Busted Lip Or Columnaris?

I got 5 new bloodfin tetras at Petco on Saturday morning. They all colored up nicely and started enjoying their new 75 gallon home. Unfortunately, I don’t have a quarantine tank so I didn’t quarantine them.

On Saturday afternoon, they settled in and started schooling. By Sunday, they were constantly chasing each other and performing what appeared to be spawning behavior. Or trying to establish a pecking order. Idk. They’re still doing it a few days later.

Last night, I noticed tiny white bumps on 4 of 5 of their lips. I thought it was the dreaded columnaris. Today, 2 still have the tiny bump. It’s very small and skin colored, meaning 2 got better. It isn’t fuzzy like cottonmouth gets and they have all their color, are swimming actively, and eating a ton.

I can’t tell if it’s columnaris or ripped skin from chasing and nipping each other. If it was columnaris, how fast would the mouth spot/cotton grow? And is it possible for them to damage their lips from being so erratic?

I’ve attached a picture. It’s the best I could get. The lesions are very small and they are swimming a lot so it’s hard to get a good pic.

 

It’s a bit alarming to me that they all have it, or several of them at least. Hold off on throwing a bunch of stuff into the tank without knowing what it is. Give it a few days, maybe try a salt bath in a separate tank or container. If it is Columnaris, you will see it quickly getting worse, in which case you should medicate.

Keep me updated!

 

I had something like this on my Neon Tetras and when I had worked on every aspect of their aquarium to try to provide ideal conditions for them it gradually disappeared.

So I suspect, if its the same thing, it may be present on stressed fish but will be fought off by them if they are happy in their environment.

 

I have the same thing on the nose of one of my ember tetra, have 14 other tetra in the tank that show nothing.
I moved the 1 just to be safe.

 

It’s a bit alarming to me that they all have it, or several of them at least. Hold off on throwing a bunch of stuff into the tank without knowing what it is. Give it a few days, maybe try a salt bath in a separate tank or container. If it is Columnaris, you will see it quickly getting worse, in which case you should medicate.

Keep me updated!

How fast does columnaris progress? It's been about 3 to 4 days since I've noticed the small abnormality on their lips and it hasn't gotten bigger or worse at all. If anything, it has gotten better since I could have sworn 4 of the fish had it now I only see it on two of the fish....

I know there's a quick killing strain that kills in 12-24 hours and the other strain is over days. But wouldn't I see it progressing if it was the bacterial infection?

I feel like it's nothing... But I always assume the worst.