Sick Angelfish Poss Columnaris?

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abcdefghi

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Jun 6, 2007
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I posted on here a couple weeks ago about some white spots on my angels fin. For treatment I started with increased water changes, and have been changing approx 30% every other day. So far I have seen no signs of improvement, and if anything its getting worse.

If I look at his fin, I can see the 2 white spots, both are fuzzy and raised, nothing like ich spots. Spreading out from these its almost like there is a whitish patch running through his fin, its very faint, but its there. I also noticed last night that it appears as though his fin is deteriorating from the outside. It does not look anything like fin rot though, but it just looks like something is changing on his fin.

Could this be columnaris? other than his fin he is acting pretty normal. Since I moved out the other 2 angels he goes up and down the sides of the tank, and I have possibly seen him flash on the sand (kind of hard to explain, but its almost like he does it out of boredom). All his other fins are looking good, and he has (since moving out the other angels) grown really nice long extensions to his fins (not sure what they are called, but its the long thin parts that grow from the tips of their fins).

I have tried and tried to get a picture, but since his body is a bright silver and his fin is constantly moving its virtually impossible to get a good view of the area. I can get plenty of blurred pictures, but they are useless for any ID of what the problem is.

So where should I go from here? I don't have a spare tank to use as a QT, but if no other options I could move the breeding pair back to the 55G and put him in the 29G. If I treat with Marcyn and Maracyn 2 am I likely to wipe out my beneficial bacteria? Is this safe to use on the whole tank with cory cats and rummynose tetras?

Thanks.
 

abcdefghi

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Pictures would enable better opinion forming as to the problem and its resolution.
I know, the problem is its extremely difficult to get any worthwhile pictures. Its like trying to take a clear picture of a fast moving snowflake against a white background with the average digital camera. I will try getting some more pictures when I get home, and will post any that show the area on his fin. They might not be on here until tomorrow though.

I did some more reading about columnaris, and now I am not sure (I know, this is where the picture helps) if thats what he has. Its been like this for about 2 weeks, only affecting the one fin. He does not clamp his fins, eats fine, is just as active as usual. From the research I have done columnaris spreads pretty quickly.

Arrgghhh pictures!! I will see what I can do, I really do not want to lose this angel. He is by far the biggest I have, and has a lot of personality.
 

melissa3

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Mar 28, 2007
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Hey I think I have the same problem. I tried Pimafix & Melafix and then Maracyn 2 and have no luck getting rid of whatever it is.

Just wondering, does the stuff look like this? -

 

abcdefghi

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Just wondering, does the stuff look like this? -

Hey, no this is like 2 white spots towards the middle of the fin. Will be trying to get some pictures posted sometime tonight / tomorrow.
 

DavidZ

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Sep 20, 2007
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Did you try Jungle parisite clear, I had a sumilar problem, just several spots.
 

tankboy_taylor

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Feb 15, 2007
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Im using macryn 1,2 maroxy and pimifix with salt added to water and seems to have no ill effect on weaker tetras in there. I have either columnaris or a fungal infection or both in my q tank :(

I think if it was columnaris it would have spread much quicker on the fish. whatever I have got pretty nasty within 3-4 days
 

abcdefghi

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I am also starting to think its not columnaris, from my research that disease spreads quickly over the fish and infects other fish. This is only affecting my angel and appears to be slowly progressing.

As an update I was looking last night (comparing him to an angel I have with identical coloration) and at the base of his fins is a red line on both sides, and also earlier I noticed him swimming (very controlled though) upside down before flipping back over. He is still active eating, all over the tank etc.

Will be posting pictures later.
 

abcdefghi

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Jun 6, 2007
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Updated with Pictures

Ok, so I managed to take some pictures. After about an hour of constant clicking these are the best ones I could get.

The 1st picture is just to show how he looks overall, the 2nd his tail area (I don't think there is anything wrong, but thought the picture might be helpful). The 3rd shows the back of his gills/head (ignore the smallest fin, his right fin, its always been that way since he was dime sized) The 4th pic is another full shot but of the other side, the 5th trying to get the back of his fins (the redness I saw there yesterday though has gone/faded) The 6th picture just about shows the white area on his fin, its blurry, but its the best I could take, 7th is the best I could get of the whole fin (again ignore the smallest fin, its always been that way, even though he has had damage to other fins they always recovered, this one is permanently damaged) 8th pic trying to show the bottom of his gills/mouth area, 9th pic trying a close up shot of his gills from beneath, and the 10th pic is another angle where you can just about see the white spots on his fin.

I noticed just now while trying to take pictures that it looks like there is a white/clear looking film right behind his gills, not sure what that is or if its anything to worry about. Its very thin, almost clear, and no chance of getting a picture due to where it is and its coloration.

Thanks. At the moment I have Pimafix and Melafix in the tank, wanting to get this properly diagnosed so I can get him healthy again.

I have on hand Pimafix, Melafix (although almost all gone) Jungle Parasite clear tank buddies (not enough to treat the 55G though) Jungle Internal Parasite Guard and Jungle Anti-Parasite medicated food (although my experience of this is that because its pellets the fish take it in their mouth then spit it out).

Thanks for any help, its really needed at the moment, Googling this gives me so many different results its impossible to make any progress.

angel 002.jpg angel 003.jpg angel 004.jpg angel 005.jpg angel 007.jpg angel 008.jpg angel 010.jpg angel 015.jpg angel 016.jpg angel 017.jpg
 

Star_Rider

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Dec 21, 2005
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your angel appears healthy. golds tend to have little to no coloration near joints(fins etc) where the fin joins the body.
the redness you see is typical of this coloration.

same can be true near inset of pectoral fins.

other blems could be the result of battles or running into things.

I do not see any issues with your angel.
 
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