Pygmy Cory fuzzy white tuft on fin and bulging eyes

[Schuyler]

I have a school of corys that have been very reclusive lately. I finally got a glimpse of one today and it's not looking great.

I'm thinking it's a fungal thing? The fuzz looks like a white version of BBA growing off the tip of its fin.

There's no way I'm catching them out of all those plants, so I'll have to treat the tank.

I'm thinking of doing a big cleanup then treating with Maracyn and Ich X.

Does that seem right? Should I clean the canister sponges too or does that risk a crash?

[nabokovfan87]

It's a bit of difficult picture to process given that it's at this angle.  More photos would be helpful if possible.

Given what we see it looks like a case of popeye.  There's a few steps to take and any/all of them will benefit the situation.
1.  Try to keep up with maintenance and water changes.  Verify the filters are working and that your temp is good for all of the fish in the tank. 

2.  Siphon well and just verify things aren't really dirty.  Get the tank clean, get the filters clean, and do a good healthy water change.  (50%).

3.  If you can locate some, add some botanicals to the tank, indian almond leaves (also called catappa leaves, usually sold for bettas) or try to find some alder cones.  All of those might be at the big box store around or near where they have the betta fish or tank additives.

4.  At this point you want to treat for a bacterial issue.  Popeye can often be caused by a bacterial disease and you'd use maracyn to treat that.  Follow the directions on the box.  If you only see this one single fish with issues, it would make sense to move that fish to a QT tank.

5.  Add oxygenation via an air stone.  This helps the fish in so many ways.  It's getting warmer and it's likely adding a little stress this time of year for some tanks.

6.  Consider aquarium salt as well.  This helps in a variety of ways and also can help with fungal issues.  The normal dose would be 1/3-cup per 10G, this is "level 2" on the co-op blog salt article.  If you have plants, be warned some plants have a hard time with salt.  You can use ich-x in lieu of salt as well, see the note at the end of the post please.

7.  after 1 week of treatment, give the fish a week to recover and keep up with good water parameters.  You can re-post an update or proceed with a second treatment.  It will likely take a minimum of two.

On 6/29/2023 at 6:10 PM, Schuyler said:

The fuzz looks like a white version of BBA growing off the tip of its fin.

on the left fin there, right?  I see that.  Yeah, so I would try to move the fish and get some salt (or dose the tank at risk of harming the plants)

At minimum---> Add air, botanicals, ich-x, maracyn treatment.  Follow the directions on the maracyn box and when you do a water change do a 50% change and proceed with dosing both meds again.  Ich-x directions gives you a minimum water change, you'll be over that and safe.  the maracyn box gives you the schedule.

On 6/29/2023 at 6:10 PM, Schuyler said:

Does that seem right? Should I clean the canister sponges too or does that risk a crash?

yep, right on track.  Add air, botanicals, and the two meds you mentioned as well.  Verify everything is working properly.  You should not experience a crash and you may uncover a reason for any sort of stress on the fish.  Absolutely clean the filters! 🙂

Edited June 30, 2023 by nabokovfan87

[Schuyler]

I managed to catch it and put it in a hospital "tank"

The eyes look much better and the fuzz is gone but you can tell it's stressed out. It's pretty pale and skinny. I gave it some BBS and it looked like it may have been eating.

Feeling optimistic.