Re-occuring Columnaris on 2 Mollies.

wakingupnow

wakingupnow

AC Members
Mar 26, 2009
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Nassau, Bahamas.
Real Name
Jessica
Hello,

It's been quite a while since I've had any issues with my tanks, but I've been having some issues with a bit overstocked 10 gallon tropical tank.

In the tank I have 4 Neons (was originally 6), 1 female guppy (was originally 4), up to 25 baby Pomacea Bridgesii snails (some have died) and 2 half inch black Mollies.

This tank I had fishless cycled quite some time ago and it had 1 Male Fancy Guppy that was doing great. I decided I wanted to get 2 more males for the tank so he wouldn't be alone. I used the bag method of acclimation over the course of an 45 minutes to an hour and they were fine for the first day. The second day, they were all dead. I never placed the bag water in the tank.

So, after a few weeks of just feeding an empty tank, I decided to get 4 females from the same place, same tank. 2 the first week and 2 the second week. Then my aunt called me and said her Mystery snail layed about 10 egg clutches and her little 5 gallon tank couldn't sustain them so I brought home about 40 to put in the 10gallon and my 20gallon tanks. She also had a Black Molly that had 3 babies so I decided to take 2 as well since her tank was so small.

Anyway, coming down to around now, 3 of the 4 Guppies are dead and it seems that every time one dies, the Black Mollies have an outbreak of white tufts all over their bodies, including the eyes and it's what I believe to be Columnaris. The Female Guppies on the other hand, never had any physical ailments. One day they would just lay to the bottom and with in a few hours they were dead.

Through out this time, I tested the water religiously to see if there was high amounts of Nitrates or signs of Ammonia or Nitrites. There was never any Ammo or Trites and the Trates were always under 20ppm (usually around 10ppm).

I have treated them before with Fungus clear tank buddies by Jungle labs twice for this and it went away, but now the larger Black Molly is clamping it's fins, however they are both very active. I'm still worried that the other Guppy will soon pass too. I think there is some strange disease coming from that pet shop's tank because the 4 Neon tetras are absolutely fine and I got them from a different pet store.

I know this was long and I know my tank is overstocked, but I have a 55 gallon that is going to get set up and another 10 gallon that is cycling so they won't be that way for long.

Thanks,
Jessica.

PS. Anything else you need to know, just ask.
 
I don't have and can't find a GH or KH testing kit of any kind where I live. My master kit only has Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, pH and high pH.

However, I can tell you that the water I use is from my grandparents ground well and I assumed that the water would always be hard since The Bahama islands mainly consist of honey comb rock (lime stone).

What should I do?
 
Try local plumbing supplier or even @ home depot, you may be able to find GH/KH test kits.

If taps pH is high, I will assume water is hard, at least moderately. It is very unlikely to find naturally occuring high pH but soft water unless induced.

Pics of mollies with clamped fins?

Any access to Quick Cure and Ampicillin locally?
 
Thanks for the link Brubaker. If I can't get my LFS to order it for me and can't find it at any pool places, hardware stores etc I will have to order it.

Cerianthus, I will take some pictures of the Mollies and the Guppy tomorrow and post them. I checked the larger of the Mollies and she doesn't seem to be clamping any more.

I'm not sure about the Ampicillin, but I think I've seen Quick Cure at the LFS before. I don't think it's a parasitic disease though. They also have this product called Life Guard in tablet form that my boss suggested I use for ANY illness when I worked in a pet shop. It had some affect, but I can't swear to it.
 
Personally, succeful result from jungle product is minimal when compared to other similar product or specific med.
Parasitic infestation doesnt necessarily mean something you can see with naked eyes. There are numerous external parasites infestatin accompanied with secondary or even teritary bacterial/fungal infection.
Did you know that certain larvae of f/w mussels are considered to be parasitic?

Always leave open mind (learned and still learning a lot by listening to new findings which I am not aware or familiar with) when it comes to disease as there seemed to be no end to this field. We know what we know and continue to make progress in medicine.
Can you imagine how much we may be lacking in reference to fish pathology when compared to human medicine?

Please be advised of toxicity of Formaldehyde/Malachite Green when improperly used. Read the directions thoroughly, not just for fish but also for YOU.
Google for med info on Wikipedia or similar sites.

Anyway, hope all goes well for your fish
 
Shouldnt use EM in main tank as it can disturb well established system more so than other antibiotics.

Besides never yielded acceptable results for symptoms described with EM.

Will wait for pics as they can reveal more.
 
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