MerrySeaMonster Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 Hey everybody, I’m writing this post because I am very lost and am looking for some guidance and or advice. I’ve been keeping fish for close to a year now with honestly pretty good success, I struggled at first, mainly because I didn’t know what cycling a tank meant, but now I’ve got a 10 gallon and a 55 gallon tank that have been running over 8 months with residents. Currently the problem I’m having has mainly been in my 55 gallon. In the tank I keep corys, danios, plecos, and honey gouramis, plus one angelfish. I have 4 species of corys, panda, peppered, albino bronze, and corydoras undulatus. In the past few months, I’ve had a surge in fish sickness, and I don’t know why. I lost one of my panda corys and one of my albino bronzes within a week of each other (just died without symptoms), and then all was well for a while. I noticed one of my 3 corydoras undulatus had a fuzzy spot near his mouth, and so I moved him to a hospital tank, and began treating him with rid ich and supratect as recommended by a reliable discord group (it’s very difficult to get many reliable medicines for fish as I live in Ontario and many of them are controlled substances). It seems to have responded well to the medication, receding from his mouth entirely, and then the next morning I found him dead in the hospital tank. Next, I had a honey gourami contract a similar fungal infection, but in the gills. Transferred to the hospital and began the same treatment, responded well and was okay, returned back to the tank after a week, no symptoms since. Now, in the past week, my last 2 corydoras undulatus have both contracted a fungal infection. One I transferred to the hospital, and had the same result as the first cory, and today I just noticed the same for the last remaining cory. To give everybody a bit of an idea of my tank situation I’ll add a picture, I’ve got lots of floating plants along with some Amazon swords and Java ferns. I’ve got rounded gravel on the bottom, an aqua clear 50 filter, and a heater that has a built in temperature. I test my water every month, but more more recently because of the sickness. Every time my ph is between 7.2-7.4, Ammonia is 0ppm, nitrite is 0ppm, and my nitrates is never higher than 20ppm. I gravel vac every week, as my pleco makes a lot of poop, and do 30% water change weekly. I feed a mix of omega one pellets, tetra colour boost flakes, frozen bloodworms, and tetra algae wafers once a day and they always eat all the food very quickly. To answer some potential questions right off the bat, I never noticed any barbel damage on the corys that got sick, and my hospital tank is/was cycled with extra filter material from my tank. I also included a picture of the first sick cory I found. Any help or advice is appreciated, I just want to know what is happening or I might be doing wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 (edited) I am not sure about the infections you could be having, but if you plan to keep Corys regularly, go with sandy bottoms with smooth rock features. After watching a breeding expert on the Co Op YT members section, I found out rocky bottoms are suboptimal and any stone feature should mimic smooth river stones(so no no on lava rock, dragon stone, etc)...just to keep the barbels protected. I sure hope someone can help get to the bottom of it. Losing your fish buddies is never fun. Edited March 30, 2023 by Shadow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 Looks like cottonmouth disease in the pictures aka columnaris. This is NOT an easy disease to treat. @Colu 's thread for treatment of diseases and maybe Colu can give further recommendations. Here's the link to the disease treatment thread: The Most Effective Treatments of Commonly-Posted Diseases https://forum.aquariumcoop.com/topic/15673-the-most-effective-treatments-of-commonly-posted-diseases/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerrySeaMonster Posted March 31, 2023 Author Share Posted March 31, 2023 On 3/30/2023 at 7:58 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said: Looks like cottonmouth disease in the pictures aka columnaris. This is NOT an easy disease to treat. @Colu 's thread for treatment of diseases and maybe Colu can give further recommendations. Here's the link to the disease treatment thread: The Most Effective Treatments of Commonly-Posted Diseases https://forum.aquariumcoop.com/topic/15673-the-most-effective-treatments-of-commonly-posted-diseases/ Hey, just wanted to clarify that was a picture of the cory that died about a month ago or more. The one I have currently I have attached a picture of. Would you be able to tell me if it is the same disease? Also this picture of my honey gourami that I believe is also columnaris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 Skin/scale loss is not unusual. So if you didn't kill the columnaris when the first fish died that had the more obvious symptoms the disease still lives in the tank. Columnaris can sometimes be hard to diagnose when it's not showing that "cotton mouth" look. I had an outbreak that I am 98% was columnaris but the "cotton" part of the disease never reared it's ugly head. Per the internet symptoms can be: Frayed and ragged fins Ulcers on skin Epidermal loss White or cloudy patches Fungus like patches Mucus (head, gills, dorsal) Color change in gills, light or dark brown Columnaris is notoriously hard and sometimes very long to treat. I could be wrong but if the tank wasn't treated for it, it's probably still lurking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 (edited) You could have two things going on here it could be columnaris affecting your gourami the fuzzy growth on the mouth of your Cory's is saprolegniasis it's an opportunistic fungal infection as your in Canada and your treatment options are more limited I would treat with a combination of aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 1 gallon and methylene blue I would start at 1 table spoon for 3 gallons gradually increase over the course of a day to 1 table spoon for 1 gallon just keep a close eye on your catfish as they are more sensitive to salt alternative you could contact a vet and kanamycin sulfate and nitrofurazone and treat following this treatment plan @MerrySeaMonster Edited March 31, 2023 by Colu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerrySeaMonster Posted March 31, 2023 Author Share Posted March 31, 2023 On 3/30/2023 at 8:23 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said: Skin/scale loss is not unusual. So if you didn't kill the columnaris when the first fish died that had the more obvious symptoms the disease still lives in the tank. Columnaris can sometimes be hard to diagnose when it's not showing that "cotton mouth" look. I had an outbreak that I am 98% was columnaris but the "cotton" part of the disease never reared it's ugly head. Per the internet symptoms can be: Frayed and ragged fins Ulcers on skin Epidermal loss White or cloudy patches Fungus like patches Mucus (head, gills, dorsal) Color change in gills, light or dark brown Columnaris is notoriously hard and sometimes very long to treat. I could be wrong but if the tank wasn't treated for it, it's probably still lurking. Here's the thing right now. Currently on hand I only have Kordon's Rid-Ich Plus, RPS's Supratect, and API Melafix on hand for medication. I can order other medication, but it will likely take between 2-9 days to ship. Is it likely that the fish will survive long enough for the medication to come in/still be effective? I also have aquarium salt that I added at 1tsp/Gallon along with the recommended doses of my medications. I know they aren't the most effective solutions, but it's all I have on hand. I live in Ontario, Canada so many of the medications are not allowed to be sold, I have to order them from the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 I would go with the salt and methelyne blue like colu advised above. You may need to contact a vet as was said for additional more effective meds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerrySeaMonster Posted March 31, 2023 Author Share Posted March 31, 2023 On 3/30/2023 at 8:34 PM, Colu said: You could have two things going on here it could be columnaris affecting your gourami the fuzzy growth on the mouth of your Cory's is saprolegniasis it's an opportunistic fungal infection as your in Canada and your treatment options are more limited I would treat with a combination of aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 1 gallon and methylene blue I would start at 1 table spoon for 3 gallons gradually increase over the course of a day to 1 table spoon for 1 gallon just keep a close eye on your catfish as they are more sensitive to salt alternative you could contact a vet and kanamycin sulfate and nitrofurazone and treat following this treatment plan @MerrySeaMonster Okay thanks, I read the forum post and looked up where to find those medications, and I can either get them from a vet, or I can order them from the US, either one would likely take at least a day, the shipment more like a week. On 3/30/2023 at 8:39 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said: I would go with the salt and methelyne blue like colu advised above. You may need to contact a vet as was said for additional more effective meds. As far as I know, methelyne blue is also not sold in Canada, and you need a vet to write a prescription for it. Will malachite green in the Rid Ich do a similar job? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 Wellllll unfortunately they are different. Methelyne Blue is for fungal/bacteria infection and Malachite is for parasitic infection. I'd also not ever use Melafix. Anything with fix in it isn't a great med (API), they are oil based and often do more harm than good. I'd just stick to salt if I had nothing else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerrySeaMonster Posted March 31, 2023 Author Share Posted March 31, 2023 On 3/30/2023 at 8:45 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said: Wellllll unfortunately they are different. Methelyne Blue is for fungal/bacteria infection and Malachite is for parasitic infection. The vet is supposed to call me back tomorrow, so I will see what they can do for me. I just hope the fish will make it long enough to actually be able to get the treatment. I managed to catch the cory in a net, I'm just not sure if I should put him in the same tank as my gourami, or in a separate tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 Good luck! I hope the vet can help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerrySeaMonster Posted March 31, 2023 Author Share Posted March 31, 2023 On 3/30/2023 at 8:45 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said: Wellllll unfortunately they are different. Methelyne Blue is for fungal/bacteria infection and Malachite is for parasitic infection. I'd also not ever use Melafix. Anything with fix in it isn't a great med (API), they are oil based and often do more harm than good. I'd just stick to salt if I had nothing else. Good to know. Is it okay if I have already added it or should I do a large water change to remove it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 On 3/31/2023 at 1:49 AM, MerrySeaMonster said: Good to know. Is it okay if I have already added it or should I do a large water change to remove it? Malachite green will treat the fungal infection on your Cory's it will have very little effect on columnaris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 Melafix in the water? I would. Then dose with the salt. I read up on Kordon and it does say it's effective with parasites and bacteria, so you could add that too if you felt comfortable doing so! At least in the meantime you can be treating while waiting for the vet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerrySeaMonster Posted April 2, 2023 Author Share Posted April 2, 2023 On 3/30/2023 at 8:53 PM, Colu said: Malachite green will treat the fungal infection on your Cory's it will have very little effect on columnaris Hey, so my cory didn’t make it, I treated with the salt and the malachite green. Would you recommend treating my entire tank with the medication or just my gourami in the hospital tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 On 4/2/2023 at 10:51 PM, MerrySeaMonster said: Hey, so my cory didn’t make it, I treated with the salt and the malachite green. Would you recommend treating my entire tank with the medication or just my gourami in the hospital tank? If none of the other fish in your main tank are showing symptoms then I would just treat the gourami in your hospital tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerrySeaMonster Posted April 2, 2023 Author Share Posted April 2, 2023 On 4/2/2023 at 6:06 PM, Colu said: If none of the other fish in your main tank are showing symptoms then I would just treat the gourami in your hospital tank It appears that one of my albino Cory’s is beginning to develop some kind of fungal infection on his fin. I fear that moving him into the hospital tank will stress him further, should I treat my display tank with all my fish or move him to the hospital? On 4/2/2023 at 7:11 PM, MerrySeaMonster said: It appears that one of my albino Cory’s is beginning to develop some kind of fungal infection on his fin. I fear that moving him into the hospital tank will stress him further, should I treat my display tank with all my fish or move him to the hospital? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted April 3, 2023 Share Posted April 3, 2023 On 4/3/2023 at 12:11 AM, MerrySeaMonster said: It appears that one of my albino Cory’s is beginning to develop some kind of fungal infection on his fin. I fear that moving him into the hospital tank will stress him further, should I treat my display tank with all my fish or move him to the hospital? As more fish are developing symptoms in the main tank I would also treat the main tank 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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