Corys with possible ich

[brennae]

Long story short I just aquired some free yet beautiful corys and some other fish in the same tank had ich. I don't see anything on the corys yet but I want to treat anyway and head off a major infection. The corys are in a qt tank. I should not add salt to a cory tank correct? What temp do I raise the water to and also is a sponge filter ok (I can always pitch it out)? Anything else I should do?

I've never dealt with ich before so please be kind!

 

[IsabellaRows]

Slowly raise the temp to 78-80 F. Ich parasites are free swimming until they find a host which is what happened to the other fish. Raising temp makes their life cycle faster (about 4 days).

 

[IsabellaRows]

Also be sure to maintain good water quality. Unless you are treating the infected fish with meds, do partial water changes daily to help eliminate the parasite, but no more than 50% of water.

 

[brennae]

Ok that was my next question. I will change the water daily then. I don't want to use meds as I am not even positive these fish have ich. I assume they do though since they were in a tank of other fish with it.

Thanks a lot for your help!!

 

[IsabellaRows]

Because ich is an external parasite, if they dont have white spots on them, they dont have it.

 

[brennae]

I am not totally sure since they are c. haroldshultzi and they have stripes and spots anyway. I will examine them carefully and watch closely for the next few days. Thanks again!

 

[IsabellaRows]

You're welcome. I just looked them up and they are pretty!

 

[IsabellaRows]

Watch for signs like labored breathing, clamped fins and lethargy. If that happens then you should watch out. But if they're swimming around happily they are most likely ok.

 

[George9]

Just because some fish don't have spots, it doesn't mean they don't have it. Ich could live in the gills of seemingly healthy fish, I've gotten it literally a dozen times from fish that looked great, but carried it into the tank.

 

[brennae]

Well they are in QT so I will keep a close eye. They are really stunning fish so hopefully they don't have it