The dreaded flex! (columnaris)

[Bumblebee]

Probably the biggest enemy of the guppy besides the uncycled tank, Columnaris or 'flex' probably accounts for between 80-90% of disease related guppy deaths in the home aquarium. It usually starts as a tiny white ares near one of the fins (any) or the moth and eyes and rapidly spreads as a pale slightly pale or 'coocked' looking patch over the fishes body. the fish can become paralized and die within hours of showing symptoms. It can also appear as a range of less severe fin leasions and white fuzzies that are relativley easy to treat. I find the greatest cause of these problems are uncycled tanks, water too hot (over 26.c) and contamination from overfeeding.

a good article: www.flippersandfins.net/flexibacter.htm

[sammigold]

there is also a strain of columnaris which actually make the fishes mouth look like it has been eaten off... (thats the best way to describe it) I lost a couple of black widow tetras in one tank and then some guppies in another.... One important thing to remember is that it is highly contagious and will transfer from net to fish... so if you have different tanks and one net you need to be extremely careful and make sure that you thoroughly clean the net to prevent cross contamination of your tanks.
A successful treatment for me was pima-fix just used as per directions on the bottle... saved the rest of my tetras and prevented me from losing all of my guppies...

[Bumblebee]

True, It seems very different depending on the fish it infects. I have seen poor bettas lose their mouths from the disease, gups get it a lot on the back, around the eyes and of course tail-rot. I think the worst one is the form that infects the base of the fins and paralizes them as there is about a 99% mortality, whereas the 'white fuzzies' can usally be treated with something like a regular 'fungus' treatment or pimafix. I find the most important part of treatment is the 25% waterchange, I have even had fish recover on their own just with the waterchange and no other treatment. I usually use one though just to make sure they heal properly.

Only problem with the treatments is that they can all damage beneficial bacteria, so fish should be treated away from the main aquarium (except for pimafix) for stubborn cases tetracyclene and tri-sulfa are also very good.

Happy Birthday BTW

[sammigold]

Yes I agree with everything you say there ^

thanks for the birthday wish ;D