# Help! Is this Columnaris?



## Kalin (Mar 23, 2007)

My A. panduro has been eating very little for a little over a week. He comes up to the food like he's hungry but if he eats, he usually shakes his head a little then spits it out. I tried treating him with metronidazole per sop but saw no change. That treatment ended two days ago. Then, yesterday I noticed a little white growth under his chin near the bottom of hid gill cover. This morning it had grown considerably to a white wool-like growth. The picture is the best that I could get. Can anyone help? How do I treat this???



















Any help is appreciated!


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## Kalin (Mar 23, 2007)

Here are my tank parameters:

Tank Parameters:

Ammonia: 0 
Nitrite: 0 
Nitrate: 10 ppm 
pH: 6.0 
GH: 53 ppm 
KH: 60 ppm 
Temp: 78F

Tankmates:, 2 honey gouramis, 2 Espe's rasboras, 5 emperor tetras, 4 otocinclus, 10 Amano shrimp, female panduro

55g planted tank supplemented with CO2. Has been set up for 10 years.

Male panduro is about 2.5 years old.


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

Hi
it could be Columnaris, but I really can't see anything from the pictures. Columnaris can appear anywhere on a fish but quite often starts around the mouth--that's why it's often referred to as Mouth Fungus even tho it's actually a bacteria.

The early symptoms you described sounded like bloat. Unfortunately once a fish is down with one thing its very susceptible to other things so your fish may have bloat AND columnaris. 
I think I would treat with Jungle Parasite Clear since it has metronidazole in it which may be somewhat effective against the bacteria, (it may not be Columnaris)
Additionally you should: 
increase water movement, bacteria has a harder time adhering to the fish's skin in moving water
Add aquarium salt at the rate of 1 tablespoon per five gallons--the salt helps prevent bacteria from adhering to the fish's skin just like the increased water movement/
Adjust water temp to 76
Before you do any of this do a partial water change of 30%

Robin


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## Kalin (Mar 23, 2007)

Hi Robin,

I did treat already with metronidazole for four days using the procedure outlined on this forum; should I still treat with Parasite Clear?

Also, my understanding was that salt shouldn't be used on soft water fish like apistogramma. Am I wrong about that?

Thanks for your help!


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## bigdaddy67 (Sep 5, 2009)

Parasite clear will not treat collumnaris. I suggest treating with maracyn 2 or kanaflex. I have the best results with kanaflex.

--Dave


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

If the Metronidazole didn't work then I would try Jungle Parasite Clear but really any treatment with Met should be for at least 8-10 days.

How are the fish today?

Robin


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## Kalin (Mar 23, 2007)

I don't know. Unfortunately, I had to go out of town. I'll be back home tonight and I'll check on him then. If he's still alive, I'll try the parasite clear. I just hope he's doing ok.


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## bigdaddy67 (Sep 5, 2009)

How is Parasite clear going to treat columnaris, a bacterial infection?

--Dave


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

bigdaddy67 said:


> How is Parasite clear going to treat columnaris, a bacterial infection?
> 
> --Dave


You're right, Dave, Jungle Parasite Clear is not meant to treat Columnaris even though the metronidazole in JPC is effective against some gram negative bacteria--so it may do some thing in that regard. Definitely not the med I would recommend if we had a clear cut case of Columnaris.

It's unclear what's going on here Bloat or Columnaris, or both. I opted to go with Bloat given the symptoms the fish was showing from the beginning before any white spots showed up. So much of what we do here comes under the heading of 'best guess'. Without some kind of physical testing it's hard to come up with a 100% sure diagnosis.

I also advised adding salt, increasing water movement and lowering the temp just in case it is Columnaris.

How is the fish today?

Robin


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## Kalin (Mar 23, 2007)

Hi Robin,

The fish is still holding on. I'm on my second dose of Parasite Clear. The instructions say it can be used up to 2 times with 48 hours in between and a 25% water change, which I did. He is now not eating at all and is hiding behind the plants. Not sure what to do if this treatmrnt doesn't bring about a change. I'm having to treat the whole 55g because I can't catch him to put him in a quarantine tank, which is unfortunate.


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## Kalin (Mar 23, 2007)

The fish looks paler now and the white growth now covers the lower part of the gill cover. He hasn't eaten anything at all in 8 days. He's still hiding so I can't get a good picture of him. Is there ANYTHING else I can do for him? He is a little over 2 and a half years so maybe it's his time.


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## Kalin (Mar 23, 2007)

My fish is still holding on. I wish I knew what to treat him with. Is there anything I could treat the tank with that has a chance to work but won't hurt the other tank inhabitants? He's hiding and I don't want to stress him by transferring him if at all possible. I'm not sure I could catch him anyway. I've been doing a lot of water changes to keep the water clean.

Also, if he does die, are there any good resources around that I could check if I wanted to try to do an autopsy? I would like to resolve what it was so that if I encounter this again, I'll know how to treat it. Any good books or sites online?


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