PlanetCatfish.com

We have three Sterbai in various stages of decline. It started out as a fungus on their sides. We have them in a 10g hospital tank. At this point, we have tried Methylene blue, Furan-2, Kanaplex in the water and in the food (with Seachem Focus and Garlic Guard), and salt in the water, as well as appropriate water changes in between and according to all of the package directions. They seem to be getting worse. One in particular (two photos below)
looks like his face has been eaten off with white fungus and the same thing is happening with his eye. The other two are listing to the side and breathing heavily but do not have the same visible fungus-
example: Any suggestions? We really don't want to lose these guys. Left on hand but untried as of yet are API General Cure, API Fungus Cure, and API tetracycline. Thanks so much in advance.

My medication for this is ProForm C. It is bottled for use in ponds, but you can apply it to standard aquaria at a dose of 1ml/10gal. It is not specifically an antibiotic as far as I know, but I believe it helps.

However, for it to be effective, you cannot use certain water chlorine removers like SeaChem Prime. You have to find other brands that do not counteract the medicine.

Good luck.

I understand your desire to save the fish. I've done exactly the same - tried lots of meds to rescue sick fish. Sometimes it works, most times it doesn't; if a fish is that sick, it's difficult to pull the animal back from the brink. The other irony is that the cost of treating the fish can run into the 10's and 10's and 10's of dollars (I've easily spent over $50 buying various meds trying to rescue fish), even though the fish cost only $5-10 each. But it's the principle of us being responsible for their welfare that keeps me trying.

Again, good luck.
Eric

I don't know know if this will help, but I posted some info re columnaris in this thread.viewtopic.php?f=7&t=45135#p305939

Thanks so much for the replies. This is all very helpful!