Treating Columnaris In Bettas

I’m worried I may have accidentally transferred columnaris to my betta tanks. I had new neons that came with columnaris and before I knew they had it I moved a few plants from their tank to my betta tanks and now I need to treat just in case they have it and to catch it early. The bettas are in 5 gallon tanks with sponge filters and two mystery snails in each tank(I’m working on getting a snail tank running but the columnaris thing has brought that to a halt but I do have a tank I can move the snails to if need be) the heaters are just the basic 78*F heaters. How do I treat these guys and is it safe to treat them if they don’t have it?

 

Usually a combination of Furan 2 and Kanaplex is used to effectively treat Columnaris.


However I wouldn't want to go treating for it if you're unsure if they have it or not as these medications are harsh for any fish.

 

Are you sure the Neons actually had Columnaris. Neon Tetra Disease (NTD) has symptoms that closely mimic the symptoms of Columnaris. There is probably no need to nuke your Betta tanks with meds. Only Columnaris strains #1 & #2 are true overnight tank killers. Strains #3 & #4 are less virulent and more of an opportunist bacteria, preying on weakened, or injured fish. Might be a better idea just to keep the Betta's tank clean and carefully watch for symptoms. Sometimes the meds do more harm than good.

 

Are you sure the Neons actually had Columnaris. Neon Tetra Disease (NTD) has symptoms that closely mimic the symptoms of Columnaris. There is probably no need to nuke your Betta tanks with meds. Only Columnaris strains #1 & #2 are true overnight tank killers. Strains #3 & #4 are less virulent and more of an opportunist bacteria, preying on weakened, or injured fish. Might be a better idea just to keep the Betta's tank clean and carefully watch for symptoms. Sometimes the meds do more harm than good.

I was trying so hard to get someone to tell me about ntd thank you. That’s what I thought it was but I’m a noob about neon tetras. It happened in like 2 days all 6 neons dead. Should I be more worried that it’s a stronger strain? I just don’t want my bettas to die overnight because I’m an idiot. Lol

 

If the problem was a virulent strain of Columnaris your Bettas would already be dead or dying. NTD is pretty much species specific, and only rarely contagious to certain other Tetras. I bet your Bettas will be just fine.

 

If the problem was a virulent strain of Columnaris your Bettas would already be dead or dying. NTD is pretty much species specific, and only rarely contagious to certain other Tetras. I bet your Bettas will be just fine.

Okay so it could have been ick or Columnaris because the betta now has very small white specks on her.

 

She has very small specks on her that you can’t really see in high light because they are so small. She has about 4 specks. I also saw her try to itch herself on a plant. Should I just treat for ick and see what happens? I feel like I didn’t pay enough attention to the tetras to see that they may have had ick when I got them because they are so small and move a lot. Idk what to do.

 

Before you medicate, might raise the temp. to 86 degrees and observe. If there is no heater then probably best to medicate.