it was 40$ worth of fish. At this point i have probably spent 2x their value in meds and it isn't getting any cheaper which stinks. They really have me angry.

So I ordered methylene blue but not malachite green. Wow Gentamycin is expensive (unless there is a smaller bottle).

LFS recommends API Fungus Cure (says it works like an antibiotic) and then Tetracycline. I have no experience with these.

I'm out of ideas too! Not sure if I should continue the Maroxy. Mumma recommended Maracyn 2 I think maybe I will try that. Sigh. We can end this thread if you like LOL. I really really REALLY appreciate all of your help. THANK YOU!

 

[jlk]

Ok, finish the maroxy unless your fish take a turn for the worse. The API fungus stuff I believe has a combo of acriflavine & some form malachite green. Tetracycline is effective against both gram positive & gram negative bacteria and is a decent broad spectrum antibiotic but it must be taken with caveat that it's probably one of most overused & there's quite a bit of resistant strains bacteria to it now. So, without ordering even more stuff, I'm leaning towards trying tetracycline. Or do a combo of maracyn & maracyn 2. Whichever will be more cost effective for you. Keep us posted!

 

[jlbfish]

I got some Tetracycline should I do methylene blue baths as well?

 

[jlk]

Yes, lets start with a bath once day. This can be increased to twice a day if necessary but moving fish around can be equally as stressful so lets stick to 1x for now & see how they do. Hope for the best!

 

[jlbfish]

Fingers crossed. After this if it doesn't work I may try the marycyn and marycyn 2 or jungle fungus. I guess I will keep medicating them until I am out of ideas then I am not sure what. I am tempted to move the fish that are in my 28 to the 75 and move the seemingly healthy tetras to the 28 and out of the medication then if they get sick move them back over. Some of them aren't showing obvious symptoms.

I have 2 or 3 more days of the Maroxy then I will start the T.C. plus methelyne blue baths.

 

[jlbfish]

Ok a summary before I start any other treatments or I can start a new thread. LOL

1 neon tetra had a white patch above lip
So before 5-10 I treated the qt tank with pima fix and melafix with no change
Then triple sulfa with no change
Then 2 more fish got bumps under their lips
Dosed salt to 1 tsp per gallon
Started 1 round of Furan2 and Kanaplex on 5-13
Started Maroxy on 5-21
I though the 1 neon was looking better but the black neons got the same problem. One looked like the white spot on lip was fuzzy but when I net them or try to look at it out of the water i can't see anything. I can't capture a picture well.

So no all I know is nothing has fixed it yet. I still don't really know if it is a fungus or bacterial issue and 4 black neons and 1 neon tetra still have it. :/

I have methylene blue and some tetracycline to start in a couple of days but wanted to summarize all that has been done so far.

Forget pop-eye blah whatever. He isn't fixed yet but his school is. I think when they go back into their tank I am going to separate the tetras that look ok from the others and see what happens. Not sure if that is a good idea or not.

Thanks so much for all the help!
Jana

 

[jlbfish]

I'm at a loss. Don't want to give up. Gave a methylene blue bath and tetracycline for 2 days looks worse. Fuzz is obvious :/. Way! Thanks again!

 

[jlk]

I am sorry! I was really hoping this would help! The gentamycin is the only thing I can think of that may work. Methylene blue and the maroxy are both effective against fungus. If you you were dealing with fungus & not a bacterial infection, it would be gone. Its not & its getting worse, so that leaves us with a very antibiotic-resistant infection here which is what I suspected after the kanamycin didnt work. Or seek out the aid of an aquatic vet for stronger antibiotics than whats available online.

 

[jlbfish]

Honestly after tetracycline and methylene blue baths I'm ready to cull the whole lot! Does it look better before it gets worse or does methylene blue make it more visible?. Because at this point I thi k I would always be afraid they were sick.

 

[jlk]

I have never had meth blue make things worse. It does not work overnight though. it will stain the infected areas & make them more obvious.

 

[jlbfish]

Ok. Thanks. I think I'm going to finish up the tetracycline how many baths should they have ? I've done 2 1 per day. After that I'm going to wait and see no more meds

 

[jlk]

One a day is fine. Let us know what you decide!

 

[jlbfish]

Ok last dose of tetracycline done. I am going to do one more methylene bath tomorrow and put a charcoal filter in. It is possible that what i am seeing is tissue that was eaten away by the columnaris but then they may still have it. Does the tissue eaten away ever have fluffy floaty looking strands? there is one fish that has that.

Anyway from this point on what will be will be! Thanks again for all the help I will keep ya posted! LOL

 

[jlbfish]

I've been doing 50% water changes with carbon in the filter. Moved them to a 20 gallon just in case the 10 gallon was too small and stressing them.

There is tissue damage on mouths and bumps. It doesn't seem to be getting worse. I really want your honest opinion on this. These guys have been in iso since the end of April.

The way I see it I can:

1. Raise the temp to see if columnaris is in there assuming if it is it will flourish at higher temps.

2. Cull the fish with visible signs since I can't tell if it is tissue damage or columnaris.

3. Cull the whole bunch and start over.

?

Thanks. I am being impatient but I feel so bad for my one little black neon. I got him a school but they are kind of messed up.

 

[jlk]

Tissue damage on the mouth is a classic result of a columnaris infection. Depending on the severity of the damage, it may never grow back and just remain as scar tissue. Your going to have to make your own judgement call here. Even if you posted pics, there isnt a a definitive way to determine if the infection is still present or not without a microscope. Because of the effort you have put into these guys thus far, your going to have to decide whether to continue or not. I would try turning up the heat & see what happens. If they all become worse and the infection starts to spread, I think culling everyone would be wise at this point in time. If they all remain unchanged in 2weeks time, then its possible the worst may be over but its not an absolute. Once again, this will have to be your decision.

 

[jlbfish]

So far they have been in for 6 days without meds/salt and at room temp. They actually look a bit better so maybe the methelyene blue made it look worse. They are all behaving well and have no signs of sickness. I am thinking about moving them into community tanks. I assume if it was/is columnaris or if they still had it I would have seen some changes by now.

 

[jlk]

I would give them atleast another full week of observation. Then, the decision to move them will be up to you & how you feel they are doing. Good luck!

 

[jlbfish]

Unfortunately I already moved them when I saw this. . Fingers crossed all seems well for now.

 

[jlbfish]

Well, sadly we culled the whole school . There was thanks so much for all the help I really appreciate it. Wish I could have done more for them. Now to figure out how to disinfect the tank.