# How to treat what looks like cotton wool disease?



## Elz7676 (Nov 9, 2011)

I have a swordtail who's got what I think is cotton wool disease.
She has a big white lump on the side of her head and three smaller dots on the base of her tail. The lump looks more like it's part of her head than anything. The smaller dots do look slightly fuzzy but the larger one isn't.

At the moment I have another swordtail and a blue gourami in there both who're healthy. So far i've treated the tank with anti-fungus/anti-bacterial meds but I don't think it's done much. The affected swordtail seems perfectly well it's just what I can see on her, she's not lethargic or showing signs of being ill. She's eating perfectly well, playing with the other swordtail.

Are there any tips on how I can clear this up quicker. I want to get on with redesigning my tank and adding a few more fish but don't want to until she's 100%.

The treatment wears off in 7 days, tomorrow being the 7th day. Should I add treatment again or try any other alternatives? I'm in the UK, any recommended meds available in fish stores would be good? Home remedies, etc.
I've started changing the tank water every other day but also not sure if that's a good idea with the meds in?

Thanks, any pointers in the right direction is really helpful. I've been lucky enough to not really have to deal with ill fish in the past so i'm not 100% sure what i'm doing to help her get better.


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## Manafel (Sep 4, 2011)

Columnaris is a pretty nasty disease, and VERY contagious. Though your fish may be looking fine, that doesn't mean that it won't die. When you do water changes, you remove some of the medicine from the water. When I had columnaris, I treated with amoxicillin, which is an antibacterial medication in a pill forum. If I'm right you can get Furan-2 to treat. It is always very important to know exactly what you are dealing with before you needlessly medicate (If you wanted to, you could show us a pic. that way you can confirm it.)Not only is it not cost effective, but it stresses out your fish anymore.
The amoxicillin I bought at a local pet store for about $30 USD, but it treated up to 1,000 gallons, where furan 2... well it depends on how big of a tank you have to treat, and how many treatments it takes.


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## Elz7676 (Nov 9, 2011)

Here: (this took me so long to get these haha) my tank is about 100litres. I haven't really got a seperate tank I can put her in, i've got my old 88litre but I don't have a spare heater. I recently took in a betta so my spare heaters being used on him.

I got a good one of her tail:









Another of her tail:










Now the head ones I couldn't get very well. 


















Here you can see it's quite swollen on the left side?


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## Manafel (Sep 4, 2011)

The patches on her head are what is called saddleback lesions. It looks like it's def. columnaris to me. You don't need a heater, and as a matter of fact, I suggest against heating the tank. Heat will speed up the infection. I suggest treating the whole tank because of how contagious it is. Be sure to take extra steps to avoid cross contamination with any other tanks(like if you use the same fishnet for each tank, or gravel vaccume, water testing kits) by sterilizing as much as possible.

There are two types of bacteria, gram-negative, and gram-positive. Some medications will work only for gram negative, where it won't treat gram positive. COlumnaris is a gram-negative bacteria, so be sure your treatment is for gram-negative bacterial infections, nor gram-positive.


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## Elz7676 (Nov 9, 2011)

Ok so I rummaged through my shed and found a little 20 litre. Used the filter from the old tank and some wood I had lying around. I will read the back of my meds and if they're not gram negative i'll go out and find some that are! 










A few more questions,
What shall I do with the bigger tank? Shall I treat them with the same meds I treat the swordtail with just incase? 
And as I was planning to redesign the tank by adding gravel and getting completely new features/live plants, shall I do that before I treat them or after? I'm wondering will having all the ornaments in there make it a higher risk of them catching it if it's on the ornaments. 

None of them have any symptoms of having it but I really want to be careful. 
Thankyou for all your help, you've really taken a big worry off my chest and made me feel much more hopeful.


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## Manafel (Sep 4, 2011)

> What shall I do with the bigger tank? Shall I treat them with the same meds I treat the swordtail with just incase?


It is disputed that columnaris is in our water to start out with, just like how it is disputed that ich is always in our tanks, but our fish's immune systems are strong enough to ward off the diseases. Be sure to keep up with those water changes in the smaller tank because it's not cycled, and it will stress the fish even more to go through a cycle. whenever you get new fish in, keep them in a QT tank before adding them to the big tank. That way not only can you make sure they are disease free, but their stress levels will go down once they are in a stationary tank(not being shipped around the place, crammed in a tank with too many other fish, and then transported again). That way when you add them, they are no susceptible to diseases.

Just be careful when replacing the gravel later on. if you change too much in the tank at once, you can cause a mini-cycle in your tank, and it could stress your fish again.
I'm always glad to help whenever I am able, so It's no problem at all.


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## Elz7676 (Nov 9, 2011)

Thanks, i've had these 3 for about 2yrs now all well and the illness just sprung out of nowhere really. Quite devastating but it happens I suppose. I'm not going to be replacing all the gravel, just topping up what I have to make it thicker so I can plant things easier.  I plan on changing the tank about nice and slowly so they're not too stressed.

I did bring about 14litres from the big tank into the smaller, the rest fresh treated water and the old filter which hopefully should have spread some good bacteria around! Hopefully it shouldn't be too harsh on her but I will definitely keep up with the water changes and keep a close eye on her and the others and i've taken on the advice about new fish too.
Thank you again!


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## Manafel (Sep 4, 2011)

No problem! Hope all goes well, and keep us posted on it!


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## Elz7676 (Nov 9, 2011)

Well since being in the small tank she's looking a bit better already. I added some treatment an hour or so ago, the lump on her head has gone down a lot and looks more defined rather than all over the place. Doesn't look as swollen either. She was very nervy last night so I kept her tank covered with a dark cloth to help calm her down, seems to have worked. She's breathing quite rapidly, not sure if that's nerves or the illness. Probably a bit of both.

Hopefully this should sort it !


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## Manafel (Sep 4, 2011)

Glad to hear that she is already doing better! If you keep the tank dark, she should get better even faster. A fish is a lot less stressed out when it's in a darker aquarium, it's kind of like covering an animal's eyes to keep them calm as well.


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## Elz7676 (Nov 9, 2011)

Thank you, I am so happy! You've helped save my fish's life.

I have one last question, I promise haha. When all the symptoms appear to be gone, how long shall I wait til I move her back into the main tank? Is she ok to be in an unheated tank for a few weeks if needbe?

My gourami's fallen victim to very light ammonia poisoning I believe... sigh. It all happens one thing after the other. I believe i've got the swordtail on the mend and now this. 
At least my betta's having a whale of a time in his tank with his new plants. It could be worse haha.


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## Manafel (Sep 4, 2011)

glad to hear that she has gotten better, but sorry to hear about your gourami. I have no real experience with treating for ammonia poisoning, other than to double dose with prime(to detoxify ammonia) and keep doing daily or twice daily water changes. Why was he in a tank that wasn't cycled?

To answer your question though:
I would wait about a week to let her relax from the treatment, then transfer her back over. as long as your house stays above 77 degrees, she should be fine. Water is a few degrees cooler than the air temp.


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