Columnaris?

[DaisyTattoo]

So I’ve been having an issue with flashing in my tank for a couple of weeks. It gets much worse directly following a water change. Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate ~20. In the past month I’ve had 3 fish die. 2 cories and a platy. I haven’t seen any external signs until today I found a Cory who’s mouth has basically rotted off. I thought maybe I was dealing with gill flukes but now I’m not so sure.

 

[fishorama]

That doesn't look like columnaris to me. Do you vacuum your substrate or at least do a surface swirl & vac? Do you use fertilizers? That looks more like some other bacterial infection than columnaris. Can you get your nitrates lower? More water changes...if you don't have nitrate in your tap water...would help a lot! I know it's the holidays & everyone is busy. You don't look to have enough plants to help much with nitrate... Do you only have swords? Any new fish? Water change as often as you can daily? Often!

Once the barbel erosion goes into the cory face it's hard to treat. I don't have an antibiotic suggestion, I've never had to deal with this exact issue. Planet catfish may be a good place to research what may be safe & effective.

 

[DaisyTattoo]

I swirl over the sand every water change. I use root tabs only. I have Anubias java moss and the swords. I have slacked on water changes this last month due to medical issues of my husband so 20 is higher than I like to be on nitrates. I guess I’m just surprised that at only 20 my fish would start flashing and this Cory would have such bad damage. Last fish were introduced about 2 months ago. Here is a pic of the entire tank.

 

[dougall]

Don't assume that the nitrate reading is correct, especially with the API test kit.

It's not nitrates that will be the issue, it's the dissolved organic compounds in the water, especially down in the top level of substrate where the Cory will look for food. Nitrates are normally used to indicate a waterchange is needed because other stuff is more difficult to test for.not because it has other importance.

I would probably make sure that your filter output will move water at the substrate level of the tank, to keep as much stuff off the bottom and in the water column so it can be picked up by the filter.

And increase water changes as much as possible, in volume if not in frequency. If your attention might be elsewhere invest in a cheap alarm that will go off when your aquarium is full... They can be a huge help!

And hope your husband is doing OK.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

First, columnaris is a bacterial infection. It is mostly treated using antibiotics.

Next, columnaris is not caused by a single pathogen. it comes in a variety of strains. Some are quite virulanet and will kill before there are anyvisible symptoms. Others are fairly mild and fish can last for a long time when infected by these. But, in the end, most will kill.

Columnaris presents in a variety of ways when it does show symptoms. Cotton mouth and saddle back (white areas at the base of the dorsal) are two. Here is a link to a paper on this desease: https://veterinaryresearch.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1297-9716-44-27

Columnaris disease in fish: a review with emphasis on bacterium-host interactions
Annelies Maria Declercq, Freddy Haesebrouck, Wim Van den Broeck, Peter Bossier & Annemie Decostere
Veterinary Research volume 44, Article number: 27 (2013) Published: 24 April 2013

 

[DaisyTattoo]

Dougall what you are saying makes sense. Since I did a massive 50% water change I haven’t seen any flashing other than when it increased immediately after the water change. My filter doesn’t agitate the bottom of the tank so perhaps that is my issue. I will increase my water changes and work on getting some equipment to help with the rest!
TTA thank you for the Columnaris information!