Columnaris?

Justydrainz

New Member
Feb 10, 2017
1
0
1
Long Island, NY
Hello plecoplanet,
I am losing fish and I don't know why.

Setup:
29 gallon with a drip system nitrates don't climb above 40. Enough oxygen, enough filtration, and plenty of wood for them to munch on.
7- L169 (now 5)
13- bristlenose + fry

Problems:
First issue was one of the Bristlenose staying in the sponge filter outlet tube for days. I see them in and out of there occasionally but this time it was about 3 days. Finally pulled her to find fuzzy spots on the body, tried meth blue, fish died the next day.

2 days later, another bristlenose, in the sponge filter outlet, was in for 2 days, pulled her out, and she had a hole in her stomach.

I've noticed red marks near the base of the pectoral fins on the bristlenose, once or twice over the past 2 months, thought it was from the males being hard on the female during breeding, figured its worth mentioning.

All fish appear to be losing weight.

I have been losing 3-5 fry per day for the past month.

3 days ago, I found 2 L169 and one bristlenose dead.

still losing fry everyday.

thank you.

Justin David
 

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Bigjohnnofish

Global Moderators
Staff member
Apr 15, 2010
1,399
2
36
Perth, Western Australia
if its columnaris and its vigorous strain all your fish will die within a day or two....
if thats not happened i doubt its columnaris... looks to be bacterial issue.,,, i dont know if this is the primary infection or a secondary infection thats occurred after something else has happened... something has to of happened for bacteria to take hold... its present in aquarium water but can never multiply to a level to cause problems if your water quality and parameters are good... im thinking somethings happened and a bacterial problem is the result....
get your water quality as good as possible with lots of water changes and use something mid strength to try and kill off the bad bacteria... giving the fish time to heal.... pay attention to your filtration so your beneficial bacteria isnt too badly effected... if it is then you'll need deal with your tank partly recycling...
badly effected fish will prob die but hopefully can save some that arent too badly effected....