Betta with columnaris - should I continue treatment?

I have a betta who is infected with columnaris. I first noticed symptoms on december 25th, 2019. ever since then, he’s been in a hospital tank undergoing treatment. today is january 12th, 2020 and he has still not improved. he has fungus coming out of his mouth, he can barely eat and is mostly inactive. his first treatment I put him through was kanaplex and furan-2 (I started the furan a bit late because I wanted to try the kanaplex on its own first). with this treatment he did not improve and I saw no changes. he is now on doxycycline, ciprofloxacin, and malachite green. i’m following all of the medicines instructions, he’s on day 7 of his treatment, and still see no improvement. he’s in a 2.5 gallon HOSPITAL tank, heated to 74 degrees F (it’s so low to slow the growth of the bacteria), and I do daily water changes because his medication advises to do so. all i’m really asking is, is it too soon for me to give up on him? I cannot continue this treatment much longer because the medication says I can’t. the last thing I want to do it put him down, but I really feel like it’s my only option. if anyone has any advice that you think could possibly save him, please let me know. if you guys think I should put him down I will do so. thank you in advance. this is really my last post about him and if nothing changes within a few days i’m probably going to put him down.

 

Don't give up! Unless you see he is really suffering, and he's just spiraling, keep trying. Have you tried Pimafix yet?

 

Make sure you're dealing with Columnaris and not Saprolegnia. If you Google pictures of both you should be able to tell which you have.

I don't know about doxycycline but Columnaris should be sensitive to ciprofloxacin. Studies seem to show that it's absorbed from the water (most drugs are not).

One common problem is under-dosing. Adding a drug to the water dilutes it tremendously. A 10 gal tank has the same amount of water as a 145 lb person so you need to dose the same amount of drug to achieve the same plasma concentration.

The dosage for kanamycin given in veterinary texts is 50-100 mg/L. If you do the math it comes out to 17-34 times more than the recommended dosage. This under-dosing is probably why there are so many treatment failures (there isn't much resistance to kanamycin).

The dose for ciprofloxacin should be 1 gram of active ingredient per 10 gal so two tablets labeled "500 mg."




Edit: forgot to mention that finding a vet is the best way and I can help with that if you like.

 

Don't give up! Unless you see he is really suffering, and he's just spiraling, keep trying. Have you tried Pimafix yet?

no I haven’t! if this treatment doesn’t work i’ll look into it. have you used that before? does it usually work?

 

Make sure you're dealing with Columnaris and not Saprolegnia. If you Google pictures of both you should be able to tell which you have.

I don't know about doxycycline but Columnaris should be sensitive to ciprofloxacin. Studies seem to show that it's absorbed from the water (most drugs are not).

One common problem is under-dosing. Adding a drug to the water dilutes it tremendously. A 10 gal tank has the same amount of water as a 145 lb person so you need to dose the same amount of drug to achieve the same plasma concentration.

The dosage for kanamycin given in veterinary texts is 50-100 mg/L. If you do the math it comes out to 17-34 times more than the recommended dosage. This under-dosing is probably why there are so many treatment failures (there isn't much resistance to kanamycin).

The dose for ciprofloxacin should be 1 gram of active ingredient per 10 gal so two tablets labeled "500 mg."

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Edit: forgot to mention that finding a vet is the best way and I can help with that if you like.

wow that’s so interesting, I never thought that under dosing could be an issue. honestly I might look into taking him to a vet, because I can’t do this on my own at this point. my only concern is that it will stress him so much he will pass away. also I don’t think there’s any vets that will treat fish in my area.

also I looked up saprolegnia and I really can’t tell if that’s what he has or not. he has fuzz on his mouth (not SUPER fuzzy though) and his mouth is ever so slightly being eaten away, like part of his lips are missing. his fins are also decaying slowly as well.

 

wow that’s so interesting, I never thought that under dosing could be an issue. honestly I might look into taking him to a vet, because I can’t do this on my own at this point. my only concern is that it will stress him so much he will pass away. also I don’t think there’s any vets that will treat fish in my area.

also I looked up saprolegnia and I really can’t tell if that’s what he has or not. he has fuzz on his mouth (not SUPER fuzzy though) and his mouth is ever so slightly being eaten away, like part of his lips are missing. his fins are also decaying slowly as well.

The stress of taking him to the vet shouldn't be a problem. I've taken my fish a few times as well as moved with them. If you give me your general location I can help look for a vet. I've had a fair amount of practice.

Saprolegnia is pretty fluffy while Columnaris is usually a flat ulcer and at most a gooey and disorganized strings.

 

Do you have pics? If it’s in his mouth then he is suffering. I had to put mine down because nothing helped. I hope you have better luck.

 

Do you have pics? If it’s in his mouth then he is suffering. I had to put mine down because nothing helped. I hope you have better luck.

sorry I never saw that you replied! yes, it’s in his mouth. i’ve tried multiple medications and nothing has worked. i’m glad that we share experiences, it makes me feel less alone. here are some pics.

 

The stress of taking him to the vet shouldn't be a problem. I've taken my fish a few times as well as moved with them. If you give me your general location I can help look for a vet. I've had a fair amount of practice.

Saprolegnia is pretty fluffy while Columnaris is usually a flat ulcer and at most a gooey and disorganized strings.

it’s definitely columnaris then. also I don’t really feel comfortable giving my location, i’m sorry I don’t mean to be rude! just trying to stay safe I appreciate your help though.

 

it’s definitely columnaris then. also I don’t really feel comfortable giving my location, i’m sorry I don’t mean to be rude! just trying to stay safe I appreciate your help though.

I'll just tell you my process...

I first start at fishvets.org:

fishvets.org | Find a Fish Vet | American Association of Fish Veterinarians

It's often not a complete list so after trying that site I Google "fish vet <state>" then "exotic vet <state>" and go through each website to see if there's any mention of fish. That's the tedious part.

 

I'll just tell you my process...

I first start at fishvets.org:

fishvets.org | Find a Fish Vet | American Association of Fish Veterinarians

It's often not a complete list so after trying that site I Google "fish vet " then "exotic vet " and go through each website to see if there's any mention of fish. That's the tedious part.

ah okay thank you. i’ll definitely do that.