Sick Pepper cory

[Gritty]

Can anyone tell me what I need to do for my poor cory? She was fine yesterday, then tonight I see her looking like this. I tested the water yesterday with my API master kit and the ammonia and nitrite was 0 and the nitrate was 20 and my ph was 7.2. I did also do a water change of about 25-30% yesterday after testing it. Today all readings were the same except the ph was 6.8. Could the drop in the ph have caused this? Or is this something different?

 

[Gritty]

Well, my picture didn't post. I'm new at this plus it doesn't help I'm on my phone. But my cory looks like her body is peeling, for lack of a better term. It is only on one side.

 

[Delapool]

Can anyone tell me what I need to do for my poor cory? She was fine yesterday, then tonight I see her looking like this. I tested the water yesterday with my API master kit and the ammonia and nitrite was 0 and the nitrate was 20 and my ph was 7.2. I did also do a water change of about 25-30% yesterday after testing it. Today all readings were the same except the ph was 6.8. Could the drop in the ph have caused this? Or is this something different?

Did it come up with any error message with posting the pic? On the app I can click on the photo album icon or just copy a link in from a website like photobucket.

This all seems fine on water chemistry. How's tank temp? Also have you tested the tap water for ph? This would tell us if the tap water is causing the ph change or not. Your post read though that there were no changes to the tank when problem started?

 

[Gritty]

No, I didn't get an error message. I'm sure it was operator error, as my son just told me NOT to double post "because people hate that." He told me I should have hit the edit button instead of double posting. Sorry!

Here is the link for the picture I took of my cory . http://i.imgur.com/ufxs5jH.jpg Hopefully, this will work. I got my son to do it for me since I'm not that computer literate! So, PLEASE bear with me!

As far as testing my tap water ph, no, I haven't done that but will! The weird thing is I use the same tap water for all 3 of my tanks but they will have different readings with the ph. For instance my 60 gal tall will have a reading of 7.2 but my 20 gal will have a reading of 6.8 and my 5 gal will have 7.4.


My water temp is 78 and that is what it usually is. The only change was I did do a water change of 25-30% the day before the problem happened.

 

[Delapool]

No, I didn't get an error message. I'm sure it was operator error, as my son just told me NOT to double post "because people hate that." He told me I should have hit the edit button instead of double posting. Sorry!

Here is the link for the picture I took of my cory . http://i.imgur.com/ufxs5jH.jpg Hopefully, this will work. I got my son to do it for me since I'm not that computer literate! So, PLEASE bear with me!

As far as testing my tap water ph, no, I haven't done that but will! The weird thing is I use the same tap water for all 3 of my tanks but they will have different readings with the ph. For instance my 60 gal tall will have a reading of 7.2 but my 20 gal will have a reading of 6.8 and my 5 gal will have 7.4.


My water temp is 78 and that is what it usually is. The only change was I did do a water change of 25-30% the day before the problem happened.

Hi, I can see the pic. Sometimes posts by new members containing links may require approval so if all else looks good, may just need to be approved and should be visible shortly.

Did you temp match the water roughly? I've had bottom dwellers get fungal infections when the change water is too cold and I can't get the heaters back on straight away after a partial water change.

That reminds me of a fungal infection. Any anti-fungal med with mythelene blue will help if you have that.

To cover fungal and external bacterial, another med would be tetra fungus guard.

http://www.thatpetplace.com/fungus-guard-tabs-8pk

 

[coralbandit]

Just opinion here but IMO fungal issues are usually caused by an injury or infected wound(the same?).
I would look at columnaris as a possible infection also.
Look for links on both fungal and bacterial(columnaris ) and get back to us.
Have you tried any treatments yet(I realize this happened recently)?
Although many questions still hang in this field I would try salt(I know cories are not found of it) for a week to see if any improvement occurs.
No longer without noticeable improvement though.
You're in good hands with Dela IMO.

 

[Delapool]

Good points there by CB.

If anything is matching here for the OP?

 

[Gritty]

Well, when I filled the tank back up, the replacement water may have been a little cooler than the tank water, but as soon as I filled it 3/4 of the way back up, I turned the heater back on.

Last night I did treat the tank with Pimafix. I don't have a med. with mythelene blue, but if you think that would be better, I will get that. I have Tetra Lifeguard, but it says that it is not suitable for scaleless fish. I have used aquarium salt before but was told not to use that on cories. It didn't seem to bother them too much when I used it before, though.

 

[coralbandit]

If salt caused no problems then don't change a thing.
No meds are "suitable for scaleless fish" so start at 1/2 dose IMO.
I have dosed my cories and clown loaches at much higher doses without issue with several different meds over the years(clowns are 8-12 years old!).

I wish I could offer an answer?
I offer a good link on cory keeping IMO instead;
Genus Corydoras: general notes | The Skeptical Aquarist

 

[Gritty]

Thank you for the link Coralbandit! Unfortunately, the cory in the picture died and so did one of my dwarf emerald rasboras. One of my other pepper cories has also got the same thing on it but not as much. Hopefully, I can get this under control soon!

 

[coralbandit]

Quick deaths spell columnaris most of the time to me!
I have many links if you like.

 

[Gritty]

Quick deaths spell columnaris most of the time to me!
I have many links if you like.

Yes please, I would love links to whatever will help me!!!! Which med. would you recommend for columnairs?

 

[coralbandit]

Link #1
Fish Columnaris | Fungus & Saprolegnia | Treatment & Prevention
Tough read but the most informative IMO.
Link #2
http://www.myaquariumclub.com/columnaris-and-what-i-have-learned...-1689.html
Much easier read.
The key IMO is not to get hung up on the pictures and looking for a fluffy /whatever appearance.
Columnaris is evolving at this very moment IMO!
Kannamycin and furan are preferred treatment lately.
I killed columnaris with PP!
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f17/potassium-permanganate-338314.html

 

[Gritty]

Thank you for the links! Do you think I should do a large water change to get most of the Pimafix out of the water? I have salt that I can put in there now but I will have to go to my LSF tomorrow to get the medicine.

 

[coralbandit]

The pima will not effect anything IMO.
No need to change water just for that.
Do you have a test kit to check levels?
What are your weekly habbits with the tank.
Columnaris loves clean water!
No joke!
It also lives better and longer in warm water.
Try to keep temp in middle to low 70s.
If your LFS has kanna and furan go for it and follow directions using both at the same time.
Hope all this helps.

 

[Delapool]

Yes, multiple deaths then bacterial infection. Pimafix, salt or tetra lifeguard unlikely to cure (although they can in mild cases).

As soon as you can get to the lfs to pick up whatever your med preference is then this would be best as bacterial infections can move very quickly through a tank (especially as it looks to be infecting different fish already).

 

[Gritty]

I usually do a 40-50% water change every week. Yes, I have a API test kit and before all this happened ammonia & nitrite were 0 and nitrate was 20. Ph was 7.2 then after the water change the ph had gone down to 6.8. Thank you both for your help! I'll be heading to my lfs first thing tomorrow. Oh and I did turn my heater down some. My thermometer was on 79. It's slowly starting to come down some.

 

[Delapool]

I usually do a 40-50% water change every week. Yes, I have a API test kit and before all this happened ammonia & nitrite were 0 and nitrate was 20. Ph was 7.2 then after the water change the ph had gone down to 6.8. Thank you both for your help! I'll be heading to my lfs first thing tomorrow. Oh and I did turn my heater down some. My thermometer was on 79. It's slowly starting to come down some.

Good luck with it.

A quarantine tank (or even a bucket with air pump) can be useful to stop infections spreading / easier for meds treatment as well.

Still curious on that tap water.

Somewhere there is a trigger for this which has stressed the fish (eg heat, injury, water company changed water chemistry) if anything pops to mind?

 

[Gritty]

The ph! Sorry, I forgot. I just tested the tap and it was 8.4! Right now in the aquarium it is 7.4. Usually this tank runs around 6.8. The only other thing I can think of that changed was I did add some more pygmy cories and dwarf emeralds about 2 weeks ago. They all seem fine except for the one emerald that I lost today.


Also, last week I couldn't find one of my skunk cories and I did go ahead and do a water change tonight and found the skunk cory's body. Could that have caused the problem? One would think it wouldn't be hard to find a dead fish in a 20 gal tank but I looked and looked for it and never could find it till tonight.


Ok, the more I think about this and talk to my son about it, about a month ago I lost a skunk cory and it's body looked a lot like my pepper cory's. That's why I bought the Lifeguard med. because another skunk cory got the same thing the day after the first one died but I started treating it with the Lifeguard and it got better and I didn't have anymore problems till now.

 

[Delapool]

The ph! Sorry, I forgot. I just tested the tap and it was 8.4! Right now in the aquarium it is 7.4. Usually this tank runs around 6.8. The only other thing I can think of that changed was I did add some more pygmy cories and dwarf emeralds about 2 weeks ago. They all seem fine except for the one emerald that I lost today.


Also, last week I couldn't find one of my skunk cories and I did go ahead and do a water change tonight and found the skunk cory's body. Could that have caused the problem? One would think it wouldn't be hard to find a dead fish in a 20 gal tank but I looked and looked for it and never could find it till tonight.


Ok, the more I think about this and talk to my son about it, about a month ago I lost a skunk cory and it's body looked a lot like my pepper cory's. That's why I bought the Lifeguard med. because another skunk cory got the same thing the day after the first one died but I started treating it with the Lifeguard and it got better and I didn't have anymore problems till now.

That makes sense I think. Tap water here is about 8.2. Left in a jar to degas over night it then tests about 7.8. And my tank runs at about 7.2 ph.

The dead fish could be the problem for sure. Fish get infected off it and all the decomposing will lower ph / change water chemistry.

I'd skip getting any more fish for a bit (just in case) and let the stocking settle and hopefully no more troubles.

I know what you mean on finding fish. They seem to tuck themselves away somewhere sometimes and impossible to find. Or in the case of a mystery snail make it a good foot outside the tank