Columnaris -> treatment proposals ?

[kvr]

In my 65g community tank, I mainly have platies, five oto's and five clown loaches. My platies seem to be very susciptible to columnaris. When I notice the first signs of this disease, I add Melafix and that normally cures them, but if I didn't spot it soon enough, Melafix does not seem to help anymore.

http://allserv.UGent.be/~kvrompae/columnaris.jpg

About every two to three weeks, I notice one of my platies developing signs of columnaris, then I add Melafix for one week, but three weeks later, again one starts to show signs. It are only the platies that get affected, I never saw any signs on the loaches or oto's.

Is there anyone who is familiar with or has used Sera Baktopur ? That seems to be the only medicin that I can find around here that would also help to beat columnaris. But I never used it up to now because I don't want it to affect my loaches. I heard and read on this board about adding maracyn or maracyn II, but I cannot find those products in Belgium.

Any other treatment-proposals ? I was thinking of treating the tank with KMnO4 (I am a chemist so I know how to handle this stuff) but what effect would that have on the loaches ?

I do keep my moderately planted tank clean and do 10% weekly water changes. Nitrates are around 20 ppm and nitrites are not detectable. pH is 7.2 and the water is rather hard.

[OrionGirl]

I would remove the loaches to another tank, treat the main tank with the best stuff you can locate, wait a week and then do a series of 50% water changes (one a day) for 4 days, then add the loaches back to your tank. Be careful to match the conditions for the loaches, so they are not stressed.

[kvr]

That would be the best way to go, but unfortunately, the only tank I could put the loaches in is my 5g.

Can one use the Maracyn medicin safely on a tank with loaches ? If I find a medicin here with more or less the same composition, I'll assume it to be safe to then.

[wetmanNY]

Potassium permanganate that you mention is something I use. Loaches are susceptible to medications, but KMnO4 is an oxidizer. Don't go over 2ppm.

A good feature of KMnO4 is that the color change tells you when the action is spent. Unlike that other effective oxidizer, hydrogen peroxide. Water changes beforehand (to reduce organics) and afterwards are in order.

Dr Erik Johnson has good material on using potassium permanganate (though in koi pools) at http://www.koivet.com/

Are your platies maintained a little on the cool side?

[beviking]

I've used tetracycline hydrochloride for columnaris with good results, though I've never had to use it on loaches. It will turn the water yellow and has a tendency to create foam if your inflow splashes at all wich gets messy. Can't recall if it is detrimental to your "good" bacteria or not, I've always used it in a Q-tank.

15 ppm active ingredient for 24 hours for 2-4 days with water changes daily. Here in the states, you can get tetracycline hydrochloride soluable powder at the farm store used for treating swine, chickens, etc....

[kvr]

WetmanNY, the tank is at a temperature of 77 F. I am going to do some more reading on this permanganate method, maybe I'll give it a try.

As it is a strong oxidizing agent, I assume it will also affect my plants ?

Beviking, what do you mean with 15 ppm "active ingredient" ?

[wetmanNY]

Yes, KMnO4 is rough on plants.

Dr Johnson's description of how to use it is very thorough.

[beviking]

uh...um...you did say you are a chemist didn't you? ppm = parts per million as a concentration? Does this ring a bell? Just kidding!:p

As sold around here, the soluable powder is only 324g of tetracycline hydrochloride per pound (454g). So you would have to adjust for this when calculating the dose.:)