Columnaris treatment questions for corydoras

[ldan]

Hello!

I have had an ongoing slow-moving columnaris problem with 3 sterbai cory catfish and am going to do an in-tank treatment with Spectrogram, Res-Q, and Medicated Wonder Shell.

A little background:

The fish have had raggedy, disintegrating fins and cloudy, gray/whitish haze on back half of body. One fish has almost lost all of his tail and I've been worried about what will happen once his tail is gone The fish do eat with gusto and are moderately active. Their tank is half covered with a towel so they are not seeing too much activity in the room and they get a little bit of natural sunlight. There is no light on the tank. 50% water changes are done every 2-3 days.

This has been going on for almost a year now, and I've tried almost every medication and treatment under the sun with no improvement. They have had:

3 day salt treatment, 1 tbsp per 2 liters of water
Erythromycin
Furan-2 + Kanaplex columnaris treatment- twice!
Furan-2 + Triple Sulfa columnaris treatment- twice! (this last treatment finished on 2/4/20)
Prazipro
General Cure
Fungus Cure
Methylene blue dips, swabs, and baths.

I have received my order of Spectrogram, Res-Q, and a medium size Medicated Wonder Shell. As a last-ditch effort, I would like to try this treatment. I have read several articles provided on AAP's website and also watched the video on columnaris, but I'm still a little confused on what exactly to do and in what order.

These fish have been through an awful lot and I want to make this as stress-free as possible, so I'd rather not handle them much if at all. They are in a hospital tank (they’ve been there for months ) They have nothing in there with them but some silk plants and a coconut hut, so anything goes as far as treatments.

Tank and parameters:

10 gallon tank
1 sponge filter
1 air stone on low flow
heater set to 75

ph: 8
kh: 50ppm
gh: 50ppm
temp: 75
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 0

Food:
A variety of Bug Bites, Repashy Grub Pie, frozen brine shrimp, bloodworms, baby brine shrimp, and daphnia. Once in a while Omega One carnivore tablets.

My questions:

- I don't know when to use the Medicated Wonder Shell, should that be in the tank all through the treatment? I have the medium size, should I split it in half?
- Should I use the salt (1 tbsp per 5 gallons) all through the treatment?
- How much of a water change before each tablet of Spectrogram? One article says 25-50%, the other says 10-20%?

Sorry for such a huge post, I did want to give all relevant info. If I’ve forgotten anything or you need other info please let me know! I feel so sad for these fish, they were in a batch of 5 that I got from a well-known seller. The other two are happy and healthy in a 40 gallon with other species of corydoras, and it's my greatest wish that some day they can be reunited with their buddies.

Many thanks,

Lisa

[devonjohnsgard]

Very sorry for the delayed answer on this post.

You cannot slip the medicated shell. There's not a even amount of medication through out the shell. The medicated shell is a follow up treatment.

10-20% water changes between doses.

Salt should be used throughout the treatment.

I see you said twice on a couple medications. Was that two whole rounds or two doses? A complete round of treatment would need to be done.

Does look like KH and GH are a bit low.

A picture would be handy, as I'm just assuming the disease is a columnaris, but it could be something else, which is why a treatment may not work.

[devonjohnsgard]

Here's also another resource. The EA Facebook Group. There's a bit more activity there, so there might be a quicker response to your questions.

www.facebook.com/groups/471149673786076/

[Carl]

As Devon noted, sorry for the late response (both of us got busy in the FB Everything Aquatic forum in the last few days)

As also noted, please provide a picture (the rest of your information helps though)

A few thoughts; It appears you have dabbled with treatments rather than full on treatment, as well your GH is too low and water changes are very important before each treatment.

It also describes Aeromonas more than Columnaris
These treatments would have done little to nothing for what you described (regardless of whether Columnaris or Aeromonas): Prazipro, General Cure, & Fungus Cure

Using AAP Wound Control for direct application to areas of infection might be helpful too.
www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquatronics.html#wound

Also, while your foods of of good quality, these are also more high in energy which adds to oxidative stress (you might consider AAP Spilruina or AAP Clay Neighbor's Custom Diet)

Further Reading:
www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Vibrio_Aeromonas.html
www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Quality_Fish_Food.html
www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/2016/09/how-to-treat-sick-fish.html

Regards;
Carl