Get real drugs like TTA suggested.
And now look what you made me do, I had to point to these scientific papers - DOH!
Effects of marihuana compounds on the fighting behavior of Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens)
Biochemical parameters of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) exposed to crude leaf extract of Cannabis sativa
Effect of cannabis oil on growth performance, haematology and metabolism of Nile Tilapia Oreochromis niloticus
Cannabis constituents reduce seizure behavior in chemically-induced and scn1a-mutant zebrafish
All kidding aside, the hardest part of keeping fish is disease assessment and treatment. More than anything else this is what most often drives me to look for answers on Google Scholar. And like anything in life nothing there is universal. I came across a study today which suggested two things with which I do not agree and that was successfully treating columnaris with 3 rounds or metronidazole or with 7 days win a row with Melafix. However they did not indicate this was successful against more virulent strains and was in only one species of fish.
I can also point you to a study where goldfish fingerlings were treated using Chloramine-T. Most folks use dechlor to eliminate chloramines. But here is a summary from the abstract:
Mortality of the untreated control (0 mg/l chloramine-T) group was 70% while survival of fish was significantly increased with increasing chloramine-T concentration up to 15 mg/l chloramine-T. When the concentration of chloramine-T was increased from 15 to 20 or 25 mg/l, survival of fish decreased. F. columnare was isolated from skin and gills of all fish that died during the experiments but was not isolated from survivors 21 days after exposure to bacteria. Results indicate that 15 mg/l chloramine-T can be used to treat columnaris disease in C. auratus under the experimental conditions of this study.
Toxicity and therapeutic effects of chloramine-T for treating Flavobacterium columnare infection of goldfish
There is another very good treatment, but it involves the use of Diquat, an herbicide. I first learned about this on the site for wild angelfish about 4 ir 5 years back. I have yellowed the key text below.
Thomas‐Jinu, S. and Goodwin, A.E. (2004), Acute columnaris infection in channel catfish,
Ictalurus punctatus (Rafinesque): efficacy of practical treatments for warmwater aquaculture ponds. Journal of Fish Diseases, 27: 23-28.
https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2761.2003.00504.x
Abstract
Columnaris disease was induced in channel catfish,
Ictalurus punctatus (Rafinesque), by bath exposure to
four highly virulent isolates of Flavobacterium columnare. In untreated controls, mortality began 20 h after exposure and reached 100% by 48 h. Mortality in channel catfish given antibiotic treatments with oxytetracycline or a combination of sulphadimethoxine and ormetoprim in feed prior to bacterial challenge was zero with all four strains of
F. columnare.
Diquat® (Zeneca Agricultural Products, Wilmington, DE, USA) was the most effective bath treatment; mortality with all four strains was zero. With potassium permanganate, chloramine‐T, hydrogen peroxide and copper sulphate, bath treatment efficacy varied significantly among strains (
P = 0.0346) and among treatments (
P = 0.0033). Bath treatments with chloramine‐T and potassium permanganate significantly reduced (
P < 0.05) mortality from 100 to 75 and 69%, respectively, but copper sulphate and hydrogen peroxide treatments were not effective. Based on our results, oral antibiotics prevented columnaris disease but, of the bath treatments,
only Diquat® produced a dramatic reduction in the mortality of acutely infected fish. Diquat® is labelled for aquatic use as an herbicide in the USA but in large ponds it is prohibitively expensive.
I have never used Diquat and it would require some research to determine where to find it and then the proper way and amount to dose.
