Columnaris and Red Worm

[Jeannieb]

I have a planted 55 gallon community tank with Rainbow fish, upsidedown catfish, platys, hillstream loaches, nerite snail, amano shrimp, and a ton of cherry shrimp. 

Three months ago I noticed Red Worm. Treated several times with Expell-P. Fish were still dying one at a time. Lost my female Betta. She was bloated previous to passing away. Since then I've treated with Maracyn several times, para cleanse, and Ich X. 

Now one of my rainbows has a slightly swollen face, platys slowly dying one at a time, platy with top lip missing, platys with scales missing, and occasionally red bulbus feces from the rainbows. 

Currently treating with Jungle Fungus Clear. 

I honestly don't know what to do. I don't want to kill my inverts.  How do I get rid of the red worm and columnaris? I'm at my Wit's end! I thought I was doing everything right because I always quarantine and do the medication trio before adding any fish to my tank. 

Is there an effective treatment for columnaris that's safe for inverts? I don't know how much more stress & heartache I can take.

PH 7.2

GH 13

KH 5 

Ammonia 0

Nitrite 0

Nitrate 20

Edited January 1, 2023 by Jeannieb

[nabokovfan87]

On 1/1/2023 at 10:40 AM, Jeannieb said:

I honestly don't know what to do. I don't want to kill my inverts.  How do I get rid of the red worm and columnaris? I'm at my Wit's end! I thought I was doing everything right because I always quarantine and do the medication trio before adding any fish to my tank.

levamisole is fine to use.  (expel-p) for the worms.  Black out the tank for 24 hours, then do a heavy siphon on the substrate to remove them.

For the other issue I will tag in @Chick-In-Of-TheSea .  The med you're looking for is salt, kanaplex, and jungle fizz tabs

 

because of the snails, you can remove them, but you would omit the salt in that case.

[Jeannieb]

@nabokovfan87  Thank you 

[Colu]

On 1/1/2023 at 9:25 PM, Jeannieb said:

@nabokovfan87  Thank you 

Kanaplex can be harmful to shrimp what I would do is a course of kanaplex in food feeding a small amount twice a day for 7 days its less likely to harm your shrimp in food and Jungle fungus clear fizz tab's containing nitrofurazone to treat the tank the combination of the two is very effective treatment for columnaris I would do two course of jungle fungus clear fizz tab's back to back while treating with kanaplex in food I would do a course of levamisole in food its more effective feeding a small amount twice a day for up to 14 days after you have dealt columnaris 

Edited January 2, 2023 by Colu

[Jeannieb]

On 1/1/2023 at 5:35 PM, Colu said:

a course of kanaplex in food feeding a small amount twice a day for 7 days

I have never fed medicated food to my fish before. As it stands right now, any food that falls to the ground my shrimp swam it. The shrimp congregate in the front of the tank as soon as I start feeding the fish.

I am willing to give it a shot. Will the medicated food kill the shrimp if they get to it? 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 1/1/2023 at 4:05 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

levamisole is fine to use.  (expel-p) for the worms.  Black out the tank for 24 hours, then do a heavy siphon on the substrate to remove them.

For the other issue I will tag in @Chick-In-Of-TheSea .  The med you're looking for is salt, kanaplex, and jungle fizz tabs

 

because of the snails, you can remove them, but you would omit the salt in that case.

I would go by @Colu’s recommendation above given your particular livestock.

[Colu]

On 1/1/2023 at 11:43 PM, Jeannieb said:

I have never fed medicated food to my fish before. As it stands right now, any food that falls to the ground my shrimp swam it. The shrimp congregate in the front of the tank as soon as I start feeding the fish.

I am willing to give it a shot. Will the medicated food kill the shrimp if they get to it? 

It's the safest way to treat your fish less likely to harm your shrimp I can't give a 100 % guarantee that it won't harm your shrimp if it's eaten kanaplex is stressful to invertebrates it cause them to slow down I would still recommend the medicated food or you could more your fish to a quarantine tank and treat if you have a spare tank 

[Jeannieb]

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea  Thank you. I will give it a try

[Jeannieb]

@Colu  Thank you for all of your help! 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Maybe you can put the shrimp in a breeder box so they don’t eat the food

[Jeannieb]

@Colu  I picked up Kana Plex. Do I wait to start it or can I use it while using Jungle Fizz?

[nabokovfan87]

@Jeannieb yes you can use them together.

[Colu]

On 1/2/2023 at 9:45 PM, Jeannieb said:

@Colu  I picked up Kana Plex. Do I wait to start it or can I use it while using Jungle Fizz?

Just remember to finish the Full 7 days of the medicated food and a full second course of jungle fungus clear fizz tab's 

[Jeannieb]

On 1/2/2023 at 8:02 PM, Colu said:

Just remember to finish the Full 7 days of the medicated food and a full second course of jungle fungus clear fizz tab's 

I will 👍🏻 Thank you

[Jeannieb]

Update: 

Still battling columnaris. Initially two rounds of kanaplex medicated feed & Fungus Clear seemed to work but then my platys started rubbing their bodies on plants/rocks, and several showing hazy patches again. After several weeks of no treatment I decided to treat the water with Kanaplex, Fungus Clear, & Kanaplex in the feed. So far my shrimp & snail have endured. I'm on the second round of treatment. 

Now one rainbow fish has 2 protrusions on its abdomen. I'm not sure what they are. Does anyone know what they are? How do I treat it? I can honestly say that I am overwhelmed and very discouraged.

[Colu]

On 4/5/2023 at 12:56 PM, Jeannieb said:

Update: 

Still battling columnaris. Initially two rounds of kanaplex medicated feed & Fungus Clear seemed to work but then my platys started rubbing their bodies on plants/rocks, and several showing hazy patches again. After several weeks of no treatment I decided to treat the water with Kanaplex, Fungus Clear, & Kanaplex in the feed. So far my shrimp & snail have endured. I'm on the second round of treatment. 

Now one rainbow fish has 2 protrusions on its abdomen. I'm not sure what they are. Does anyone know what they are? How do I treat it? I can honestly say that I am overwhelmed and very discouraged.

 I wouldn't add kanaplex to food and treat the tank would just add kanaplex and jungal fungus to the tank following this treatment plan 

[Jeannieb]

On 4/5/2023 at 11:23 AM, Colu said:

 I wouldn't add kanaplex to food and treat the tank would just add kanaplex and jungal fungus to the tank following this treatment plan 

Sounds good. Any idea what is on the abdomen of the rainbow fish?

[Colu]

On 4/5/2023 at 12:56 PM, Jeannieb said:

Update: 

Still battling columnaris. Initially two rounds of kanaplex medicated feed & Fungus Clear seemed to work but then my platys started rubbing their bodies on plants/rocks, and several showing hazy patches again. After several weeks of no treatment I decided to treat the water with Kanaplex, Fungus Clear, & Kanaplex in the feed. So far my shrimp & snail have endured. I'm on the second round of treatment. 

Now one rainbow fish has 2 protrusions on its abdomen. I'm not sure what they are. Does anyone know what they are? How do I treat it? I can honestly say that I am overwhelmed and very discouraged.

 It could be soft tissue damage or  a growth I would keep a close eye on that to see if it progresses update if you notice any change to it 

Edited April 5, 2023 by Colu

[Doke]

@Colu For your Kanaplex and jungle fungus treament routine, are you adding full dose (for my 20g 2 tabs) everday that says jungle fungus clear? For the total treatment: 10 tabs? 

Double checking since the directions say add 1 dose of jungle fungus, wait 4 days and then add a second dose. 

 

 

[Colu]

On 9/16/2023 at 12:16 AM, Doke said:

@Colu For your Kanaplex and jungle fungus treament routine, are you adding full dose (for my 20g 2 tabs) everday that says jungle fungus clear? For the total treatment: 10 tabs? 

Double checking since the directions say add 1 dose of jungle fungus, wait 4 days and then add a second dose. 

 

 

Yes one tablet of jungal fungus clear fizz tabs for 10gallon  the amount nitrofurazone in the jungal fungus clear fizz tabs is under dosed so adding it daily coupled with the 25% water changes in my treatment plan won't harm your fish just do a large water change before you start treatment and add an extra air stone during treatment 

Edited September 16, 2023 by Colu

[Doke]

On 9/15/2023 at 6:02 PM, Colu said:

Yes one tablet of jungal fungus clear fizz tabs for 10gallon  the amount nitrofurazone in the jungal fungus clear fizz tabs is under dosed so adding it daily coupled with the 25% water changes in my treatment plan won't harm your fish just do a large water change before you start treatment and add an extra air stone during treatment 

Appreciate your help and time as always!

[Doke]

@Colu after day 5 if not doing another round of treament, how long would you wait before doing a water change to get the meds out?

[Colu]

On 9/20/2023 at 7:22 PM, Doke said:

@Colu after day 5 if not doing another round of treament, how long would you wait before doing a water change to get the meds out?

Leave it 24hr after the last dose before doing a water change 

[Doke]

On 9/20/2023 at 12:24 PM, Colu said:

Leave it 24hr after the last dose before doing a water change 

Will do, thank you!