Cleaning after columnaris

lolliemck

lolliemck

AC Members
Jun 22, 2007
139
0
0
Greater Atlanta, Georgia
Real Name
Laura
Drats!

My betta my husband got me as a 'surprise' (he got sick of looking at an empty tank) has passed away from columnaris. I removed him from the tank the second I noticed the symptoms, did a salt bath, and dosed maracyn two and pimafix/melafix in a separate tank to no avail.

With that being said, I now have columnaris in my 5 gallon! I really wanted RCS and endlers originally. There are 3 ghost shrimp in there that are still okay- they will be removed before the addition of RCS, though.

My question to all of you, though. How do I get columnaris out of my tank? It is planted with fluorite substrate. I really, really can't afford to start over. I'd rather have an empty tank for the time needed for the bacteria/fungus to get back in check.

Any advice would be appreciated!!


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
Columnaris is 1 of those ubiquitous organisms, like algae spores, it's always around, waiting for conditions it likes. High temps, low flow, high bioload are some of those likes. I had a tank that had a chronic colmnaris infection...if I kept those parameters in check, all was good...but if the filter got clogged or plant growth slowed the flow, or the summer temps got high... or I skipped a couple water changes, weaker or older fish showed low levels of columnaris (a slight whitish haze). Those fish would eventually die.

Antibiotics (gram negative) can (temporarily) control it. Or you can bleach the heck out of the (empty) tank & start over...but it can & will come back if the tank parameters aren't addressed for the long term.

I'm sorry I don't have better long term answers...but that's been my experience. & I didn't have any inverts to worry about in that tank, shrimp can be resistant to some fish diseases but I don't know about columnaris or any treatments. Good luck in whatever way you address this issue.
 
I've done a bit of research on columnaris. It is indeed the result of one of three common bacteria that can become pathogenic (disease causing) under certain conditions. They flourish in warm, hard, alkaline (pH above 7) water with high levels of dissolved organics and particularly if you have a temperature spike they can then take advantage of fish with weakened immune systems. I wouldn't worry too much about sanitizing your tank though, at this point you've done as much as can be done. The various bacteria that cause columnaris do have trouble in more acidic water as well as softer water. They also have trouble if you keep your dissolved organics low (i.e. do regular water changes, maybe add a uv sterilizer). The parameters that really eliminate the chances of disease (pH below 6, hardness below 33 ppm CaCO3, or temp below 64 F) are much more dangerous for your fish than the bacteria.

So that was a very long and technical way of saying if you keep up on your tank hygiene, add fish slowly and don't overstock you shouldn't have too much trouble.

Please forgive any typos. This was sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using the MonsterAquariaNetwok App
 
That might be my problem. We have extremely soft water down here in Georgia. I'm working in getting the pH up to just 6.5 (it's usually at 6).

Does anyone else have that problem? How do you change your pH? I'll still have to give things awhile before adding anything new.

I'm really thinking the poor guy came with it. We had him for 5 days and treated for 3 1/2. Also a very strong possibility my filter isn't strong enough (stock part for the fluval chi), but I was doing small water changes every other day to compensate.

Now I just have to recycle my tank :/


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
columnaris can hit in any water, mine is very hard and I have had it. From my research it thrives in usually very good water conditions. It also thrives in warm water so reducing the temp helps. To treat use maracyn II, worked instantly for me fish that had signs of it recovered however IME its a very rapid disease if a fish got signs of the disease (not eating, white haize on the body) they died within 48hrs. I lost about 12 fish to it while I was researching/ obtaining treatment. My Ph is high around 8 I believe. The other thing is to reduce the oxygen levels in the tank as it does best in warm well oxygenated waters and your betta doesnt even need oxygen in the water
 
soberj is correct. columnaris is usually not present in low pH water. btw I use Furan II for it.

Laura, you say your pH is 6?
 
Hmm, I think there's some misconceptions or confusion about Columnaris. It thrives in poorly oxygenated water. Here's what some fish doctors say:

bkcolumnaris.jpg

bkcolumnaris.jpg
 
Jannika you are correct
there is confusion about columnaris...cytophaga formerly flexibacter.. still a group of bacteria that do thrive in poorly oxygenated water.
it is a gram - bacteria
poor water quality also a Sx of the bacteria. which also seems to be more predominant in high pH,high TDS , high temp ..it is considered non pathogenic in low pH. and at lower temp ( below 64)

it was discovered in distilled water the bacteria also non pathogenic

IME, with P. Altum.. they seem to be more prone when they arrive(stressed which contributes by compromising the immune system)
I treated in QT after they arrived and lowered the pH to be more similar to their natural environment.
I am now slowly raising the pH and TDS to match my water.


in a nutshell tho.. treatment includes 'Clean water' to reduce areas that might support bacteria
 
Darn fish keeping is so much harder with a little tank! Star Rider- Our tap pH is usually around 6.5. In Alpharetta they buffer our water to 7.5 at its source, but it drops dramatically by the time it gets to the tap. North Georgia has very soft water, but I hate trying to mess with the pH in such a small tank.

It couldn't have been the O2, I have a bubbler, the tank is planted, and I don't dose CO2 (just excel).

The tank temp was only up to 75 since the betta came from the store and was used to room temp. I was raising it slowly.

I'm thinking it had to have been stress. He was in with ghost shrimp which I know can be aggressive (but I wanted to test him with 33 cent ghost shrimp to make sure RCS or CRS wouldn't be lunch).

Either way, it was a definite learning experience for someone who has never had big problems in the past. I now have gram positive and negative antibiotics as well as anti-fungal Tx in the house for the future tank inhabitants.

So, I guess the next question is, what is the best way to raise pH and Gh in a little 5 gallon tank? Or are there hardier fish that might be able to tolerate my water? The one upside with having NOTHING in my water is that it wouldn't be too much of a headache to add things in.

I got in to this hobby while living in Utah, I never had to augment my water there!



Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom