Black neons with columnaris (resolved)

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Ignore the bloating. He just binged heavily on live brine shrimp. Do you think this is fungus?

I have on hand:

quarantine trio

salt

Empty quarantine tank

2nd pic, brine shrimp chomp in progress

Sorry for the sediment, I moved some stuff around and stirred up the substrate!

Edited September 28, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Gwallace]

It is really hard to tell with these pics.  Sorry.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Thanks for checking. Visual symptoms indicate white fungus. Going to treat QT Tank with Maracyn.

[Colu]

What I would do is treat with a combination of maracyn and ick x to fungal infections 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Just do package instructions @Colu? The Maracyn is saying 1 packet per day. IchX is saying daily but do 1/3 water change before each dose.

[krasimir]

I don't think is fungus i think it is a bacterial disease. I think the diagnose is Columnaris . So if you can find something that with that it might work.

[Colu]

Does the white patches  have a fuzzy appearance if they I would keep treating with maracyn and ick x he's aquarium co-op treatment recommendations for fungal infections 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

@Colu not really? It was discoloration on the body, white. And the patches seemed square shaped. Found another neon has it too. Milder case. Symptoms more subtle. Moved out to qt.

Edited July 9, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Colu]

It possible it's bacterial and not fungal if another fish has developed similar symptoms I would recommend treating with Jungal fungus clear fizz tabs containing nitrofurazone and kanaplex together following this treatment schedule as you could be dealing with Columnaris 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 7/9/2022 at 7:07 PM, Colu said:

It possible it's bacterial and not fungal if another fish has developed similar symptoms

Fungus is not contagious?

Fish 1 seemed panicky in qt (wall surfing) but once I added the buddy, they are both cool and immediately socializing. I think he was worried he got separated from his school.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I wish I would’ve gotten better pics. Sorry guys. They are in a tote now so no more pics. I must observe from above. I will do the course of medication and then let them in qt for extra week(s). So far I had put the Maracyn in there, this morning. Looks like it is antibacterial + antifungal. I hadn’t done anything with the ick x. All of the warnings on the bottle make me nervous?

I looked at photos online and the fish symptoms looks more like columnaris than fungus. I’ve read on other threads that columnaris is really bad? Can wipe out a whole tank? Glad I isolated these guys.

Edited July 9, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/9/2022 at 4:20 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Fish 1 seemed panicky in qt (wall surfing) but once I added the buddy, they are both cool and immediately socializing. I think he was worried he got separated from his school.

There might be two things going on and it's important to narrow out issues in the long term.

Discolorations could be linked to something like "tetra disease" which is just difficult to know.  Here is a video on the topic.  I think it's a really well done video on the topic and one that everyone should see!

It could be "open wounds" from something like decor.  This is easiest to diagnose with behavior of the fish.  Flashing, things like that where the fish might be trying to "scratch" or remove something from their skin.  This could lead to a wound.  You can also get a wound pretty commonly from just fighting and breeding behavior.

If the wound looks smooth, not like a cotton ball, then I would lean towards this type of treatment. (bacterial).

It could be fungus. This also could be a secondary issue and not the primary.  So maybe it had something, then that developed into a fungal issue.

I would start with what was suggested and proceed from there:

 

 

On 7/9/2022 at 3:18 PM, Colu said:

Does the white patches  have a fuzzy appearance if they I would keep treating with maracyn and ick x he's aquarium co-op treatment recommendations for fungal infections 

I would also add to this, and @Colucan confirm, salt would be a good use here as well.

 

 

On 7/9/2022 at 4:27 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

So far I had put the Maracyn in there, this morning. Looks like it is antibacterial + antifungal. I hadn’t done anything with the ick x. All of the warnings on the bottle make me nervous?

Don't be! It's very, very easy to use.  Dose it in the tank whenever you change water for the bacterial med.  Add Ich-X and you just let it sit until you do so.  Here's a pretty awesome look at it's use.
 

I also recommend a review / rewatch of this one.  I always find myself going back to it whenever I need some advice on meds.
 

 

Edited July 10, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Colu]

If you only using maracyn  I would add aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 3 gallons and gradually bump it up to 1 table spoon for 1 gallon if they get worse 

Edited July 10, 2022 by Colu

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 7/9/2022 at 8:09 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

It could be "open wounds" from something like decor.  This is easiest to diagnose with behavior of the fish.  Flashing, things like that where the fish might be trying to "scratch" or remove something from their skin.  This could lead to a wound.  You can also get a wound pretty commonly from just fighting and breeding behavior.

If the wound looks smooth, not like a cotton ball, then I would lean towards this type of treatment. (bacterial).

It did not look like wounds. The fish were active and eating well. No flashing, no scratching. Looked like white patches on the body. Not “fluffy” but on the first fish, the patches were, perhaps, just a teeny bit raised. Had to look really closely to see that. If the fish hadn’t overeaten, I’m not sure I would have noticed the illness. First thing I noticed is the black stripe on the fish was interrupted by “something”. And whatever it is, it has passed to another fish.

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/9/2022 at 5:29 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

First thing I noticed is the black stripe on the fish was interrupted by “something”. And whatever it is, it has passed to another fish.

I had that happen to my rasboras.

Something I learned from the fish vet talk on the members only channel video was that it could just be thickening of the slime coat of the fish.  If they look "pale".  Just a note. I don't think that's what this is. I think you're on the right track with treating as mentioned above. (Bacteria + Fungal + Salt)

If you see it pop up on other fish one by one, that's what happened to my rasbora. 😞

Edited July 10, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Ok @Colu & @nabokovfan87, I went ahead and added the Ick X. I didn’t add salt because last qt I had a bad experience with salt. It killed the nitrifying bacteria on the sponge filter & I ended up with an ammonia spike. I still could end up that way this time. This sponge filter isn’t really seeded, so dumped in the “new tank dosage” of Fritz Zyme 7 and hacked the filter Irene style with an ammonia removing pad and a rubber band. If ammonia does spike even after that, I’ll go after it with Prime. Half of the water in the qt tank came from the main tank too.
 

Also dropped in a second airstone. Setup ain’t pretty; pretty barbaric actually. We’re in emergency response mode here. At least I got to use the gang valve. #thuglife

There is a plan. 

(The cat likes the setup. It’s easier for her to watch fish. Heh)

Edited July 10, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/9/2022 at 6:37 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

(The cat likes the setup. It’s easier for her to watch fish. Heh)

That's awesome.

Best of luck.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Today I am at a disadvantage. I have friends coming into town, and I have to go meet them and spend an overnight, so I will not be able to monitor anything with the quarantine tank. However, this morning I did add salt, and I also threw in grungy sponge from my outflow. I usually keep two chunks in the outflow of the hang on back to dampen the sound of water. I have to keep my water level down a bit, because I have two adult snails that require access to air. The mystery snail goes up there to lay eggs, and the nerite snail just enjoys air in general. I did test both tanks today, the snail tank and the quarantine tank, and I got zero ammonia and zero nitrite .
 

However there is one concern, and that is fish behavior. Before I left, I noticed one of the black neons in quarantine was exhibiting a darting behavior. Not really sure what I can do given the situation with my travel today. I will have to check again  tomorrow night when I add a pack of Maracyn.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 7/9/2022 at 6:18 PM, Colu said:

Does the white patches  have a fuzzy appearance if they I would keep treating with maracyn and ick x he's aquarium co-op treatment recommendations for fungal infections 

Got home from trip. Everything is going well with the tanks. @Colu I left the Maracyn at 2 doses, and the ick x and salt is in there too. I’m following instructions above but I have no idea whether to treat the mild case or the severe case. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/11/2022 at 8:29 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

I’m following instructions above but I have no idea whether to treat the mild case or the severe case

If you have multiple fish I would say follow the severe.  What is the change in the fish so far?

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 7/12/2022 at 12:30 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

If you have multiple fish I would say follow the severe.  What is the change in the fish so far?

Thanks. I went ahead and added dose 3.  The fish seem energetic, utilizing all of the tank space, but I still see the white patches.

[Colu]

With suspected Columnaris you want to treat it like it's a severe infection you might have to do two full course of treatment back to back 

Edited July 12, 2022 by Colu
Missed word

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 7/12/2022 at 1:47 PM, Colu said:

With suspected Columnaris you want to treat it like it's a severe you might have to do two full course of treatment back to back 

Thank you Dr. @Colu

Water change in between?

Edited July 12, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Colu]

Do two courses of treatment if your doing the aquarium co-op treatment method then I would do two 50% water before starting your second full course of treatment if not just follow the  instructions on the box

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Just a little update. The fish seem to be responding well to the treatment, as far as behavior. They are active and still utilizing the whole tank space. I will have to remove them to inspect them in some sort of clear container to see what their symptoms are looking like. I can't do that in the plastic tote. The plastic is hazy and hides details. I really should get a clearer tote to use, but that's a project for another day.