HELLO EVERYONE! I need your help! I have 2 8 yr. old silver dollars. (my babies) Then got 4 rainbow fish to add a little color for the kids to our 55 gal tank. BIG mistake!! Within days found out they were ill and of course I did NOT put them in qt! (they are now) What's the best way to get rid of columnaris? I have added salt. Have used melafix, and life gaurd. (they had anchor worms also) None have made much of a difference on the columnaris! Maybe kept it from spreading as fast but that's it. The new fish obviously have a heavy case of it so I need a strong cure like antibiotics just not sure witch one! They all claim to work on cotton mouth and online every site says something different! You all seem so nice I'm just hoping for some advice to save them. The jerk from the store told me to flush or freeze them and he would give me new ones but I refuse to give up!! Plz help! Thank You for your time! Any bit of help is greatly appreciated !

columnaris is gram negative and you need a specifically gram negative treatment for it. I like National Fish Pharmacy - they have great customer service and will consult with you about your individual case as well as selling you the specific meds you need.

Fish Skin Disorders

I have no commercial interest in national fish pharmacy. It looks like on their website they are recommending various sulfa compounds. Whatever you choose make sure it says columnaris on the box and/or that it says it is gram negative. If you aren't sure, call the 800# on the box before you open it and ask the help line for the product, is this gram negative, that way you can return it if it turns out not to be what you need.

Good luck,
Chris