Using Aquarium Salt for Corydora Catfish

[Jack]

I have heard that corydora catfish are to sensitive to use aquarium salt on. I was wondering if this was true and if I could use aquarium salt to quarantine corydoras?

 

Thank You!

[Ken Burke]

What kind of Corydoras and how much salt?  Not an expert by any means, but I have added salt to an aquarium with panda Corys (<1 tbls / gal) without ill effect.  Other Corys may be more sensitive, and your water likely is different than mine.  So....wait for it... take it with a grain of salt.  (I know, I know.  Keep my day mod.)

[Jack]

I would be using 1 tbsp per 3 gallons with Pigmy Corydoras. Would that be good to quarantine them in?

[Tre]

This is was of those deeply rooted old aquarium myths....The last paper I could find was from the 90s and stated that corys were not highly sensitive despite persistent rumors in books and by hobbyists.  Corys are scaleless however and I wouldn't use high doses or long term.  Ich-x has to be used at half strength with them.  Corys are more sensitive to Malacite green for sure.  As a scaleless fish they are more sensitive, but they have been in captivity for quite some time and may have more tolerance then back in the 50s and 60s where this notion can be documented.  The dose of 1 tbsp per 3 gallons (same as one teaspoon per gallon) is a low dose salt treatment.  It's considered conservative.  

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

I know I am resurrecting an old thread, but I am hoping for help before I actually need it. I have Sterbai Corydora in qt after a round of Paracleanse. A couple of them are real thin, and less active. I have seen them eat, but it has been a couple of days. 
 

The problem is a Mollie that I already had in the qt due to a tail issue. It didn’t looked damaged or gross so I thought it was a deformity and I had been watching. Anyway, she ended up going through the Paracleanse too. Tonight I noticed that one of her gills looks gnarly. And the tail looks worse. I’m worried it is bacterial. The Sterbaii just came through the Paracleanse and I don’t want to drop something for bacteria in just yet. This is why you need more qts. Anyway, I have decided to treat with salt since that should be the least harmful. I did 1 tbs per 3 gallons, but I’m expecting to need to go higher. 

That brings us to my question. How much salt would you say is a max? If I don’t see improvement in a few days I would normally go up to 1 tbs per 2 gallon. That should take care of the problem, but are the Cories tolerant to that dose? And what about 1 to 1 if things get worse? Anyone have experience treating Cories with salt? Thanks to anyone with experience who can help. 

Edited April 26, 2022 by Mitch Norton

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

After two weeks and one round or Paracleanse the two thinnest have died. 
 

Does anyone else have this problem with Sterbai Cories? I bought three or four several months back and lost them to something similar before I could even treat them. 
 

I still have four more. They are not thin. Hopefully, no issues moving forward. Am I missing something with these fish? 

 

Edited April 26, 2022 by Mitch Norton

[Colu]

What your describing could be wasting disease affecting your Cory's you want to treat with Fritz Expel p as for the salt I wouldn't go above one table spoon for 3 gallons with Cory's you could do a course of kanaplex in food feed a small amount twice a day for 7 days store any leftover medicated food in the fridge if the salt doesn't help your molly @Mitch Norton

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/25/2022 at 7:57 PM, Mitch Norton said:

That brings us to my question. How much salt would you say is a max? If I don’t see improvement in a few days I would normally go up to 1 tbs per 2 gallon. That should take care of the problem, but are the Cories tolerant to that dose? And what about 1 to 1 if things get worse? Anyone have experience treating Cories with salt? Thanks to anyone with experience who can help. 

The guide I saw (aquarium co-op blog) talked about 1 tbsp per 3, 2, or 1, gallon depending on the concern. So if you're having issues, resort to the lowest dose. 

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/aquarium-salt-for-sick-fish

I've treated pandas and my black cories and I don't think I've ever specifically had issues with salt. When I brought the black corys in, I had 2 different groups that came in on the same timeframe, It was my first online order, which was stressful enough, and the fish were definitely not eating and struggling a bit. I lost 50% of them because of the stress of shipping / issues with acclimation.

You can also try using repashy and dosing their food with meds.

Edited April 26, 2022 by nabokovfan87
capital letters!

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

Thank you for the responses. 

 

@ColuI have some Lavamisole from Select Aquatics. That is the active ingredient in Expel P. Any idea what the dosage is? I can probably look it up online if you don’t. Are you saying to give both Lavamisole and Kanaplex at the same time? Or are you saying choose one or the other?

 

@nabokovfan87thats the very guide I always reference when I treat with salt. I just watched a video by Steenfott Aquatics saying he only uses 1 tbs per 10 gallon for no more than 48 hours. They spent the night in the 1 tbs per 3 gallon. I’m going to do a large water

change and rest them tomorrow. Hopefully it knocked out the Mollies issues. I hate to lose those two. As soon as I got home I knew they were thinner than the rest. I had hoped I treated early enough when they made it a week. At one point I thought I saw them eat. 
 

My goal now is to give the four remaining the best shot. 

[nabokovfan87]

You can also move the mollies temporarily to a separate QT setup and use different dosages on the separate issues?

Edited April 26, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Colu]

On 4/26/2022 at 11:20 PM, Mitch Norton said:

Thank you for the responses. 

 

@ColuI have some Lavamisole from Select Aquatics. That is the active ingredient in Expel P. Any idea what the dosage is? I can probably look it up online if you don’t. Are you saying to give both Lavamisole and Kanaplex at the same time? Or are you saying choose one or the other?

 

@nabokovfan87thats the very guide I always reference when I treat with salt. I just watched a video by Steenfott Aquatics saying he only uses 1 tbs per 10 gallon for no more than 48 hours. They spent the night in the 1 tbs per 3 gallon. I’m going to do a large water

change and rest them tomorrow. Hopefully it knocked out the Mollies issues. I hate to lose those two. As soon as I got home I knew they were thinner than the rest. I had hoped I treated early enough when they made it a week. At one point I thought I saw them eat. 
 

My goal now is to give the four remaining the best shot. 

Not sure what dosage they recommend from select aquatics I think theirs has I a different amount of the active ingredient to Expel p  if you using kanaplex in food you can use the two medication at the same time or you could do a course of levamisole and then treat with kanaplex in food

Edited April 26, 2022 by Colu

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

On 4/26/2022 at 6:21 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

You can also move the mollies temporarily to a separate QT setup and use different dosages on the separate issues?

That is a great idea, but I only have the one. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/26/2022 at 3:23 PM, Colu said:

Not sure what dosage they recommend from select aquatics I think theirs has I a different amount of the active ingredient to Expel p  if you using kanaplex in food you can use the two medication at the same time or you could do a course of levamisole and then treat with kanaplex in food

Repashy is another option. Not sure what the dose is. I can't find the video, it was part of the podcast with Cory and Lamont. Here is two more.