Really discouraged and becoming disinterested(problems with disease)

S

shinyfish

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Aug 7, 2008
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Well as it stand now I am down to 11 Lemon Tetras...
They have been dieing 1-2 a week for awhile now from what seems to be columnaris.
here is my previous thread.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=170655

It only is effecting one or 2 at a time as well.

So far the the angel, pleco and cories appear to be fine. But I would not be surprised if I lost all of the Lemon Tetras.

Water condition is in the link I posted and treatment I have done. Since then I also started doing water changes twice a week of 70%.

I am really not sure where to go from here. If All the lemon tetras die I assume the disease will still be present in the tank and I wont be able to add anything. I am also looking at the possibility of loosing the entire tank if it spreads to the other fish.

I feel like I should give in soon... :(

Couple months ago I was very enthusiastic about my tank again and then this has happened...

O well just sharing a story..
 
I just got done a 5 day treatment for columnaris in my tank after a first load platy took out most of my cardinals, 4 of my corys and eventually herself. I used Maracyn, dropped the temp to 75 on my heater and after a few days everybody seems MUCH happier. My ammonia levels were a bit high during the treatment (I'm guessing I killed some of the bacteria in the filter with the treatment). I had a large white patch on the platy and the corys got major fin rot. The cardinals really didn't have a chance now that I look back on it.
Now that I am through this (knock on wood) I am much happier with the tank. I understand the disapointment but trust me, if you can recover it you will feel that much better.

I also read somewhere that oxygenated water fights the bacteria so I raised my spray bar out of the water to get as much O2 into the water as possible.
 
What are your Water Params?
They might just not be getting used to the tank, or water temperature.
Hope this all gets sorted out, and the Lemon's live
:)
 
As a side note, after this incident I realized that I needed a small "hospital tank" so I started watching ebay and craigslist for a little 3 gallon eclipse all in one. This way I can quickly set up an emergency tank if I need to get someone out of the tank (such as the platty with the white sides)
 
Its rough to have to fight disease at any stage but especially when starting out. Almost all new fishkeepers will go through a bout with something nasty early on in the hobby, inherently. Its part of the process.
Don't throw the towel in - stick with us here on the site and we'll try and help.

Treatment for columnaris is pretty much as already indicated by Felix, when it has really taken hold. Otherwise, large large daily water changes can work wonders at the early stage. What you can't do is just let it happen, sticking to your normal routine.

If I was you I'd try daily water changes for a week - see if you get some improvement. Otherwise consider the maracyn treatment.

Stick with it - as you know its a great hobby, but like all things worth pursuing it will never be without its lower points. Try and recall how much satisfaction you got when setting up the tank and during the first few months. You will get as much or more satisfaction by taking your fish through this outbreak, and restoring your tank to health.
 
it sounds like a secondary infection, I would check the parameters, do a 50% water change gradually raise the temp t about 84 over a24 hour period. cover the tank with a towel to darken. most fungus don't like light also add aquarium salt 1 tablespoon to every 5 gallons. I also added a uv sterilizer that works wonders.
 
Alright here is what I am going to try next.
tonight I am going to do a 75% water change(my normal amount)
Temp 75
Treat with Maracyn 1 Should I also use II? If I do, both in full concentration?
and Add aquarium salt at 1TB/5g

I will treat as directed for 5 days.

Once the disease progresses it appears to not be cotton but a really bad ulcer on the side of the fish, like its scales/skin are being eaten away, but not by anything i can see.

I have a few lemons that I know wont make it but I feel it is only a matter of time before I start seeing problems on my other fish.. Really want make sure its wiped out this time and the tank is safe.
 
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I've never understood if it was possible to totally wipe out the disease. I had this break out in one of my tanks before, and I removed the one's affected, and treated the tank with salt. The disease never came back, and it's been close to a month. Just the other day, I transfered some fish from said tank, to another with more fish, and one of them exibited some fin-rot, and it's got me scared. I don't want this to come back, and even worse, affect the rest of my fish.
 
I really hope I am able to.. I plan to restock the tank a bit once everything is under control.. Would hate for it to come back.

Does my plan of attack sound good?
 
You should clean out everything, and use some bleach to disinfect. You can allow to dry, or use dechlorinator to remove the chlorine afterwards. Make sure when you purchase fish, that they are free of disease. Sometimes it's hard, but give it your best guess. Look for signs of infection in their tank-mates. See if they are actively swimming. When you bring them home, prepair a salt bath right away to rid them of external parasites and bacteria. Then have them in QT for a couple of weeks, something small that does not require too much qork to restart. Sometimes a quart, or gallon jar works. I have several 1.5 gallon tanks for this purpose.

Hope things work out for you, you were really close to having your feeder population take off. Next time I'm sure would work out much better.
 
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