Sick cory, need help

[corielover, posts: 132]

Hey, it's me again. I have a cory problem. One of my four albino bronzes is sitting in one spot all day, is super pale, almost totally transparent, and needs to be hand fed. I am really scared, and very disapointed in myself for my continuing catfish failures.
Here are my tank details:
77 degrees Fahrenheit
7.0 pH
Hardness 50 ppm
Alkalinity buffer 100
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5
25-30% water change every week
Tank Set up
29 gallon
Fine black sand substrate
Penguin biowheel 350 filtration
1 echinodorus, 5 dwarf saggitaria, 2 lava rocks w/ holes,
one large piece of bogwood, one pink and red rock with two holes and numerous caves, four large plastic plants, five cryptocoryne.
three bronze corys, four albino cory, one burmese loach, one ancistrus, 6 black neon tetras, 5 cherry barbs (three male, 2 female), two amano shrimp, one snail.
I am feeding aqueon bottom feeder wafers, aqueon algae wafers, tetramin, sometimes tubifex worms, a little lettuce, and occasionally Spectrum Thera+A medium fish formula sinking 2mm pellets.
Please reply soon!

[Coriequest, posts: 99]

I'm no expert but no one is answering. So if I was you I would quaratine it in a sick tank, give Maracin and Maracin 2 bc you don't know what it has but those products are safe to use together according to the label. You can drip in a teaspoon of aquarium salt mixed with your tank water from a big plastic cup with a drip siphon put in about an inch from the bottom. My guess is it may be too late. I'm sorry. These fish illnesses are heartbreaking. Look closely for any other symptoms to help diagnose it and watch your other fish closely too.

[bunthid tumnontigoon, posts: 46]

I am so sorry to hear that, Corielover. I agree with Coriequest. You should separate and quarantine them in another tank to save the rest of them in the same tank in case something happens to the sickness one. But, Coriequest, most of Corydoras don't like salt, will that be OK for them if you use it? I am not really sure about this case, but you should separate and quarantine them in another tank as Coriequest mentioned.

Bunthid or Max

[Coriequest, posts: 99]

I was told by an expert that amount in a ten gallon tank was fine, when mine was sick I did that and it is fine. But it was dripped in slowly. The caveat is watch and see I think. Salt is good in illnesses it seems and it was just once for the quarantine. But aquarium salt yes? Not other...

[bunthid tumnontigoon, posts: 46]

Thank you Coriequest

I will remember that in my mind.

Bunthid or Max

[corielover, posts: 132]

Hey, thanks for the feedback. The cory has, unfortunately, deceased, but I will put them in a quarantine tank if it ever happens again. The rest of my corys are fine and happy currently, but you never know.

[corielover, posts: 132]

I have had a reoccurence of the problem. Increased aeration seemed to help, but the result was another fatality. I did some research; the fish was listless and emaciated. Could this be fish tuberculosis, or osmotic stress, or shock?

[Coriequest, posts: 99]

I lost all my hastatus this way, horrible...I'm sorry. Keeping in mind im fairly new but have the experts at SbAAPs helping me ive found the following to be true. No insult to your knowledge or intelligence is intended! Just to try to help...If it was me I would think about treating all of them and soon. You have the choice of treating for gram negative and gram positive bacteria at the same time with the Maracyn 2 and Maracyn which I believe I read are products which are safe to use together. Often this dual treatment is recommended for unknown conditions. The directions in the package are very thorough for treatment. Watch out for fungus while treating..if you see it treat for that too with Maroxy I think. Sorry my med info is all at school but they have three products that are safe to use together for these three issues. These are for your Quarantine tank. A teaspoon of aquarium salt for ten gallons dripped in can help with fluid regulation for bacterial stuff,. Make sure your water is at the temp your Cory's prefer...like 76 F? You could try worming them first with fenbenzadole in your main tank (this is the dog wormer sold as Safeguard by Sentry, one tweezer pinch well dissolved in water then slowly add to your tank, repeat for three times total. Also for worms not responsive to the fenbenzadole you can use praziquantel pro, or levamisol if you can find it, it's a pig wormer so livestock supplies may have it. Directions can be found online for levamisol. You may not have time to wait. I didn't. Thankfully, my last most recent pygmaeus funkiness was seemingly cured by kanamide. He was nearly dead on his side and hardly moved, had a short tail and whiskers and the one time teaspoon of dissolved salt dripped in and kanamide for 14 days fixed him. He had the three "M" treatment a month earlier, seemed ok but his illness came back. His body looked a bit bent too at the time which can be TB or other issues. He's good now! So prob was not TB...Cross fingers! Really hope your fish are ok. Clean water, right number of fish per gallon, proper chemistry, esp the proper ph, vacuuming the bottom and corners and not too much food all help. Oh and of course, Indian almond leaf!

[corielover, posts: 132]

Thanks lots! I just got a 20 gallon for quarantine (didn't have the funds before) and am setting it up as fast as I can. I am going to isolate the fish, and try what you recommended. The temperature is 77 F, and the tank is if anything, understocked. I do a 30% water change every week. Where can I find these treatments, especially indian almond leaf?

[Coriequest, posts: 99]

My local fish store sells all of them, but if yours doesn't I'm sure you can order them. The almond leaves are good for your Cory tank too, not just for sick ones. You can buy them on eBay if you can't find them locally. Other hardwood leaves can help buffer the water too but they must not have had any contact with any toxins or herbacides or insecticides. Just a half inch of well rinsed pool sand is all the Cory needs in the sick tank and I do add a rock, some floating plants and a piece of manzanita branch or two. I add some Prime to condition the water and lock up any ammonia or ammonia byproducts because you will have ammonia readings on your Q tank with the antibiotics. Fishypharmacy is the only place I found for Kanamide. It's online. But try the Maracyn, Maracyn 2 named products first which should be found locally depending where you are because you will cover gram positive and gram negative bacteria that way. They are made by Mardel and available online at Drs Smith and Foster. These can be effective against worms too. Remove any charcoal in your filter before medicating. Read all labels twice and plan your hospital program. The names are so similar that it's easy to make a mistake! Don't use any meds with biospheres while using the other antibiotics. It tells you in the directions too. Make a checklist for the number of days you will treat. Seems obvious but it sure helps me! I drip in medicine to to avoid shocking them using tank water too. Of course drip acclimate to the Q tank too. A final note, the powders are based on a treatment tank of ten gallons and the meds are not cheap. You will have to use two packets so you may need two boxes of each medication for your 20 gallon. Good luck!

[corielover, posts: 132]

Thanks all! The "sick" cory is acting perfectly normal, and the colorlesssness is not progressing, so I am hoping that I won't have to medicate. I will however quarantine to make sure.