Ick & Corydoras

[cpfarhood]

I've got a bad case of ick in my 10 gallon tank that seems impervious to treatment. Its claimed all 3 of my black phantom tetras and all 3 of my serpae's appear to have it as well. For some reason though my Corydora's don't appear to be affected at all. Can corys get ick? Are mine just resilient to it for some odd reason?

 

[Fruitbat]

Corydoras as well as most other 'armored catfish' seem to be much more resistant to the Ichthyophthirius parasitic protozoan than most other fish. I've seen Cory cats and Farlowella survive in seriously Ich-ridden tanks with not so much as a speck on them.

I'm sure others have had differing experiences but those have been my observations.

 

[cpfarhood]

I've moved my cory's to a 3 gal tank all on their own to see if i can prevent them from getting it. If this ick were to overrun my tank and finish off my tetras should i break down the tank and steralize it with bleach or would a couple of weeks with 2tsp of salt per gal and 90 degrees of heat kill all the remaining ick?

 

[Fruitbat]

According to some biologists, the microscopic free-living stage of Ichthyophthirius will die in 60 hours if they don't find a host. My personal experience with Ich doesn't always jibe with the experts. I've seen situations where fish have contracted Ich in tanks that hadn't been infested for a lengthy period of time preceding the outbreak (and no new fish or plants had been added in the interim).

Raising the salt concentration and temperature should pretty much kill the little monsters off. Be aware that Corydoras, while not very sensitive to Ich ARE very sensitive to salt! In an experiment done quite some time ago, Corydoras were the first fish of all those tested to die when the salt concentration in their tank was raised.

 

[Allivymar]

Hiya cpfarhood and welcome to Aquariumadvice

If you haven't read my article on ich, I strongly suggest perusing it: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=32 .