cinnanoodles

Hello again. I'm so sorry, I forgot I posted here so long ago. The corys are C. habrosus, which I recently learned are almost always wild-caught... and during transit, they often develop diseases, parasites and other issues from stress (if they weren't present already). Also, after doing some research as to why it didn't seem like a normal wound and spread so quickly, I found something colloquially known as red blotch disease which seems to fit the bill. I guess it's an ailment that commonly affects Corydoras species, and doesn't have a definite cure or course of action. Not sure yet if it is infectious, but my eyes are peeled. As for the idea of them getting concussed: it's possible for sure, especially against rocks or glass. However, my tank does not have a lid, so that wasn't it. They are pretty active when they're healthy, so they may have swam into a decoration. Finally, as to parameters: ammonia, nitrite and nitrate all read 0 (tank is a very well planted Walstad, capped with a thick layer of sand). pH is around 7. Filtration is an Aqua Clear 30; filter intake covered with a pre-filter sponge, flow is reduced to the lowest setting, and outflow is partly covered by a Solo cup lid to lessen flow even further. Below is a photo of the tank. As of Sunday, I purchased more corys and a koi betta. The betta's great, and he has not attempted to attack or harass any of his tankmates. However, corys are still getting sick. I realized at 12 in the morning today that, on top of some having eroded barbels and some other concerns... they are infected with ich. Not epistylis; I checked. I'm scrambling to put together an ich treatment plan ASAP, hopefully one that can also help with their other problems and can be dosed in the entire tank without killing my shrimp, snails, corys or plants. Many thanks to the both of you for taking the time out to help. @KittenFishMom - haven't seen your message yet, but will absolutely read it. Thanks!

Hello all; my apologies for forgetting about this post until today. I did euthanize the minnow with clove oil. Couldn't get a very good look at his mouth after he passed away. After about three days in my home, the remaining nine minnows having been placed into a 5 gallon bucket and treated with Seachem PolyGuard as a precaution, I returned them to the store. Two of the minnows, likely those in the worst condition (6 or 7 had visible signs of illness; a few had cottony or fleshy growths/wounds on their mouths, two had points in their stomachs and one of these was pooping what looked to be red worms. A few others had small deformities from what I could tell), passed away one night without my knowledge. I performed a 40-50% water change daily, as the bucket had no filter. When I returned the living fish and brought the three deceased ones in a separate container, the employee I spoke to couldn't see anything visually wrong with them other than their stress level (they were pale from being moved, the meds and/or waste levels). This was odd, as I could clearly see them in my tank and could tell they were a little off. She did refund me $20 despite this. Anyway, as much as I love my LFS, I probably won't be getting WCMM from them again; the ones I got from PetsMart were shockingly healthy and half the price. @Miska - Hope you're successful in your search! They seem to be out of stock in a lot of online stores. Another beautiful variety I saw was the yellowfin, aka. Hong Kong.

https://giphy.com/gifs/PMIhIjQGhawGOcw8ps - GIF provided so you can see what he looks like. Hope the quality is acceptable. This fish came to me like this. I put him and the other ten minnows I purchased into a 5 gallon bucket with some Seachem Polyguard; going to return them to the store within a couple days, I hope. They all have some problems; several are visibly ill. I just took this video because I've literally never seen anything like this before. Asking more out of curiosity than a genuine need for help, although if you've had a fish that looks like this, feel free to comment how you dealt with it. It looks like his lower jaw is literally falling off. He is darker than the rest of the fish; barely moves, just sort of wiggling his tail. He looks so miserable I think it'd be best to euthanize. There's no way for me to treat this, either... all I have are the aforementioned Polyguard and some Maracyn 1 & 2.

It got worse. I don't know how or what happened or why, but it got worse. It went from being upright in a corner to being tipped on its side. I took it out. Now euthanizing with clove oil. This is the second cory dead out of three. Store only had three, or I would've bought a whole school. The last day and a half have been a complete nightmare with this tank. It feels like everything I do is horribly wrong. I've lost at least three fish today, two of which were corys, the third being an ember tetra. Really want to cry.

Can't find my testing kit at the moment, sorry. I'm looking for it. Hopefully the image quality is good enough. I noticed that one of my corys was very listless and pretty much immobile. I poked at them a little with my aquarium tweezers and they barely moved. The other one was totally fine. When I looked closer, I saw this wound a little behind the head. It looks partially open, and decently big. It must be a recent wound, because he was okay most of the day as far as I could tell. I'm thinking they got caught on a decoration or something, like a piece of driftwood? Or maybe they were hurt while I was doing something in the tank? Alternatively, they could have gotten nipped at by an ember tetra, but that seemed unlikely to me. Don't know what to do now. I know I can't treat them with salt, at least not much of it. I'm pretty low on medication - I have some Maracyn II, maybe some erythromycin, and SulfaPlex. I can't get anything else tonight because all the fish stores near me are closed. What do I do here? I really don't want them to die...

Thanks for the reply. I tried giving them some bloodworms - mixed Maracyn into a separate cup of water like I usually do to make sure it's dissolved before adding to the tank. I took up some of the little Maracyn blobs at the bottom in a squeeze bottle, shook really well until they dissolved, and then put the bloodworms into the medicated water. Then a couple drops of Garlic Guard. Shockingly, they ate it! So that works :)) I'll look into whether heat deteriorates the meds I have, and consider getting some Focus. For now, I'll use the strategy I figured out.

This is a disease-related post as well, but because I am experimenting with medicated food, I put it here. Please let me know if I'm in the wrong place. So I'm planning on adding Maracyn and Maracyn Two to my fish's food, and feeding them that for the next week or so. Treating what seems to be a systemic bacterial infection (I have a hunch that it may be enteric red mouth/yersiniosis, but it's only a theory and hasn't been studied in white cloud minnows. Consider it?). The last time I tried to feed medicated food to these minnows, it was with API GenCure and the foods in the photo below, minus the blood worms. I tried to finely chop and mash garlic, mix the food into a paste, bake it, and then attempt to feed. They would not eat it. This time around, it's a different med, and I purchased Garlic Guard. Have you had experience with feeding medicated food to a fish that usually isn't a picky eater, but won't eat the meds? How did you get the medicine to bind to the food; what was the ratio of medication (especially if using tetracyclines and/or erythromycin); and did Garlic Guard work if you used it? Thank you!

Thanks, will do

@Darax Sorry for the late reply. Thanks for your advice as well. I believe the erythromycin I dosed has affected the ammonia reading; I found a number of studies showing that nitrifying bacteria were either killed by erythromycin, or their ability to oxidize nitrogenous wastes slowed down. Hopefully that'll be resolved, since those studies also stated that the more resistant beneficial bacteria will grow and no longer be affected by erythromycin, even in higher doses. Not sure about the nitrates (they worried me, too), but every time I test the tank, nitrates are at 0. The aquarium is about 6 months old now. I think the plants have something to do with it, but it could be an indicator of problems. I'll keep looking at my test for signs of ammonia issues. A similar thing is happening with the ammonia test where it always comes up between 0 and 0.25ppm. Some have said that the API test always gives that reading even if ammonia is actually at 0, but I don't want to assume anything. Also, thanks for the insight on swim bladder issues - maybe my Top Fin water conditioner isn't quite right? @Colu Thanks again, as well as for the recipe. I'll try adding Kanaplex to the fish food, but I have a feeling I'll need to dose it in the tank regardless, because the most affected fish aren't eating. Not looking forward to my shrimp slowing down, but if it knocks out this infection, I'll take it. Hopefully it doesn't kill them. edit - Would salt dips for the most affected of my fish help? I've noticed that this infection gives some of them popeye after a while, and I'm starting to notice it again.

@Colu Thank you so much. It seems like a long, systemic bacterial infection so far. Are kanaplex and the fizz tabs safe for invertebrates? Been losing a lot of shrimp lately (seemingly also an infection, not sure what it is).

Sounds like copepods. I got worried about them too, but they're nothing to worry about - just little cleaners. Could also be amphipods, which are similar but look like tiny shrimp. Don't nuke the tank. Also, if it were detritus worms, the only reason is an abundance of organic matter (dead plants, fish/snail poop, etc.), so still not much to be concerned about. Copepod. You won't see them in this high quality of course, but if you look really close, you may see those two round things on the bottom (egg sacs). Amphipod. I think this is a Gammarus one, but if you have these, they're probably a lot smaller. They make good fish food!

I usually post on Reddit, but I've already made a number of posts and figured it would be better to branch out. Sorry in advance for the very long post ahead. I currently have ten White Cloud minnows (Tanichthys albonubes) inhabiting a 10 gallon planted aquarium. At one point there were 15, but two died of potentially related causes, and one was fatally injured by accident. They live with N. davidi shrimp and three species of snail. The tank has been up and running since the end of June. My prime suspect for the "mystery illness" afflicting them is streptococcosis, but only based on clinical signs. I know that gram-positive bacterial infections are rare in fish. I also can't confirm this, because I would need to have someone conduct a necropsy, and for them to find gram-positive micrococci in the brain & kidneys. The fish seem too small and decay too quickly for proper examination in this manner, not to mention I don't have the resources available to me. In case it can mess with water parameters, I'll mention that I started dosing the tank with API E.M. Erythromycin on January 6 (today is day 3). Parameters: pH ~7.8, higher than expected. Nitrates 0ppm Nitrite 0ppm Ammonia 0-0.25ppm. Using API test kit, and the reading is very consistent. Temperature 69.4°F / 20.8°C Hardness and KH unknown, sorry. Guessing hardness is okay, since the shrimp always molt well. Two of my fish out of 12 (after the three deaths mentioned) were sicker than the rest, so I put them in a 2 gallon tank I had as a spare. One, an adult female, had a number of symptoms, listed below. The other, a juvenile female, was in slightly better condition (at the time I wrote the adult's symptoms, Dec. 27. Eventually she declined to the same level, minus the buoyancy issues and lymphocystis). The first I had to euthanize, as her condition was so severe and I was about to leave them for five days, in which time she would likely pass on her own. I had to put the second back into the main tank due to ammonia issues, and I could no longer find her a couple days later. I assume she was scavenged by my snails and shrimp. Symptoms included: - During the last few days of life (Dec. 24-27), tendency to get pulled towards the filter. It's a very gentle filter, and I put a pre-filter sponge over it so she couldn't get sucked in, but she tended to get stuck behind it and stayed plastered there between the intake and the back wall of the tank. - Development of lumpy, fleshy protrusions. First one noticed on Dec. 22; had developed overnight, only one on her head, left side. Within a day she had bumps on both sides; some had spread into patches (a couple millimeters long, I believe). Looked like lymphocystis. - Very lethargic. Occasionally would move around, but only when disturbed; sometimes did not react to disturbances, especially within ~1 hour of lights going on. Normally at the bottom of the tank or against the filter, but sometimes attempted to swim when she had more energy. - Could not eat. For maybe a day and a half she'd peck at floating objects and plant tips, but would not show interest in fish food. She had made some efforts to eat, but spat food up. - Did not poop for at least one and a half weeks (~mid-Decenber to Dec. 27, day of death). - Heavy breathing. The worst of it started Dec. 24 and was ongoing at time of death. She never piped at the surface, but flared her gills out pretty widely and breathed through the mouth. From Dec. 25-27, her breathing had slowed quite a bit. - Tattered, shrunken fins, which didn't improve. - Noticeable tilt. Her body was both tilted forward and to her right side. When swimming she spun somewhat. - Left side of body showed noticeable deformity. Left side of the head, underneath the mouth and towards the gill opening, was swollen. I caught a glimpse of her while swimming and saw that her left side appeared almost indented, like there's a big divot in it. Her belly was somewhat bumpy. The juvenile fish was also showing asymmetry on the same side. - Had negative buoyancy; slowly sank downwards unless actively trying to move up. When in an epsom salt bath, she floated to the surface. Her buoyancy on Dec. 27 was undetermined, because she was usually up against the filter. - Somewhat bloated; most evident when looking at her from the gills forwards, as the head appeared too large. There was a noticeable bump on the top of her head as well. - Bilateral exophthalmia (popeye, both eyes). Has gotten better over the last several days after removing her from the main tank, but not by much. - Scales began pineconing. About a week before (Dec. 20-ish) I couldn't even tell if she was pineconing, but as of Dec. 24 some of her scales were visibly pulling away from the body. Pineconing only worsened. - Body was curved most of the time, particularly when at rest. Tail usually curved up, sometimes in a mild "C" shape when at rest, but usually to one side or the other. Tail hung slightly down on day of death. There are now two obviously sick fish in the tank, both male, one adult and one subadult. The subadult has been sick for longer, and had started showing symptoms a day before my adult female was euthanized. He stays away from the group of fish most of the time; usually hangs at the bottom of the tank. Head looks swollen all around. Eyes seem relatively okay, but I think they protrude a little. He is lethargic, not eating (he tries, but spits out all food); there is a little divot where his gills meet the rest of the body, since he hasn't eaten in a while. Where his pectoral fins meet the body, there is red discoloration under the scales, sort of like blood spots. His body is darker than usual for this fish. Pictures below. The other fish, an adult male (named Chad because he was the first to spawn with a female), is showing a partially swollen head as well. He is lethargic, but only as of today. He is also separating from the group, though he comes out at feeding time after a minute or so. His belly occasionally looks "pointed;" maybe you'll see in the second photo of him. He still eats, still looks comparatively healthy, but I'm sure his condition will change. Pictures below. I began dosing erythromycin in the water as stated at the beginning, but I am unsure if it's working, or if it will work at all. I have tried API GenCure as well in the past, to seemingly no effect. Because of my inexperience, lack of money and tendency to worry myself to extremes, a long time has been spent agonizing over my aquarium's problems. I still have a feeling I'm not going about this correctly, but have next to no idea how I would fix this problem. Hopefully the information given is helpful. Thank you for reading, and sorry this post is so incredibly lengthy; I don't want to leave anything out.