HELP! Will Jungle Lifeguard All-in-One work!?!??!

[mrshealey]

I just treated my black moor with Jungle Lifeguard All-in-One but now I'm thinking she might have columnaris.

She has white fuzz around the rim of her right gill as well as a clamped fin on that side. She's also getting pretty lethargic. Is this columnaris after all? Is it safe for me to add an antibacterial as well, in addition to the Lifeguard?

I've already quarantined her and given her the Lifeguard and salts, but it hasn't seemed to help all that much yet.

PLEASE help me! I'm so worried about her!!! THANKS!

 

[jlk]

Hi and welcome!! What are the parameters of the tank shes in (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph)? What size tank is it & is it cycled? Lifeguard is a useless product. However, you will need to remove it from the tank before switching to another med. Do three 50% water changes over the course of few hours (dont worry about salt right now) while running a new carbon filter for atleast 12hrs to remove any additional meds. Make sure you temperature-match & properly condition the water. What type of meds do you have access to? Kanamycin (or Seachem's Kanaplex) would be my first choice followed by Maracyn Plus. If you can not find either of these, Maracyn 2 is available in most Petsmarts.

After you have completed the wcs to remove the lifeguard, premix 1 tablespoon per 5 gal of aq salt in a cup of tank water. Re-add this slowly over the course of 48hrs. Only add back the salt you remove with wcs. You will need to keep her water very healthy while treating or the meds will not be effective. Daily water changes may be necessary- do them around the same time every day before redosing meds. I would also order some kanamycin/kanaplex to have on hand in the event the Maracyn2 doesnt work. Please ask if you have any questions!!

 

[mrshealey]

Ok. I'll try that. I'm not actually sure what meds I can find because there's only a Walmart in town. I'll look for what you suggested though. If they don't have it I'll overnight something from Amazon. As for the water...I followed the advice of a couple websites and completely started from scratch for her "hospital". It should be pretty good although I haven't tested it.

 

[jlk]

If you started the qt from scratch, its not cycled. Its going to be very, very important that you test the water daily & do water changes. Without healthy water, she will not be able to heal & the meds will not be effective. I doubt you will find anything at walmart but amazon does sell Seachems Kanaplex. Good luck & keep us posted!

 

[mrshealey]

I just checked on her again and I noticed a few little white spots on the front half of her body. Does this sound like Ich to you? If so, the Lifegaurd should help with this, as long as the infection is not bacterial, right? The Lifeguard box says that it is "extremely effective against ick and fungus." I know that you shouldn't trust the box, but I DO trust the brand. What do you reccomend now!?!?! I'm so new to this I'm not very confident in my abilities to diagnose or treat.

I'm sorry I'm so frantic right now!!!!

 

[jlk]

Dont panic! How long have you had her? Do the spots look like grains of salt or are they fuzzy? Fuzzy spots are bacterial. Salt is the best ich treatment for goldies. The bacterial infection is the primary concern here because this will kill quickly while the ich will not. You need to focus on removing the lifeguard first from the tank. Then increase the salt to 2.5 level teaspoons per gallon. This will need to be premixed in container of tank water & added gradually over 48hrs to allow her time to adjust. Maintain the salt concentration for 2wks while treating with the kanaplex and keeping the water healthy with daily water changes. Only add back the salt you remove-50% wc, add back 1/2 the original dose. Once again, I cant stress enough how important its going to be to test your water daily & keep it as healthy as possible- she can not heal without healthy water & all the meds in the world will not help if the water is unhealthy.

 

[mrshealey]

Ok. I'll check all the local pet stores and see what I can do about the bacteria. The spots do look fuzzy so I'll do my best to follow your direction. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!


Update: I bought Maracyn. They didn't have anything fancy; it just says "Maracyn" on the box. I'll give it a shot and let you know what happens.

 

[mrshealey]

I have another quick question.
What do you think of this treatment (Something to try next time you see Columnaris (new improved version))? He says he used Lifeguard, Fungus Clear, AND Maracyn. I've got all three. I'm just worried about doing it...

 

[jlk]

Sorry, but I dont agree nor should you be combining various different meds. Columnaris is a gram-negative bacterial infection and should be treated accordingly with a gram-negative antibiotic. Maracyn is erthromycin- its gram-positive and is a waste of money & time in treating a gram negative infection. The fungus clear tabs have a mild antibiotic in them. The Lifeguard (as I have already said) is pretty much useless. You should be treating with appropriate meds if you want your moor to be healthy. Moors are sensitive to their water conditions as well as different meds- throwing a cocktail of different stuff into the tank may result in a disaster. Your best option is to treat with kanamycin. The second best option is Maracyn Plus or Maracyn 2 although resistance to minocycline (maracyn 2) seems to be becoming more frequent. If you have no other options, the fungus clear meds are better than not treating.