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No more deaths fortunately. The firemouth still has a good-sized patch on fungus near the base of his pectoral fin. A couple days ago he also developed a small bit on his mouth, looks like he has a fat lip. He is active, eating and showing good color, as are the other fish.

Yesterday was the fifth-and last-day of Maracyn treatment. So far it hasn't helped at all. The tank needs a water change so I'll be doing that today. I have the option of a second round of Maracyn...I wouldn't be hesitant if I'd seen any improvement but I don't like to feel I'm medicating for no reason. This is the first time I've used Maracyn, does it often take two rounds of treatment to be effective?

Very very frustrating

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Theresa - you may want to supplement with the new anti-bacterial feed by Jungle. It can be dosed with waterborne antibiotics according to the package.

Also, if you let your tank rest after a round of Maracyn, consider switching to Fungus Clear Tank Buddies by Jungle. It has different types of antibiotics in it from the furazone family. However, more importantly, it has acriflavine in it which is also effective against such infections. Like Maracyn, it is less hard on the biofilter than meds like sulfa or tetracycline. Hopefully, it is Maracyn you have been using, and not Maracyn-2.

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/The%20Hospital/49493.html?200410302130

I picked some up at Petsmart to keep on hand. Check in stores near you.

Also, I read that you initially were battling ich. Has the ich been gone for at least 10 days or so? If so, what temp are you at now? The infection may not be fungus, but rather a bacteria which looks fuzzy like a fungus. I take it that is why you are dosing an antibiotic and this makes sense since columanris infections are common in the damaged tissue from ich bites. True fungus usually grows on necrotic tissue not damaged tissue which is all the more reason to suspect it is bacterial. With this in mind, if it is bacterial, then it would be columnaris.

The reason I am getting into this is that Columnaris is more virulent in temperatures of 77F and up. However, never drop temperature more than 1-2F daily. If you do 2F, then spread 1F out 10-12 hours apart. Otherwise, you risk temp stress and ich again. Fish can tolerate much more when things are done in small increments. If your temp is up there from when you were treating ich, you may want to start slowly bringing it down a little to hinder the infection. This is the only type of infection I would recommend lowering temp and I would stop at 76F.

Best of luck and sorry for your losses


Last edited by Cory_Di at 30-Oct-2004 21:54

Wow, thank you so much for all that information!

I did do a water change but didn't begin another round of Maracyn. The tank temp is at 78-79° so I'll start lowering the temp today. So many things to learn.

I have one question though. You mentioned letting the tank rest, which is kind of what I'm doing right now...how long should I let it rest before starting the new meds? (which I'll pick up today)

Thanks again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

What I meant by rest is that sometimes an ammonia spike can occur after using any antibiotic or other anti-bacterials. It can be delayed (like a few days following the end of treatment). I have found less of a problem with the Maracyns than with tetracycline or sulfa. I have found less of an impact with the furazone family which includes anything with nitrofurazone, furazolidone, nifurpurinol, etc. Some meds are harsher on the ammonia eating bacteria.

By pausing, you are allowing the good bacteria a chance to regenerate, especially if you have done a partial water change and added the activated carbon back into the filter. The filter can get it out overnight with activated carbon.

What I would do then, is to use melafix and, if you have it on hand, PimaFix (which is better than melafix or melafix alone). No activated carbon. These do not affect the good bacteria but can, in many cases keep columnaris in control or at least from getting worse.

If the fish looks really bad with infection, then I would try to isolate and treat that way, if it is a single fish. This would spare the bio-filter in the tank. Always try to transfer sick fish with some of their own tank water and gradually add same temp water to the bucket or container. Rubbermaid storage bins that have not had chemicals or detergents stored in them (or powders), make good hospital tanks. STuff some fake plants or caves in there and keep in a warm room, or stick a 25-50w submersible heater to a glass dish at the bottom. I prefer visitherms since they are so easy to turn. Some of those things are risky in that you don't know if you are actually turning them up.

An airstone is all that is needed (and a loose fitting lid). For small fish a 4-5 gallon dishpan works well and for larger fish, I would use a rubbermaid container - like a 14 gallon one. If you use enough tank water to make it deep enough for the fish you can keep trickling in fresh water throughout the day to minimize transfer stress.

From there, I'd go for the Fungus Clear Tank Buddies and Medicated Feed by Jungle for Anti-Bacteria.

However, while your tank rests, there is no reason to not feed the Anti-Bacteria feed if the fish is eating. This alone may do it with Melafix and Pimafix. Transfer is stressful and stress lowers immunity.

Last edited by Cory_Di at 31-Oct-2004 09:19

Last edited by Cory_Di at 31-Oct-2004 09:41