Sick Sterbai Corydoras

[Stella]

I seem to have a problem with my Sterbai Corys.  I noticed a few days ago they were developing white patches on them. I'll post the best picture I can.  They are hard little creatures to get to sit still.  I've lost a couple since noticing the patches.  I have one more that's acting like he could go anytime.  The others seem not to be bothered.  They are all still eating and acting normal.  Does anyone have any ideas of what I'm dealing with, and how to go about treating them?  I have a 55 gallon tank with plants, my water parameters are:

• Ammonia - 0ppm
• Nitrite - 0ppm
• Nitrate - 10ppm
• PH - 6.8
• Temp - 78 degrees
• Large Water Change today

Thanks!!

 

[Colu]

Possible columnaris it spreads more quickly at higher temperatures very contagious depending on the stain it can kill your fish anyway from 24hr to  7days   the most effective treatment is kanaplex and Jungle fungus clear fizz tab's containing nitrofurazone following this treatment plan @Stella

[Stella]

Thank you!  I will need to treat my entire tank.  Are those meds safe for plants?

[Colu]

Nitrofurazone can slow the growth of some plants but they usually recover fine @Stella

Edited October 30, 2022 by Colu

[Minanora]

I have done this treatment before in my 75 gallon tank and didn't lose any plants.

I highly recommend dissolving the fizz tabs in a cup before adding to your tank as the blue bits will stain hardscape that it lands on.

Dumping water off of the tabs in the cup into the tank and adding more tank water to the cup works to quickly dissolve the tabs. If you leave them in the cup without changing the water in the cup it takes longer for them to dissolve.

Edited October 30, 2022 by Minanora
Added details

[Stella]

Thank you everyone.  I've lost one more cory as of today.  I went down to the LFS and picked up Kanaplex today, and have added my first dose.  They didn't have any of the Fungus Clear, so it may take a day or two for me to get it.  

[Colu]

On 10/31/2022 at 6:42 PM, Stella said:

Thank you everyone.  I've lost one more cory as of today.  I went down to the LFS and picked up Kanaplex today, and have added my first dose.  They didn't have any of the Fungus Clear, so it may take a day or two for me to get it.  

What I would do is a full course of kanaplex and then follow up with a course of kanaplex and Jungle fungus clear 

[Stella]

Quote

What I would do is a full course of kanaplex and then follow up with a course of kanaplex and Jungle fungus clear 

Thankfully  I was able to find Fungus Clear at our local Walmart of all places.  I'm heading to pick it up in a few.  

Edited October 31, 2022 by Stella

[Stella]

Just giving a little update.  Today is day 4 of treatment, and everyone seems to be doing pretty good.  I have one angel that looks a little stressed but not too bad.  The Corys are still very active, and eating well.  The white patches are still present, but do no seem to be getting worse.  I tested my water today, and it looks like I have 0.25 - 0.5 ppm of ammonia.  I dosed with Fritz Complete, and will do a water change as scheduled tomorrow.  

[nabokovfan87]

@Stella what else is in the tank as far as stocking?

 

[Stella]

@nabokovfan87 There are 2 Angel Fish, 8 Rummy Nose Tetras, 7 Sterbai Corydoras, 1 Bristlenose Pleco, and 1 Clown Pleco. The tank is also planted. I’ve never had a problem with water quality until the meds. 

Edited November 4, 2022 by Stella

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/4/2022 at 8:28 AM, Stella said:

@nabokovfan87 There are 2 Angel Fish, 8 Rummy Nose Tetras, 7 Sterbai Corydoras, 1 Bristlenose Pleco, and 1 Clown Pleco. The tank is also planted. I’ve never had a problem with water quality until the meds. 

Understood. I was asking just in the instance that potentially you can run the tank at 76 as opposed to 78 and that might help with some of the fish that prefer cooler temps and are slightly stressed at the current temp.  I think the angels and tetras mean it's going to lean towards a 77-78 degree setup.

[Stella]

I'm sorry to keep bothering you guys with this problem.  I will be adding the second dose of Kanaplex (2nd Round of Treatment) this evening.  I've been following @Colu's recommended treatment schedule, but the white spots are still there.  I don't feel they've gotten any worse, but not much better either.  If I'm still seeing the white patches after this round of treatment is over, what should I do?

 

Thanks so much!

[Colu]

On 11/9/2022 at 8:27 PM, Stella said:

I'm sorry to keep bothering you guys with this problem.  I will be adding the second dose of Kanaplex (2nd Round of Treatment) this evening.  I've been following @Colu's recommended treatment schedule, but the white spots are still there.  I don't feel they've gotten any worse, but not much better either.  If I'm still seeing the white patches after this round of treatment is over, what should I do?

 

Thanks so much!

It can take two full course of treatment with kanaplex and Jungle fungus clear fizz tab's following this treatment plan for more severe cases what I would do at the end of the first full course of treatment is do two 50% water changes and do another full course treatment if your seeing no improvement if you have any other questions feel free to ask it no bother 

Edited November 10, 2022 by Colu
Typo

[Stella]

I just finished my second round of treatment, and things unfortunately have not improved.  The white patches on the corys seem like they may be a little bit worse, and I've got one Rummy Nose Tetra what has a white patch on it.  Is there any thing else I can do?

 

Thanks so much for the help so far!

[Colu]

On 11/14/2022 at 12:10 AM, Stella said:

I just finished my second round of treatment, and things unfortunately have not improved.  The white patches on the corys seem like they may be a little bit worse, and I've got one Rummy Nose Tetra what has a white patch on it.  Is there any thing else I can do?

 

Thanks so much for the help so far!

As kanaplex and Jungle fungus haven't worked i would use a medication with a different active ingredient  API fungus cure active ingredient is acriflavine and Victoria green and I would add 1 table for 5 gallon of aquarium salt to add some essential electrolytes to give them more energy to fight of the infection 

[Stella]

On 11/13/2022 at 6:38 PM, Colu said:

As kanaplex and Jungle fungus haven't worked i would use a medication with a different active ingredient  API fungus cure active ingredient is acriflavine and Victoria green and I would add 1 table for 5 gallon of aquarium salt to add some essential electrolytes to give them more energy to fight of the infection 

I've looked around online and it seems that the API Fungus Cure is going to be a bit hard to find.  Do you happen to have another suggestion in case I can't find it?

Thank you again!

[Colu]

On 11/14/2022 at 3:07 AM, Stella said:

I've looked around online and it seems that the API Fungus Cure is going to be a bit hard to find.  Do you happen to have another suggestion in case I can't find it?

Thank you again!

  seachems polyguard is a good broad spectrum treatment or seachems sulfaplex 

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/13/2022 at 4:10 PM, Stella said:

Is there any thing else I can do?

Have you dosed salt at all yet?  Please add another airstone as well if possible.

Secondly, were you able to adjust temperature in any way at all?

I agree with @Colu that Sulfaplex might be a good one to try next.  Colu, would you dose Ich-X in lieu of the jungle fizz tabs in addition to sulfaplex?  Or would you lean towards suggesting Polyguard (malachite green and other ingredients) for this situation?  The Seachem meds are new to me, but this is very likely a gram negative disease from the looks of it.

Edited November 14, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Colu]

On 11/14/2022 at 7:17 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Have you dosed salt at all yet?  Please add another airstone as well if possible.

Secondly, were you able to adjust temperature in any way at all?

I agree with @Colu that Sulfaplex might be a good one to try next.  Colu, would you dose Ich-X in lieu of the jungle fizz tabs in addition to sulfaplex?  Or would you lean towards suggesting Polyguard (malachite green and other ingredients) for this situation?  The Seachem meds are new to me, but this is very likely a gram negative disease from the looks of it.

Both polyguard and sulfaplex treat bacterial and fungal so I wouldn't dose Ick x 

[Stella]

On 11/14/2022 at 1:17 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Have you dosed salt at all yet?  Please add another airstone as well if possible.

Secondly, were you able to adjust temperature in any way at all?

I agree with @Colu that Sulfaplex might be a good one to try next.  Colu, would you dose Ich-X in lieu of the jungle fizz tabs in addition to sulfaplex?  Or would you lean towards suggesting Polyguard (malachite green and other ingredients) for this situation?  The Seachem meds are new to me, but this is very likely a gram negative disease from the looks of it.

I haven't been able to adjust my temperature.  For some reason the little knob at the top of my heater isn't working.  I ordered a new Aquarium Coop heater, and it should be here in a few days.  I also haven't used any salt as of yet.  I've been dreading using it with my plants, but I think I'm just going to have to make the sacrifice of the plants.  

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/14/2022 at 9:54 AM, Stella said:

I haven't been able to adjust my temperature.  For some reason the little knob at the top of my heater isn't working.  I ordered a new Aquarium Coop heater, and it should be here in a few days. 

Turn the heater off for an hour, then use something to check temps and verify what it's at.  You might have something telling you one thing, but the temp is higher than you expect which would expedite the disease. You can totally manage it by setting timers and unplugging things as you need to.  Unfortunately heaters usually get jammed on, which is never good when they go bad.

On 11/14/2022 at 9:54 AM, Stella said:

I also haven't used any salt as of yet.  I've been dreading using it with my plants, but I think I'm just going to have to make the sacrifice of the plants.  

You can pull the plants and move them for the time being, if you are seriously concerned.  I am of the mind of always dosing it because it's so helpful.  1/2 cup per 10G is what I use.  I just dosed some yesterday.  Anubias tank.  Some plants, like dwarf hairgrass, will not tolerate the salt, but some plants (ferns and anubias) I have heard that they do ok and pull some minerals from the salt.  Just make sure you're using aquarium salt.  If you're concerned at all, then just pull the plants and be thorough washing your hands after.