When to remove salt before adding antibiotics for Columnaris

[Listless Angelfish]

Hi,

I'm pretty sure my betta fish has a chronic case of Columnaris or Saddleback disease. I tried to get clear pictures but basically he has a "wound" on his side, behind his pectoral fin, where the disease has eaten away at his scales and whatever is underneath. He's still eating normally and swimming normally. The only reason why it has progressed this far is because I had a hard time diagnosing it. I ordered Kanaplex and Jungle Fungus Clear 2 days ago and they're coming later today. The main issue is that I added salt to my tank because I heard that it has the ability to dehydrate the bacteria and stop the disease from progressing while I waited for the medicine. Should I get all of the salt out of the tank with water changes before I start treating him with the antibiotics or is it ok to leave the salt in there? I don't want to stress him out with an unnecessary water changes, but I also don't want to mess up the treatment with the salt. Another question I have is if I'm able to successfully treat him for Columnaris, will his side heal or go back to normal?

 

• I have a 6 gallon tank but I say 5 gallon to account for the other things in there.
• My water parameters are 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and 5 nitrate. The nitrate is there because I've been using easy green.
• I usually have the temperature at 80 degrees but I lowered it to 75 because I heard that also slows the progression of the disease.
• If you're wondering how much salt I added, it was 5 tsp of salt every 12 hours 2 times, I'm supposed to do it 3 times but I wasn't sure if I should add more salt if I'm going to have to take it out before I add the antibiotics today.

Any help is appreciated.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 11, 2022 by Listless Angelfish
Wanted to make the pictures bigger

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 10/11/2022 at 12:07 PM, Listless Angelfish said:

Should I get all of the salt out of the tank with water changes before I start treating him with the antibiotics or is it ok to leave the salt in there?

It is fine to leave the salt in there.  It's better for him actually. Helps him with electrolytes and slime coat as he goes through the treatment.   However, I would not increase the salt level at this time as doing so would increase stress, and so will meds.  

You will also want to make sure he has an extra airstone if at all possible, as medications in the water reduce oxygen.  If you have any shrimp or snails, you must remove them before medicating; they cannot tolerate meds.

Here's a helpful article about salt use.  This article uses Tbsp instead of tsp though, so you are in between a level 2 and level 3 salt right now. https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/aquarium-salt-for-sick-fish

Keep an eye on your ammonia level because adding salt will slow the bacteria on your filter, but not to worry- they will spring back in a few days.  If you do have ammonia, you can add something to the water that makes the ammonia non-toxic, such as Prime (just until you complete treatment).  With Prime, you'd need to dose it every day.  Of course, the proper way to remove ammonia is through water changes, but then that would also remove the meds, so this is the workaround I have found that is successful when treating sick fish.

This is the plan I followed for the medications:

 

Edited October 11, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 10/11/2022 at 12:07 PM, Listless Angelfish said:

if I'm able to successfully treat him for Columnaris, will his side heal or go back to normal

It will go back to normal, but it will take time.  It will fade little by little, similar to how if you have a wound, it becomes a scab, then becomes a lighter patch of skin, etc.  My fish went through the same thing this year.  The journal is in my signature line.  I too misdiagnosed in the beginning but ended up at the Jungle Fungus and Kanaplex treatment, and it worked well.

Edited October 11, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Listless Angelfish]

Thank you so much for your help! I do happen to have a nerite snail but I took him out before I added the salt to the tank. When do you think I should be able to put him back in when I'm done treating my betta fish? 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 10/11/2022 at 12:47 PM, Listless Angelfish said:

Thank you so much for your help! I do happen to have a nerite snail but I took him out before I added the salt to the tank. When do you think I should be able to put him back in when I'm done treating my betta fish? 

After all the meds are out of the water.  Once you are done with treatment (which you may need to repeat, depending on symptoms) you can run carbon in your filter to remove the medication from the water, as well as performing several water changes over the course of a few days.  

Edited October 11, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Hally M.]

It’s definitely beneficial to leave the salt in there during treatment. It helps a lot In my opinion. Hopefully your betta heals!! Good luck to you!!