View Full Version : Columnaris - How long for Maracyn to work?
hurricanejedi
03-08-2006, 9:33 AM
I'm currently treating a few fish with what I think is columnaris. Two rams, one guppy, and one rummy-nose seem to have it. I'm on the 4th day of treatment and there is no signs of improvement. Does this take a while or is this being ineffective?
I treated a molly for over two weeks. Over $20 worth of meds for a $2 fish. She's healthy now, but it definitely took a while.
hurricanejedi
03-08-2006, 10:30 AM
The directions say to dose for 5 days. If needed it says to dose for another 5 days. I'm not sure if its working so maybe should use Maracyn 2? If I did a second course of this stuff then I would really want to change the water. Is this stuff only active for a day, hence you dose daily, or does it build? Therefore not wanting to do water changes?
Roan Art
03-08-2006, 11:38 AM
Been doing a lot of reading since rainbows get this really easily. Couple of things:
Decrease your water temperature as much as you can. Flavobacterium columnare thrives in warmer waters.
If the med you are using is not working, try a different one, but do not use erythomicyne or penicillans. They only work on gram positive bacteria. Furan-2 is good and contains nitrofurazone, which works on both gram neg and pos.
Tetracyline and other related meds are good, but senstive to light. You'll need to black out the tank if you use *cine drugs.
HTH
Roan
LunchBox
03-08-2006, 12:02 PM
I had heard good thingss about the furan-2 as well for dealing with this as well as keepign the temps down. I think I read to put the water around 75 degrees and to add an airstone since columnaris doesn't like an abundance of oxygen either.
hurricanejedi
03-08-2006, 12:10 PM
Ok I'll look into the Furan-2. My ich treatment is technically over so I think its safe to lower the temperature. My rams are loving these high temps though.
hurricanejedi
03-08-2006, 12:18 PM
Hmm does Petsmart or Petco carry this? I don't see it listed on either site.. These are the petstores closest to me.
Roan Art
03-08-2006, 12:23 PM
Jungle (ARGH!) makes a product that contains nitrofurazone, Binox. Double check seconardy ingredients though.
I hate Jungle products, but most LFS carry them. See if they have that.
Roan
rrkss
03-08-2006, 12:24 PM
Have you tried the salt dip treatment used for discus?
DirkW
03-08-2006, 12:49 PM
The directions say to dose for 5 days. If needed it says to dose for another 5 days. I'm not sure if its working so maybe should use Maracyn 2? If I did a second course of this stuff then I would really want to change the water. Is this stuff only active for a day, hence you dose daily, or does it build? Therefore not wanting to do water changes?My regimen was this:
Furan-2 and T.C. Capsules as directed, 4 days.
two 75% water changes
Maracyn and Maracyn 2 as directed, 5 days
two 75% water changes
Furan-2 and T.C. Capsules as directed, 4 days.
Progress was slow, but sure. Furan-2 and T.C. Capsules seemed to work a little better.
hurricanejedi
03-08-2006, 1:16 PM
Have you tried the salt dip treatment used for discus?
Yes I did. The problem is that it seems to be spreading slowly to my other fish. I also had to net the 2 infected fish and keep them in a seperate place (a breeder thing) as they were close to impossible to net inside the tank. The rummy would be too difficult to get as I have to look closely to figure out which rummy it is. Then when I did the dips it was really painful to watch. The fish looked like they were in so much pain, well not pain maybe but it seemed like it to me and its not always very clear when you need to take them out (not clear cut like the article stated). I'm also not home enough to do the dips as frequent as was needed (I tried for 2 days but it was weekend). Then when another ram came down with it I decided I needed to treat the tank.
hurricanejedi
03-08-2006, 1:17 PM
My regimen was this:
Furan-2 and T.C. Capsules as directed, 4 days.
two 75% water changes
Maracyn and Maracyn 2 as directed, 5 days
two 75% water changes
Furan-2 and T.C. Capsules as directed, 4 days.
Progress was slow, but sure. Furan-2 and T.C. Capsules seemed to work a little better.
What are T.C. Capsules?
hurricanejedi
03-08-2006, 1:22 PM
Jungle Fungus Clear Tank Buddies:
Active Ingredients: nitrofurazone, furazolidone, potassium dichromate.
Sound good?
What are T.C. Capsules?
http://www.aquariumguys.com/tccapsules.html
Roan Art
03-08-2006, 2:43 PM
http://www.aquariumguys.com/tccapsules.html
That's tetracycline. You need to do a black out for that to work properly. Not saying it didn't work for you, but you really do. It'll also kill off your biofilter.
Btw, you shouldn't mix meds that way. Not only could you stress and kill the fish with double meds, but they often just cancel each other out.
Roan
Roan Art
03-08-2006, 2:47 PM
Jungle Fungus Clear Tank Buddies:
Active Ingredients: nitrofurazone, furazolidone, potassium dichromate.
Sound good?
Yesh. Try that.
Roan
hurricanejedi
03-08-2006, 2:47 PM
Ok so I'll do the last day of the Meracyn and then do a large water change. Lower the temperature. Then add the Jungle Fungus Clear stuff. Sounds like a plan.
I'm not sure my tank will ever be healthy :( .
Roan Art
03-08-2006, 4:20 PM
I'm not sure my tank will ever be healthy :( .Yes it will. I went through the same thing when I started and it was one let down after another. It's all a learning process and once you get through it, you'll be swimming with the fishes.
btw, I love your cat's purple bow and neck scarf :D
Roan
A little off topic but Roan I miss your old avatar with the blue fish. Reminded me about one of my favorite fairy tales (can't think of the name) about a fish who had the most wonderful scales and ended up sharing them with other fish.
Roan Art
03-08-2006, 5:14 PM
A little off topic but Roan I miss your old avatar with the blue fish. Reminded me about one of my favorite fairy tales (can't think of the name) about a fish who had the most wonderful scales and ended up sharing them with other fish.
Awww. Yah, I miss him to. You're talking about The Rainbow Fish and my avatar was the same guy :)
I'll probably put him back sooner or later.
Last time I switched I got PMs from people who wanted the rock back :rolleyes:
Roan
hurricanejedi
03-09-2006, 8:20 AM
Hehe yah I finally broke down and added it. Meeka looks all set to take on the elements now! Purple string seems to have many uses...
I do hope my tank can recover. I have a rummy that dosne't look completely well but the rest look very energetic despite the columnaris. They are all eating very healthy. 2 of the 3 guppy females look like they will burst if they don't give birth soon. Maybe when I do the water change today that will prompt them.
Roan Art
03-09-2006, 8:49 AM
Lemme know how it works out?
I've been thinking of treating all my rainbows and any new ones that come in with a rigid dosing of nitrofurazone. Rainbows get columnaris if you even breath on them funny -- especially Boesemani -- and I'd rather wipe it out than constantly deal with it.
Roan
hurricanejedi
03-09-2006, 2:18 PM
Ok I'll let you know. I went to Petco to get the meds and looked at their rams (new shipment must have come). They were younger than the ones I had, some were very nice, others not so much. I noticed columnaris on them though. I know they are delicate but I wonder about the source. I did notice their usual dismal plant section had some gorgeous additions that I couldn't turn away from. The problem is they don't label their plants. One was deinitely a Val. The other was a gorgeous red plant, new growth is green. Extremely healthy and large for only $1.99. I'll have to research what it is though. My tank is starting to fill in. I haven't aquascaped it that nicely but once I get enough plants I'll probably rework the whole thing anyway based on what I get.
hurricanejedi
03-09-2006, 7:27 PM
Ok thanks to the help I've gotten on aquarium photography, I actually managed to get a decent shot of the spots. Another ram has a spot near their mouth and on a front fin. This ram has it predominantly on the tail. Let me know if you think its anything other than columnaris.
http://images4.fotki.com/v46/photos/3/356789/3267617/P1011157-vi.jpg
Here are recent tank pictures (plants are filling in!).:
http://public.fotki.com/hurricanejedi/2006/fish_tank/
My skills have a ways to go but they have improved a lot since I started.
Roan Art
03-09-2006, 9:01 PM
Yes. Can I get a mouth shot? My guys always get it on the mouth first, so I'm pretty familiar with how that looks.
Roan
hurricanejedi
03-10-2006, 10:07 PM
I think my female ram that just spawned a few days ago is dying :sad: . She is displaying all the same symtpoms my male was before he died (not long after I got him). Maybe the meds will save her before its to late. She is listless, no longer camera shy, hangs near the top sometimes, dosen't move much and color is wierd, sort of darker but pale. This is the one that has the columnaris on the fin mostly. The other ram with the columnaris spawned tonight. But her condition seems to have worsened as well. There seems to be a flat blister on one gill pluss a few fuzzy spots off of her fin and mouth. She is acting normal though, just looks worse. I couldn't get any decent pics of her just the other one that isn't acting normal.
This is the ram that isn't as bad off. Small spot on her mouth, flat blister on gill and fuzzy spot on fin. Most of which isn't captured in this picture:
http://images16.fotki.com/v280/photos/3/356789/3267617/P1011251-vi.jpg
This girl has it really bad on her tail and isn't acting normal:
http://images5.fotki.com/v62/photos/3/356789/3267617/P1011253-vi.jpg
http://images1.fotki.com/v6/photos/3/356789/3267617/P1011260-vi.jpg
I don't want to lose her :sad: . I started the Jungle Clear Fungus stuff this morning.
Roan Art
03-11-2006, 4:55 AM
Blister? Can you describe it?
Your rams sound like they have far more than just columnaris. Can you go to Pandora's and see if anything, other than Cotton Fin Fungus and Columnaris, looks familiar?:
http://www.fishpalace.org/Disease.html
Roan
hurricanejedi
03-11-2006, 8:57 AM
No. Cotton Fin Fungus and Columnaris are the only ones that seem to fit. The spot on the gill looks funny because of the way its placed but I think its the same stuff as everywhere else. It dosen't look anything like the lymphocystitis or anything else.
The ram looks a little better this morning. Maybe there is hope for her.
Roan Art
03-11-2006, 9:49 AM
Crossing my fingers for your rams, and for you. I know how it is when your fish are sick.
Roan
hurricanejedi
03-16-2006, 8:21 AM
Well yesterday I officially finished the Jungle treatment. Unfortunately upon this conclusions I lost both of my infected rams. There never seemed to be any impact from the Maracyn or Jungle Fungus Clear :( .
My male ram left (very healthy) has now become very territorial without his females.
My tank is now almost completely healthy and also sparse. I have one rummy-nose with a questionable spot on the fin but I'm hoping the natural body resistance can fight it off (fed some garlic flakes this morning). I can't bare to subject the tank to any more treatments.
So now I'm ready to restock which is a little more of a scary idea than I ever thought it would be. I think for now I'll get 2 more oto's, 2 more female guppies, and 1 or 2 female rams. I might not get the rams right off. I want to make sure they are healthy so I will take my time picking them out. Though both of my females had *appeared* healthy when I bought them...
Ugh.
Roan Art
03-16-2006, 8:44 AM
I'm sorry about the rams, hurricanejedi :(
You might want to wait for the spot to clear on that rummy before you re-stock.
One of my little male Pagwis started to develop columnaris in the saddle position. These guys were all infected on the mouth when I got them. I did a lot of massive water changes and it went away for a while. This guy has it back so I'm doing a round of Furan-2, nitrofurazone like the Jungle stuff, and hope this clears it out of the tank for good. If not, I'll try something else.
Roan
Cathy G
03-16-2006, 8:53 AM
Hi Roan,
I have a quick question regarding Maracyn1 and 2. They can be used together - thus you are treating with both a gram positive and gram negative anti-biotic. Have you ever done this? I was just wondering because I lost a favorite fish going from one anti-biotic to another,including the nitrofuazone, in this case the infection was internal, not like columnaris. However I think I wasted precious time and had to do over would use the 2 maracyns together.
Is this a bad plan? Have you ever used both together and had good results?
Thanks,
Cathy
LunchBox
03-16-2006, 8:59 AM
wow that's a real bummer hurricanejedi. I had a tetra with a mild case of columnaris that I treated by lowering the temps to around 73-75 degrees F and using melafix for a week, and changing water daily (dosing the melafix after the change of course). the stuff looks to be gone now but I have been keeping a sharp eye on them in case it returns.
I agree with roan that you should wait to restock until the spot on the rummynose goes away (or you can determine it's something different). no sense getting some new rams and losing them as well.
good luck!
hurricanejedi
03-16-2006, 9:00 AM
You might want to wait for the spot to clear on that rummy before you re-stock.
Yah I was thinking about that. I never noticed this to be catching though. Right off I noticed the rummy and rams had it but it never spread beyond that. I'll see how the rummy does for a while though.
I had the biggest scare yesterday! I was doing a water change and I noticed a bunch of small white spots all over my rummy's!!! I thought, O God, the ich came back! Then I realized they were oxygen bubbles and were all gone this morning :p: .