Columnaris Treatment

[fishguy001]

I have come to a conclution that my angelfish got ( a white rimish spot on one of the pecotoral fins) from my neons after being in the tank for 1 and 1/2 weeks the water chemistry is fine and by fine I mean everything at 0ppm apart from nitrates which are at a safe level. My platies have gone uninfected. Since this was the case with the platies I though it was an isolated event only on the neons ( they fight every time I look) , but we learn from our mistakes. So how can I exterminate the bacteria and I think fungus from the tank and angelfish ( not the neons because Ive had a friendly petstore going to take them in). I have a kuhli loach in there so has to be friendly to him. The tank is a 45 gallon ( or I can keep him in a bowl for the treatment period)

Will a salt bath in a 3 gallon bucket for the angelfish cure it? How long and how many times a day and for how long?

What do I have to do to the tank to rid of this infestation?
( something that doesnt invlove more than 1 h I have a lot of school work at the moment).

By the way I change the water every week about 20% and test it so my water quality is good.

[fishguy001]

not ich for sure

[angyles]

This doesn't really sound like columnaris to me. I'm unclear from your post...are the neons showing symptoms as well, or is it only the angel?

[KarlTh]

Salt is not the treatment of choice for bacteria. You need an off the shelf medication.

(original thread here http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=210034)

[dundadundun]

is there any red around the affected area?
is it white and fluffy like cotton?
can you provide a pic?
does the affected area look like it's diing?
what are the rest of your parameters?
temp, ph, etc....
how long has there been an issue? not just with the current sick fish, but in total? how long has that/those fish been affected?

you definitely don't want to treat the wrong thing/way in this case imo.

[dundadundun]

now that i checked the original thread... if you have to treat the main tank the only thing i'd trust (for bacteria purposes) would be kanaplex or kanamycin.

large DAILY water changes are a good idea throughout the whole treatment.

[pacpac2]

Agree with Kanamycin. Will do the job with the least harm to other things. My inverts even survived it. Shrimp that is. My snails were another story.

[angyles]

I don't think any specific medication can actually be recommended when you haven't actually diagnosed the problem. Columnaris usually manifests itself through either a white cottony substance on the mouth, or a patch of white cottony looking area on the top of the body in front of the dorsal fin, hence the nickname 'saddleback.' A white area on the pectoral fin does not sound like columnaris.

a fungasy looking area on a pectoral fin actually sounds more like a true fungal infection due to a wound or something, IMO. How is it doing now? Haven't heard from you in a while...has it improved at all?

[jpappy789]

I really think a pic is in order

[angyles]

agreed.

[madcat1977]

I have an Oscar with what appears to be a repeat infection of "saddleback". The appearance matched what I thought was fungus in an OTC package insert, so he was treated a month ago. The white, cottony patches around his dorsal fin resolved, but now they are back again. I gram-stained a swabbed specimen from the original growth prior to the first treatment, and it appeared as a large gram-variable rod, but some fungi have this description also. If it is columnaris, what is my treatment preference and schedule for a 75-gallon tank. Only the oscar is affected, the pleco and two uneaten feeders have not displayed any signs of infection. The oscars' eyes appear to be bulging more than usual, but they appeared bulged normally prior to the onset of this infection. My filtration system is a 405 Fluval, and I have an ultraviolet system which has eliminated algae blooms. Any help with problem would be greatly appreciated!