Peppered cory with white mark on head

[ginty]

Hi my cory has been acting strange yesterday evening. Ive just noticed a white mark on his head.

Any ideas?

My ammonia is 0ppm
Nitrite is 0ppm
Nitrates is 50ppm ( because my tap water is 40ppm. Im in the uk)
Ph is 8.0
Temperature is 25°c

In a 190litre tank and i do weekly water changes

 

[Brookster123]

The water is not conducive to Cory's health. Theyre a soft water fish. Sometimes you can get away with taking something a little out of its element but in your case it does not seem to be working.

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[coralbandit]

How long have you had the fish.
If he is recent within last 6 months what is you GH.
Cories have hard time hard water..
If all that checks then could it be an injury?
If no then I see bacterial infection and recommend an anti biotic treatment.
With bacterial infections often by the time you see a symptom it can be to late .Cories are sensitive fish so I hope he is still holding up.
sorry you waited so long and had to ask again for some help.
Tom

 

[Barliman]

I'm no expert, but it looks to me like he's hurt himself. Have you noticed anything like an infected wound might show since posting this?

 

[Brookster123]

Hurt? Have you seen this fish before? Stressed to death sir....
Ps- that's cat litter for substrate??
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[Hobgob]

What kind of Cory is that? I hope it isn't a palaetus or how ever it's spelt. If so has he always been that dark? He should look more like the picture above my post...

 

[Hobgob]

Does he have any where to hide? A fish won't get better if he is stressed. The first thing to curing a fish is fixing the reason why he is stressed.

 

[Coursair]

What other fish are in there ?
What is the substrate ?
Do you have any bogwood in the tank ?

I would try a PWC with RO or distilled water. You don't want the whole tank to be distilled water but a partial change should help bring the nitrates down and possibly lower the pH. Someone tell me if this is bad advice.

I like to add Indian Almond Leaves as well. They have some helpful properties.

Is he the only Cory ?

Poor fishie.

 

[Hobgob]

What other fish are in there ?
What is the substrate ?
Do you have any bogwood in the tank ?

I would try a PWC with RO or distilled water. You don't want the whole tank to be distilled water but a partial change should help bring the nitrates down and possibly lower the pH. Someone tell me if this is bad advice.

I like to add Indian Almond Leaves as well. They have some helpful properties.

Is he the only Cory ?

Poor fishie.

Great advice and question as cories like wood to hide under and he needs a group. He does look stressed out.

 

[ginty]

Hurt? Have you seen this fish before? Stressed to death sir....
Ps- that's cat litter for substrate??
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

It isnt cat litter substrate. It is actually black sand. Well thats what it had on the bag when i brough it.

 

[ginty]

What kind of Cory is that? I hope it isn't a palaetus or how ever it's spelt. If so has he always been that dark? He should look more like the picture above my post...

He isnt that dark. I turnt my flash off my camera, but he is getting stressed.

 

[ginty]

How long have you had the fish.
If he is recent within last 6 months what is you GH.
Cories have hard time hard water..
If all that checks then could it be an injury?
If no then I see bacterial infection and recommend an anti biotic treatment.
With bacterial infections often by the time you see a symptom it can be to late .Cories are sensitive fish so I hope he is still holding up.
sorry you waited so long and had to ask again for some help.
Tom

Hi thankyou for your reply. He is still holding up. My gh is 8°d.

 

[ginty]

What other fish are in there ?
What is the substrate ?
Do you have any bogwood in the tank ?

I would try a PWC with RO or distilled water. You don't want the whole tank to be distilled water but a partial change should help bring the nitrates down and possibly lower the pH. Someone tell me if this is bad advice.

I like to add Indian Almond Leaves as well. They have some helpful properties.

Is he the only Cory ?

Poor fishie.

Thankyou for your reply.

I did used to have 4 cories. I brought a new tank and i think the change may have stressed them out. I was going to buy more last weekend but noticed this fish was acting strange so i wont add any until i sort this issue. So at the moment he is all on his own.

I have black sand substrate.

No bog wood but plenty of plants. Crypts (if thats how you spell it).

I have 9 guppies. I rescued these from someones tank who had a tiny little tank and had about 40 babies in it.
And 3 neon tetras. I was getting more of these too but ill wait now to see what happens.

 

[ginty]

What other fish are in there ?
What is the substrate ?
Do you have any bogwood in the tank ?

I would try a PWC with RO or distilled water. You don't want the whole tank to be distilled water but a partial change should help bring the nitrates down and possibly lower the pH. Someone tell me if this is bad advice.

I like to add Indian Almond Leaves as well. They have some helpful properties.

Is he the only Cory ?

Poor fishie.

Ill buy some bottled water and do a water change. Do you recommend seperating him?

 

[Ruutah]

Cories darken up when on a darker substrate. I've had my peppered cories on carib sea beach colored sand, and the ebony stuff. On the black sand, they blend in VERY well. They get almost black. Currently they're on PFS.

And they're fine in High PH water. I'm in FL and my well water is 8.2. My group of peppers regularly cover the side of the tank in eggs for me. And yes, they're fertile, I've hatched one batch, the rest I've left on the glass to be cleaned up. I do have driftwood in the tank which could help with the hardness of the water and the high ph. (I haven't tested the hardness of the water, but from the calcium stains on everything in this house, I'm betting it's high.)

He looks like he may have bumped a rock or something. Make sure his water is as good as a you can get it. You might try using a nitrate remover pad, or a similar product to help pull the extra Nitrates. Or just extra plants. If it get's worse, I would look at treating him with something. Might look at dropping him in a glass or specimen container to get a better look at him, if it's fluffy I would treat him for fungus, if it's a wound... Keep the water as clean as you can.

 

[ginty]

Cories darken up when on a darker substrate. I've had my peppered cories on carib sea beach colored sand, and the ebony stuff. On the black sand, they blend in VERY well. They get almost black. Currently they're on PFS.

And they're fine in High PH water. I'm in FL and my well water is 8.2. My group of peppers regularly cover the side of the tank in eggs for me. And yes, they're fertile, I've hatched one batch, the rest I've left on the glass to be cleaned up. I do have driftwood in the tank which could help with the hardness of the water and the high ph. (I haven't tested the hardness of the water, but from the calcium stains on everything in this house, I'm betting it's high.)

He looks like he may have bumped a rock or something. Make sure his water is as good as a you can get it. You might try using a nitrate remover pad, or a similar product to help pull the extra Nitrates. Or just extra plants. If it get's worse, I would look at treating him with something. Might look at dropping him in a glass or specimen container to get a better look at him, if it's fluffy I would treat him for fungus, if it's a wound... Keep the water as clean as you can.

Thankyou for your reply. Ill get some drift wood. I havent got any rocks etc.
This is my tank. I have x-mas decorations on the outs of my glass but you can still see the tank. I have only plants.
My ph is 8.0. Will drift wood help bring it down a little?


As for my cory. Do you think he could have bumped in to my filter? I have juwel trigon tank with built in internal filter. Thats the only thing he could have bumped into.

And do you think my substrate is ok for a cory. When i brought it, it said sand on the bag. Alough it look like small partical gravel.

 

[Ruutah]

Yeah he needs a hiding place or two. No where for him to get out of sight and relax.

And anytime.

 

[ginty]

Yeah he needs a hiding place or two. No where for him to get out of sight and relax.

And anytime.

Ok. What would you suggest? Some drift wood and have some anubias with it?

 

[Ruutah]

That will do two things, give him somewhere to hide, and help with nitrates.

 

[ginty]

I need help with nitrates as my tap water is 40ppm.
Will the drift wood use nitrates better then plants do you know?