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Sudden fungal outbreak in corydoras


Lexi B
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Last night I found one of my false juuli cories had a puff of white cotton-like fungus on his anal fin. This morning, another has a small white patch around the mouth. I immediately added aquarium salt to the tank as a temporary solution, but I don't think that's going to solve the issue. I did a water test, and everything was in order except apparently there was a massive oh spike! 8.2! I suspect that's the source of the issue? I've done some research, and while I have crushed coral in the tank, it hasn't been having any major effect on ph. I'm wondering if it could be caused by fish waste in the filter media?

What should I do to treat these fish and is there anything I can really do? I have shrimp in the tank, so I don't know that I can easily medicate the whole community. 

I do a partial water change of 20% weekly. They are in a 20 long, in a group of 5 with 8 ember tetras and a betta. As well as their fair share of shrimp. So far, only the cories show any illness.

  • pH 8.2 (need help lowering that and finding source of spike!)
  • Nitrates 10-15
  • Hardness 6.5
  • Nitrite 0
  • Ammonia 0
  • KH/Buffer 8
  • Water Temperature lowered from 76 to 72

I do have a cycled filter in the tank that was being seeded for a 6 gallon Betta tank. I know it is far from the correct size to adequately house juuli cories, though. Would you recommend keeping them in the 20 and trying to cure them there, or using the 6 as a hospital. If I use the 6 and the sponge filter as a hospital tank, would I be able to clean the medication out of both so it's suitable for shrimp?

PXL_20210517_153032285.jpg

Edited by Lexi B
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6 minutes ago, KBOzzie59 said:

I'd give the combination Pimafix/Melafix a try.  How do you have the crushed coral in the tank?  As substrate or in a media bag.

Substrate. The rest is sand. Would you recommend treating the entire community tank?

Edited by Lexi B
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Just now, KBOzzie59 said:

I will disagree with this,  I've used it successfully a couple times.  Takes a little longer but got the job done.

I think it's ok to help small cuts and minor illnesses but when it's something more severe I use other meds

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Fair enough, however I just used it to treat rainbow fish with the same symptoms.  And they are natural ingredients.

Melafix contains active ingredient 1.0% Melaleuca (Cajeput or 'Tea Tree' Oil)

PimaFix contains active ingredient 1.0% Pimenta racemosa (Bay or Bay Rum Oil)

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1 minute ago, KBOzzie59 said:

Fair enough, however I just used it to treat rainbow fish with the same symptoms.  And they are natural ingredients.

Melafix contains active ingredient 1.0% Melaleuca (Cajeput or 'Tea Tree' Oil)

PimaFix contains active ingredient 1.0% Pimenta racemosa (Bay or Bay Rum Oil)

Did your fish happen to have the fungus as heavily as mine did? Like the big puffy patch?

I'd like to use melafix and pimafix in the tank to help out everyone and keep them from getting sick. But I saw that there was some disagreement over whether it could treat certain illnesses. API Fungal cure wouldn't be too kind to the shrimp, so I'd definitely need to quarantine the cories. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

i had a Bandit get that cotton-like stuff on his mouth .. he ended up passing away within a couple of days   i saw one of my Juliis, who is huge, swim hard and fast at him, and i think he pierced the Bandit, allowing an infection to take place ...

i treated the whole tank (30 gallon) with salt and nobody else (14 other Corys, 4 guppies and 1 BN pleco) got it.  

i have every medication known to fish mom and dads (because i just know the day i really need something, it’ll be at 1 am and nobody will be open) yet i always turn to salt first. 

good luck and hope your little guys make it. ♥️

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