Columnaris in fish

[Carlrs]

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Columnaris.html#treatment1

Here is an excerpt:

Treatment Information:

STEP ONE:

The obvious first step is lowering stressors and improving water parameters (not necessarily just "clean water") as outlined in these sections of this article.
If you have jumped to treatment and not read these other sections; STOP now and please read these sections too!

* What is Columnaris

* Identification & Causes

* Prevention

* Parameters to Consider for Prevention and Treatment of Columnaris
This includes mineral Cations and lowering oxidative stress.
This also includes lowering water temperature to 75F (24C).

[Carlrs]

Here is an excellent blog post that compliments this article and deals with the copious amounts of misinformation coming from many fish groups and about.com type web sites:

http://www.fish-as-pets.com/2009/06/columnaris-disease-in-fish.html

HERE ARE SOME QUOTES FOLLOWED BY CORRECTIONS/REFUTATIONS:

* "Maracyn is the most useful anti-biotic"

CORRECTION:
WRONG! Columnaris is a strictly gram negative bacterium while Maracyn (which is Erythromycin) is a gram positive antibiotic.

If the author of this article or anyone had any success with Erythromycin, this is proof that the disease treated was NOT Columnaris, rather a gram positive pathogen.
The Antibiotics that have proven gram negative effectiveness and will work best is somewhat debatable, whether a combination of Furan 2/Kanaplex (best when used 100% together as in the product AAP Spectrogram) , Sulfamethazine/Trimethoprim combination, Minocycline, or others, but you will NOT achieve success with a gram positive antibiotic such as Erythromycin!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* "Columnaris is usually more of an ulcer than a white patch" From "Fish Tank Enablers" (Facebook)



CORRECTION:
NO! In fact quite the opposite. Hence why Columnaris is often called "Cotton Mouth Disease" & "Saddleback Disease" (for the white saddle on the fish).
Ulcers are more indicative of an Aeromonas infection which might have some similar treatments, but often quite different causes and prevention

In the end, this person went on to treat with API Fungus treatment without anyone suggesting she correct the stressors that likely caused this likely case of Columnaris, not fungus nor Aeromonas as this was a classic case of "Saddleback disease", aka Columnaris (see screenshot below).

[Carlrs]

More from:

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Columnaris.html

PREVENTION & FURTHER COLUMNARIS (Flexibacter) INFORMATION:

Flavobacterium columnare gained the nick name “Columnaris” because wet mounts of Flexibacter prepared from diseased fish appear as column-like, "haystack" colonies.

Columnaris, which is a gram negative strictly aerobic bacterium, is often prevalent in systems with poor mineralization, but not so much water high in tanins and other dissolved organics.
Columnaris is "Ubiquitous", meaning it is found everywhere, however its presence does not necessarily lead to Columnaris disease.
For these reasons, those who state that low oxygen levels can cause Columnaris along with the need to euthanize surviving fish (& sterilize the aquarium) are providing 100% INCORRECT information.

Also reference this article: Aquarium Chemistry; The Importance of Calcium, Electrolytes and more.

As well; crowded conditions (often in re-circulating systems), aggressive inhabitants, poor handling, poor Redox Balance, sudden temperature spikes (or prolonged temperatures much above 80F), and the stress from high bio loads are all conditions that can allow for an opportunistic Columnaris infection.
Please note; high bio loads is more symptomatic of Aeromonas or Saprolegnia infections.

Reference: Aquarium Redox Balance

On Wednesday, May 2, 2018 at 11:42:44 AM UTC-7, Carlrs wrote: