Oscar with Columnaris?

[zanala]

I have a small white Oscar that I recently treated for Columnaris. I am not sure, however, if he is healing properly or if I even treated the correct thing since Columnaris is so similar to true body fungus.

Here's the story:
In my tank (150g) I have:
-1 full grown red oscar (~13")
-1 5-6" albino oscar (the fellow who's in trouble)
-1 9-10" common pleco
-1 full grown brown knife (~7-8")
-1 4" jack dempsy
-1 5-6" midas

I recently went away for a long weekend and when I came back, I noticed that my midas was picking at the flanks of my albino oscar, Rabbit. When I looked up close, Rabbit's sides looked like they had been scraped against something abrasive. I added salt and stress coat, harassed the midas a bit and changed all of the arrangements in my tank in case it was a territory issue. I had just done a water change before my trip. Rabbit seemed to be improving and I did not witness any more aggression between him and my midas. Last Tuesday, March 2, I noticed that the areas that had been attacked on Rabbit's sides were covered in a very fuzzy white material. After doing some research, I set up a 10 gallon quarentine tank and began treating with Maracyn Wednesday morning. When I came home from work ~10 hours later, the patches of 'columnaris' seemed to be detaching, along with the effected skin, from my oscars body. By the time I was home from work on Thursday, the entire effected areas had come off from the body along with all of the skin. I scooped out the detris (since I'm not supposed to do any water changes during treatment) and discarded it. Since all of this has begun, Rabbit has not been eating but is otherwise acting normally. I would guess that approximately 1/2 to 2/3 of his skin is missing on one side, while only a small patch is missing on the other side. The 'columnaris' (if that's what it really was) is completely gone with no new patches of unhealthy looking skin.

What I'm wondering is if I should be continuing treatment, quarentine, etc. Am I even treating for the right thing? It's been four days since he lost the extra skin and the muscle underneath is begining to lighten in color (it used to be red and irriatated/vascualr looking where now it is more of a light pink). Is this normal? I couldn't seem to find anything about the stages of healing when treating with this medication or columnaris.

Thank you in advance for any and all help!

 

[vaine111]

i am not sure what it is but just sounds like a midas being a midas. but i wouldnt take him out of quarentine till he is completely healed.

 

[zanala]

So the skin coming off my oscar is normal when treating for columnaris with Maracyn? Does it sound like he's healing?

 

[zanala]

Does anyone know if the whole skin shedding part is typical when treating Columnaris with Maracyn? I don't want my little guy getting worse while I treat for the wrong ailment. Also, any opinions on whether I should continue dosing the quarantine with Maracyn or just do frequent water changes? Today was my 6th dose (the directions call for 5 days but I figured an extra day wouldn't hurt).

 

[zanala]

Ok, I have been doing more research trying to figure out exactly what this might be. Rabbit is still hanging in there and I don't feel very confident that I am taking the right action to ensure him returning to full health. The fuzzy coating is, like I said, gone with the skin. I think it may have been (or still is) glossatella or body fungus...I didn't find any pictures online that really represented what I saw. The wound sites were literally covered in consistent lengthed (~2mm) white moldly looking substance.

I am still treating the 10g quarantine with Maracyn (day 8) but I'm not sure if I should be. All of the white moldly looking fuzz is still gone...do I need to treat for fungus? I can't tell if he is acting normally - the quarantine is set up in the cabinet beneath my 150g so every time I check on him, the light scares him and he hides behind the decoration I put in there... If pictures would be helpful, please let me know and I can post some. I didn't get any photos of the fish while he was covered in the fuzzy coating, but I can take pictures of his sides to show the skin loss. Please help!!!

 

[fishkeeper25]

stop treating with that. all u have to do is boost the water temp,make sure your water is crystal clean,add some salt, if u want i find melafix a good product u can use that 2, and WAIT be patient when fish are hurt or badly ingured it takes time for things to get back to normal.if u have any questions pm me

 

[Lupin]

stop treating with that. all u have to do is boost the water temp,make sure your water is crystal clean,add some salt, if u want i find melafix a good product u can use that 2, and WAIT be patient when fish are hurt or badly ingured it takes time for things to get back to normal.if u have any questions pm me

Zanala's situation is obviously bacterial infection where wounds become infected when not treated immediately. Salt is not sufficient by itself nor is Melafix once bacterial infection establishes itself.

Zanala, continue treating with Maracyn as a precaution for at least 2-3 more days but be sure when you put Rabbit back in the main tank that the midas cichlid is completely removed out of sight. It is obvious that the midas will overcome the oscar eventually. Body fungus is very rare on the other hand. Most meds intended for fungal infections will work with bacterial infections due to misdiagnosis.

The next time wounds happen, treat with a topical treatment such as mercurochrome and keep the fish isolated in a hospital tank. Your option is combine both Melafix and Pimafix. Both will work as a precaution rather than a treatment.

If your fish is not eating at all, get foods laced with garlic or get Kent's liquid garlic and add 3 drops on the frozen foods such as bloodworms to entice it to eat. Kensfish.com has spirulina with garlic added.

 

[zanala]

Thank you so much for your advice Lupin. Just to confirm, my midas will not be a suitable companion for my oscars? Also, I have not done a water change yet in my quarantine - should I? If so, how much?

Thank you again for your help!

 

[Lupin]

The amount of water needed to be replaced depends on your water parameters although daily by 15% should do it for now. Clean water is your key to avoid another secondary infection.

Your midas clearly does not like any more companions when you saw it attacked your oscar. They are quite notorious for belligerence. Temperament should always be one of the first things to consider.

 

[Pyramid_Party]

Sounds similar to something that happened to my catfish. He got beat up by the other catfish. His pelvic fin and area was all red and fuzzy white and it appeared like the fin was gonna fall off. I treated with Maracyn and after a few days, all that fizzy stuff and the dead tissue fell off. Hes growing a new fin now. All the red had gone and no fuzziness anymore. I treated for 10 days straight and just about 95% of all wounds and discoloration was gone. Hes doing fine now, fins are healing and no infections.


Lupin is right, once an infection has taken place you must treat for infection. No salt or preventive meds. Maracyn is good stuff, Ive used it several times. I also treat with maracyn 2 also same time. Also, I never mess with the temp, I figure it may just stress the fish more. Plus raising temps isnt always the correct thing to do, I know some disease/infection are helped with raised temps. So its better to keep stable temps rather and increase/decrease.