Columnaris is a gram-negative aerobic bacteria found exclusively in fresh water. When looking at it under a microscope, the bacteria "stack" on top of each other, end to end, forming the columns that lend it its name. It is ever-present in bodies of water. Your healthy axolotl is probably floating in water with Columnaris in it right now! It is opportunistic and infects axolotls with weakened immune systems- usually due to stress due to temperature swings, warm water, ammonia/nitrite spikes, high nitrate, or pH swings. Providing clean and stable water parameters is the best way to prevent infection.
What does Columnaris Look Like?
Columnaris presents as a cotton-ball like growth typically found on the gill stalks of otherwise healthy axolotls. Since it thrives in O2 rich environments, the gills (or sometimes mouth of animals with lungs or labyrinth organs) is usually the first point of infection. The color of the growth ranges from translucent white to a more opaque off-white color. The growth will have long stands of "fiber" woven together. Just like looking at a cotton ball or tangle of sting, it will be hard to tell where one strand starts and another stand begins. This texture a clear indicator that you are looking at Columnaris, not a fungus.
What does Columnaris do to the Body?
If treatment isn't started at the cotton-growth stage, Columnaris can cause lesions on gill tissue or surrounding skin, enter the blood, and cause systematic infection. It can also damage the gills to the point that they cease to function. Once in the body, Columnaris can infect any organ. It can cause kidney failure leading to water and waste buildup in the sick axolotl's body. This will make the axolotl look like it is bloated. If allowed to get to this point, death is likely.
How do I treat Columnaris?
The best treatment for Columnaris is clean water and nutritious food. Remove the axolotl from the tank and into a hospital tub with water treated with Seachem Prime. (The ammonia-bonding property of Prime is important when you don't have a cycled filter for your hospital tubs!) Perform a 100% water change every 24 hours. Offer a nutritionally complete food like an earthworm or pellet. Do not be surprised if at first your axolotl does not eat in the hospital tub.
After you axolotl is in its hospital tub, you need to figure out and fix the environmental factors that lead to infection in the first place. Has your cycle crashed? Is your pH out of control? Is your temperature too high? If you do not correct the problem in the tank, chances are your axolotl will be infected again after returning to its tank.
That's it. No baths, no medication. Most of the time, clean water will allow you axolotl's immune system to fight off a Columnaris infection. If you optionally want to add a small amount of tannins to the water -tannic acid creates a hostile environment for Columnaris to grow in- brew some tea. This can be made with 100% pure black tea, Indian almond leaves, or oak leaves. Let this tea cool in the fridge, and add a small amount to the hospital tub and to your water change water at the same time you add your dechlorinator (before the water change!) The water should be slightly tea stained- not dark brown. This is not a tea bath. The axolotl will stay in this tannin-water 24/7 while in the hospital tank. Remember: the aim is to create a hostile environment for the bacteria to grow. You cannot achieve that in a 10-minute bath.
If the axolotl's immune system is not able to fight off the infection within a few days of being quarantined, you may need to resort to medication or baths.
Columnaris is a gram-negative aerobic bacteria found exclusively in fresh water. When looking at it under a microscope, the bacteria "stack" on top of each other, end to end, forming the columns that lend it its name. It is ever-present in bodies of water.
Your healthy axolotl is probably floating in water with Columnaris in it right now! It is opportunistic and infects axolotls with weakened immune systems- usually due to stress due to temperature swings, warm water, ammonia/nitrite spikes, high nitrate, or pH swings. Providing clean and stable water parameters is the best way to prevent infection.
Columnaris presents as a cotton-ball like growth typically found on the gill stalks of otherwise healthy axolotls. Since it thrives in O2 rich environments, the gills (or sometimes mouth of animals with lungs or labyrinth organs) is usually the first point of infection. The color of the growth ranges from translucent white to a more opaque off-white color. The growth will have long stands of "fiber" woven together. Just like looking at a cotton ball or tangle of sting, it will be hard to tell where one strand starts and another stand begins. This texture a clear indicator that you are looking at Columnaris, not a fungus.
If treatment isn't started at the cotton-growth stage, (which is what it looks like based on your photos) Columnaris can cause lesions on gill tissue or surrounding skin, enter the blood, and cause systematic infection. It can also damage the gills to the point that they cease to function. Once in the body, Columnaris can infect any organ. It can cause kidney failure leading to water and waste buildup in the sick axolotl's body. This will make the axolotl look like it is bloated. If allowed to get to this point, death is likely.
The best treatment for Columnaris is clean water and nutritious food. Remove the axolotl from the tank and into a hospital tub with water treated with Seachem Prime. (The ammonia-bonding property of Prime is important when you don't have a cycled filter for your hospital tubs!) Perform a 100% water change every 24 hours. Offer a nutritionally complete food like an earthworm or pellet. Do not be surprised if at first your axolotl does not eat in the hospital tub.
After you axolotl is in its hospital tub, you need to figure out and fix the environmental factors that lead to infection in the first place. Has your cycle crashed? Is your pH out of control? Is your temperature too high? If you do not correct the problem in the tank, chances are your axolotl will be infected again after returning to its tank.
That's it. No baths, no medication. Most of the time, clean water will allow you axolotl's immune system to fight off a Columnaris infection. If you optionally want to add a small amount of tannins to the water -tannic acid creates a hostile environment for Columnaris to grow in- brew some tea. This can be made with 100% pure black tea, Indian almond leaves, or oak leaves. Let this tea cool in the fridge, and add a small amount to the hospital tub and to your water change water at the same time you add your dechlorinator (before the water change!) The water should be slightly tea stained- not dark brown. This is not a tea bath. The axolotl will stay in this tannin-water 24/7 while in the hospital tank. Remember: the aim is to create a hostile environment for the bacteria to grow. >>You cannot achieve that in a 10-minute bath<<
If the axolotl's immune system is not able to fight off the infection within a few days of being quarantined, you may need to resort to medication or baths.
Ok, so, I found the beginning of this post on Reddit, but as a hobby hepetogist, I do know a lot of information on aquatic reptiles, and noticed the bacteria right away from your photos.
Also, you don't need alot of water or tea mixture in the hospital tub.
I use Smart pH balanced Water, (can be pricy but worth it, if you love your newt) and just enough water to cover your little buddy, depending on the sickness, the smaller the hospital tub, I find the better, as long as your little guy has leg room.
I also put little to no decorations in the hospital tub, and my one decoration{not from the contaminated tank, of course} is usually a cut piece(big enough to wrap around my pet) from a cleaned cloth (flannel/or Jersey knit cotton[tee-shirt]) soaked in the clean pH balanced water or tea mixture, use your dampened hand or a glove to move your axolotl, as using the cloth in the old water can tranfer the bacteria, the axolotl can breathe and live outside of water for up to an hour, drying him out for a bit isn't going to kill him, but it might stress him out a bit, which is fine, also depends on your relationship with him..
I don't know how often you physically handle your axolotl with your hands, but try to transfer him with the least amount of contaminated water as possible...
As the post said, you're trying to create an environment your axolotl can survive in but not the bacteria.
If the tea water isn't working try my method of slowly mixing 1/8 teaspoon of ZooMed's Reptivite Reptile Vitamins without D
{found at PetSmart} (a photo of a salamander on the front of it, but it says it's safe for all amphibians, and reptiles) mix that small amount (1/8tsp) to a full one-litre bottle of room temperature Smart pH balanced water and use that as hospital tub water, not all at once just enough to cover your buddy.
Also, pulling your tank apart and cleaning everything inside and outside is a MUST, use a bathtub if the tank is too big, for a sink.
Disconnecting and unplugging all electronic components, lights, filters, air stones, than begin by rapidly boiling all decorations (plants/rocks/stones/etc) in a pot with tap water for fifteen-twenty minutes,(doesn't matter if there is chlorine in the tap-water as it will be boiled off after 15 minutes) let everything cool down to room temperature(this is when I put a lid on the pot and wait 2-3hours-anything melted from the hot water could be replaced) while cleaning the main tank inside, outside, and than inside again, and once more.
You can clean your tank with hot tap water(especially if it contains chlorine, as this will kill any bacteria left anywhere within the tank... I wouldn't use any types of soap, just the hottest water your hands can handle.
I like using my hands so I can feel every inch of the tank and to feel if there is a slime or grime, I also rinse the outside of my tank and I do this three times, first with hot water, than cooler, than cold water, after I take a few cups of Smart pH balanced Water and use my hands making sure every inch of my tank is cleaned/rinsed** this water gets dumped after**... >>This deep-clean cleansing process should actually be done with anyone who ownes an aquatic pet every six months<< (I do mine spring and autumn because my salamanders hibernate during winter and I don't like to disturb them during that time.. I know they are in my tank but it looks empty)
depending on your tank size & set up this process this can and will take a chunk of your day, many days, or longer.
Keep in mind your axolotl should say in the hospital tub for at least a week with 24 hour water changes, and close monitoring, so you will have a lot of time to clean the tank within this period.
Remember the hospital tub is just a temporary tank. Don't keep it in direct sunlight, and if it's plastic be sure to poke some holes along the top, it should also have a lid.
I hope
to hear back from you with updateds and maybe pictures of your adorable axolotl.
Salamander_Mummy
P.S.
I attached a photo of my hospital tub for my sick Sally, last year, this is her after twelve hours in reptivite vitamin water, after I realized her heart was beating a mile a minute(she was basically stoned on reptile steroids), I dumped all the medicine filled water from the medical tub and re-added only fresh bottled SmartWatwr pH balanced and she molted a day after I took this picture, I have a video(of her stoned on the reptile steroids) and the rest of their album on Facebook. I actually shocked her system to heal her and make her healthier.
I always buy multiple bottles of SmartWater pH balanced, one I always use with the ZooMed's reptivite reptile vitamins without D, the other I use to clean items down or add as regular living-in water for my fresh water species.
