Help!

[Trixie]

One of my poor Pearls has some kind of infection. I thought it might be columnaris, but I wanted to check with you all to make sure.

Sorry about the dirty glass. I was more worried about the fish than the glass.

Here are the pics

[wesleydnunder]

Looks like columnaris or fungus. I don't have much experience with either. I know Roan's had to deal with it in her bows. Maybe she can help.

Mark

[TwoTankAmin]

Looks like it to me. Treatment is an antibiotic. I have had good results using maracyn or generic EM. Sometimes it can be a stubborn case and a normal 5 day dosing regimin following the label instructions will ot do the trick. When that is the case I have done the second round at 150-200% of the recommended dosage.

I use a disease site which has the following:

Mouth Fungus

Symptoms: White cottony patches around the mouth.

Mouth Fungus is so called because it looks like a fungus attack of the mouth. It is actually caused from the bacterium Chondrococcus columnaris. It shows up first as a gray or white line around the lips and later as short tufts sprouting from the mouth like fungus. The toxins produced and the inability to eat will be fatal unless treated at an early stage.
Penicillin at 10,000 units per liter is a very effective treatment. Treat with a second dose in two days. Or use chloromycetin, 10 to 20 mg per liter, with a second dose in two days.

[Roan]

Columnaris is something that bows will present with if they are stressed or their water isn't kept pristine. It's very common, but not a big deal because it's caught when it's "white mouth" or just a couple of threads.

We normally don't treat with antibiotics because the strains have become resistant to treatment. I have read, however, of a few people (not Bowheads) who have reported success with nitrofurazone (found in Furan 2). I've tried it and several others with no success, though.

A lot of fish carry the columnaris bacteria, but it only presents when the fish is unduly stressed and cannot fight it off. It loves warm temperatures and will thrive in a warm tank.

So, to treat columnaris in bows we just perform lots of fresh 50% water changes and we make sure the temperature is below 77*.

Your guy has a nasty case there, though, so you might want to try antibiotics as well with your gouramis. It could be a strain that is not resistant to the drugs.

Personally, would I drop the temperature to 77* and do a 50% water change today. Check in the late evening and early tomorrow for progress. If it looks better, do another water change and keep doing them until it's gone. If it looks worse, try the antibiotic.

Roan

[Trixie]

Thanks!
I do at least 50% wc every week, but last week I dropped the water level down to halfway, and worked on the plants - then took out another 25% of the water to clean up the plant debris and then filled it back up. A couple of days after that I did move 2 cardinal tetras in there from another tank. Something is amiss, though, since I did lose one of the other pearls a couple of days ago.

OK! I will go pick up some erythromycin and come back and do water changes - (today is wc day anyway).

[Trixie]

The pearl is in her own QT with erythromycin, fake plants and a big piece of pvc pipe (black) so she can hide out. All the other tanks got a 75% water change.

The white lips kind of remind me of the zinc oxide (?) cream that my dad used to put on his nose when he was out sailing.

[Roan]

What's the temperature? She looks like she has it pretty bad, so if you can lower the temperature as far as you can without stressing her, you'll slow the growth a lot and give the meds time to work.

Roan

[Trixie]

The temp is at 73. It is naturally cooler down here in the basement. She does look better and she is swimming around. I hope she makes it.

[Trixie]

Well, she made it through the night, and her lips do look like they are getting better. She also seems pretty active. I'm cautiously optimistic.

[sarcare]

I'm glad she made it through the night and is doing well in QT--my fish hate being moved so much that just moving to another tank freaks them out!

[Roan]

Originally Posted by Trixie

Well, she made it through the night, and her lips do look like they are getting better. She also seems pretty active. I'm cautiously optimistic.

Awesome! Change the water

Roan

[Emg]

Nice Susan, definitely looks better ! Keep changing that water like Roan said.

[Trixie]

Yes Ma'ams. I changed the water. She is still hangin' in there.

[Trixie]

She's getting MUCH better! Thanks!!!

[Bunny13]

Thats awesome. I love hearing about a fish that makes it through treatment.

[rosita]

Hurrah!! Great job, Susan. . . . she looks so much better. Happy fish happy fish happy mama happy fish. And excellent advice from the panel .. . . . .

[Roan]

Great job, Trixie!

Roan

[Trixie]

Well, thanks to you all..

I wonder what killed the male pearl last week.. He didn't show any symptoms of anything and then he was dead.

[TwoTankAmin]

Fish do have heart attacks and strokes. A few years back one of my large clowns went from seemingly fine to dead in the space of a few hours. I actaully froze it and shipped it off to somebody who did an autopsy on it, He found nothing wrong internally and suggested one of the above causes as the likely reason it passed on.

[hike13]

Originally Posted by TwoTankAmin

Fish do have heart attacks and strokes. A few years back one of my large clowns went from seemingly fine to dead in the space of a few hours. I actaully froze it and shipped it off to somebody who did an autopsy on it, He found nothing wrong internally and suggested one of the above causes as the likely reason it passed on.

When I moved last year I think one of my Neons had a heart attack. I netted him without much of a problem and by the time I put him in the bucket (5 seconds, tops. Probably less) he was dead.