# Help needed! sick super red



## mrbob (Aug 9, 2012)

Hi everyone sadly i have a xl super red severum I noticed two days ago a big round spot near is head a cottony with dark red ring. I put him in quarantine treated with api fungas cure and general cure and salt. two days gone by red spot is better cotton worst doing 60% w/c every other day!

I believe it's colunmaris 

Problem they dont allow maracyn 2 in Canada petsmart informed me what do you recommend?

something I can treat the 92g tank has well that won't break the bank, been using paragaurd no results..

Thank you in advance 

Bob


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## mrbob (Aug 9, 2012)

? Anyone.....


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## Rockman (May 19, 2013)

mrbob said:


> Hi everyone sadly i have a xl super red severum I noticed two days ago a big round spot near is head a cottony with dark red ring.


Sorry to hear that. Do you happen to have a photo? It might help considerably.



mrbob said:


> I put him in quarantine treated with api fungas cure and general cure and salt. two days gone by red spot is better cotton worst doing 60% w/c every other day!


That's a lot of stuff done in two days. Normally mixing meds is not a great plan. Pick one course of treatment and follow the instructions to the letter. Wait out the full course of treatment then reassess. Medications are generally speaking toxic (less toxic to the fish than to the pathogen... hopefully); so ideally you'd avoid exposing fish to them as much as possible. Also you can get nasty interactions when you start mixing them.



mrbob said:


> I believe it's colunmaris


It could be. However, I can't see it; so I can't really confirm anything.



mrbob said:


> Problem they dont allow maracyn 2 in Canada petsmart informed me


I feel like this is incorrect. I've used the stuff within the last few years.



mrbob said:


> what do you recommend?


Well, so far you've treated with an antifungal (acraflavine) and an antiparasitic (metronidazole and praziquantel). Given that columnaris is a bacterial infection, I might try an antibiotic. API's furan 2 and tetra's fungus cure (both contain the antibiotics nitrofurazone and furazolidone) are generally fairly useful against external infections; I believe I've seen pond versions of the stuff under different brands in some garden centres as well (good for large tanks). Seachem kanaplex may also help; but is ridiciously expensive unless you're giving it to them in food.

I will, however, reemphasize the need to pick a medication and stick with it. Don't be throwing in more than one med at a time. Also, two days is a very short time period; you wouldn't necessarily see much improvement. Maybe the current meds will do the trick.



mrbob said:


> been using paragaurd no results..


Another antiparasitic. While seachem does say it's effective against bacteria, they also claim the same about viruses (which is decidedly unlikely... it'd be like curing HIV with skin cream). Most likely their marketing department has gotten away from them again (technically... anything that contains slime coat is useful in controlling most infections... but I wouldn't necessarily recommend my water conditioner as a treatment option). Also... stop mixing meds (it's kinda my theme song).

One final note. Skin diseases don't spring up by themselves; there's almost always something that sets it off (stress or injury that reduces the effectiveness of the slime coat). See if you can come up with anything that might have made your guy susceptible. Water quality, bullying, protruding decor... something like that. If it's something you can fix it'll do a lot for recovery.


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## mrbob (Aug 9, 2012)

Wow ty rock man I will stick to fungas cure for now but I don't think he will last much longer only been 4 days and this thing has spread like crazy.I will post pic when I get home tonight again ty was really hoping for help had this guy for a few years..
There was a power outage a week ago power out for 5 hrs I lost some fish but none in the Tank he was in I notice my floerhorn got Popeye and white spots in head after this he's been treated in hospital all tankmates OK treater whole tank with paragaurd anyway doing w/c every other day.


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