Columnaris (Saddleback Disease) in Koi: Treatment Guide
By KoiQuanta Editorial Team|
Columnaris is a medical emergency. I don't use that phrase for many koi diseases, but Flavobacterium columnare at warm water temperatures can kill a koi within 24–48 hours of first visible symptoms. The window to act is narrow.
I've lost fish to Columnaris that I didn't recognize fast enough. I saw what I thought was a minor fungal lesion on a Showa nisai on a Tuesday morning. By Wednesday afternoon the fish was dead. The speed of Columnaris in warm water is unlike almost any other bacterial koi pathogen.
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