Corydora Infection Every Few Months!?

[Colu]

That sound like a secondary fungal infection  try API fungal cure 

Edited December 19, 2020 by Colu

[Colu]

I have just read  you can use ich x to treat fungal infections

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

Dosed the ich-x. This will be day three of Maracyn and the second dose of Paracleanse. I am going to wait for tonight on those. 
 

I received my order for ACO last night and I was able to start the treatment on the 75. I am planning on dosing a full round. Maracyn everyday and second dose of Paracleanse on the third day. Water change on day five. Hopefully this issue will be resolved. 
 

I do a 20% water change weekly. My parameters are always in check. People say clean water... is this not clean water? Should I increase my water changes? Swap out 20 gallons instead of 15?

[Colu]

As long as your ammonia and nitrites level are 0 I would not worry about clean water 

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

That’s what I’ve always thought, but when I ask about the disease my fish have suffered from people always tell me that it’s normally water quality that causes it...

I believe my water quality is good, and I would be willing to do what I must To fix it. 

[Colu]

If your water quality is good then look at other factors such as stress is your tank  in a a room where lights are off a lot  at night lot of people walking  passed the tank are they being bullied by other fish in the tank sometimes it impossible to find the cause

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

The room is dark at night, but it is in a high traffic area. The tank is thick with plants and they have lots of places to hang out. I rarely see them dart away. They come up to the front usually around feeding time. And of course if I turn on the blue light to watch at night they are much more active. 

Sadly, the little guy didn't make it. I saw him swimming mid-tank a couple of times today, and it gave me hope that he might pull through. When I went to check the tank for tonight's meds he was on his side with no movement. I checked the water and everything was good. I was a little worried we might have had an ammonia spike or something, but the API test was yellow. 

I really hope treating the 75 might help out. I'm tired of losing fish like this. I won't be replacing anyone until I stop losing them. What's crazy is I have a Sterbaii that is one of my three original Corydora. I'm surprised she has outlasted all of my others. In all I think I have lost four fish to this since May including two of my original Corydora.

[Colu]

Hopefully you have no more problem after treatment good luck

[Cyndi]

19 hours ago, Mitch Norton said:

That’s what I’ve always thought, but when I ask about the disease my fish have suffered from people always tell me that it’s normally water quality that causes it...

I believe my water quality is good, and I would be willing to do what I must To fix it. 

While not detracting from previous advice, I would like to offer my opinion about water quality and cories. I was having problems with fin-rot and/ or ammonia distress even when my parameters were reading at 0. It is a 90 Gallon planted tank so I could not use salt, and I could not catch them to QT them. Nonetheless, my baby panda cories were showing signs of ammonia distress (shooting in a spiraling fashion to the surface, and subsequently dying) and fungal infections. This problem specifically showed up when I began target feeding the cories to fatten them up. My hypothesis is that ammonia levels at gravel level were higher than baby cories could tolerate. So even though the test kit showed ammonia overall to be 0, I could not accurately measure it at gravel level. In desperation, I tried doing bi-weekly water changes of 50%, being sure to gravel vac. This did the trick. Even though I can't prove it, improving the overall water quality seemed to cure my cories. One of my baby cories is even regrowing his tail, and I've had no deaths since. While my problem is not exactly the same as yours, I believe your cories may benefit if  you dramatically increase your  frequency and volume of water changes. If you don't have one, a Python will be your best friend! I hope this helps you - good luck!

Edited December 20, 2020 by Cyndi

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

Thanks @Cyndi

I don’t have a python and still use buckets, but I did just order a water pump to help me more quickly change the water. I like using my tank water to fertilize our landscaping. 
 

I am curious how you gravel vac your planted tank. I have a pretty dense planted tank and I don’t know that I could gravel vac most of the gravel because of the plants. Plus there are root tabs in the substrate that I don’t want to disturb. In addition to that I have red cherry shrimp and other inhabitants to worry about. 
 

I do think a higher ammonia level near the bottom of the tank could be possible. I’ll have to think through how I can take care of that.

[Cyndi]

1 hour ago, Mitch Norton said:

Thanks @Cyndi

I don’t have a python and still use buckets, but I did just order a water pump to help me more quickly change the water. I like using my tank water to fertilize our landscaping. 
 

I am curious how you gravel vac your planted tank. I have a pretty dense planted tank and I don’t know that I could gravel vac most of the gravel because of the plants. Plus there are root tabs in the substrate that I don’t want to disturb. In addition to that I have red cherry shrimp and other inhabitants to worry about. 
 

I do think a higher ammonia level near the bottom of the tank could be possible. I’ll have to think through how I can take care of that.

You're right about the gravel vac. I just vac in the empty spaces but I don't push it all the way to the bottom. I skim it across the top and get any detritus that floats up. This technique may also help with the algae on the gravel. However, I believe the most important thing is to change the water. I like the idea of the water pump- it might even be a better idea than the python!

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

Yesterday was day five on the meds. I just changed 25% of the water. I have one Molly swimming irregularly. Maybe swim bladder. She is staying on the bottom. Hopefully it is something she comes back from. 
 

Everything was pristine before the water change. Ammonia & nitrites were 0, nitrates were less than 5, pH was 7.4... I keep experiencing pH fluctuations recently. It goes from & - 7.4. Not sure if it could be stressing the cories... but I’ve been losing cories longer than I’ve had the pH issue. I’m not sure why my pH has been fluctuating that past few months... I hadn’t considered that it might be why I’ve lost two so recently. 

[Colu]

Put some crushed oyster shell in your filter bag in filter it will buffer water and stop pH  fluctuations

[Colu]

What is the pH of your tap water

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

Historically 7.6, but I should probably check it. 
 

October and November was when the pH dropped from 8 -7.4. It looks like it happened once the day after a water change... What is strange is that it looks like it was at the later part of the months... I was testing it frequently when I saw it dip down. It’s always been 8 in my tank without any attempts to change it. 

[Daniel]

What time of day do you take your pH measurements. I ask because pH varies widely over the course of a day. It usually much higher in the late afternoon and very low in the mornings.

Even a 1/2 to a full point swing over the course of a day doesn't seem to cause any stress.

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

I’ll have to look at the data more closely (maybe even do some testing over the next few days. I tend to test at lunch or evening. I don’t see a correlation atm, but I’ll chart that out and see after work. 
 

But it sounds like my .6-.8 swing wouldn’t be the stressor. 

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

Some recommended vitachem. Anyone use it? Do you treat your water and food? Which foods?

[Colu]

I have never use vitachem mybe some one else can chip in

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

Thanks @Danielit does appear that my pH mostly ranges from 7.4 in the mornings to 8-8.2 in the evening. Most days it is 8, but I have seen it at 8.2 in the past. 
 

I am going by my local store today to pick up some Vitachem. 

Edited December 30, 2020 by Mitch Norton

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

All of my cories seem to be doing well currently, but I am seeing something strange in some of my Mollies now. 
 

I have a young Molly that has been resting on the bottom of the tank for a few days. I’ve been watching the Molly to see what is going on. He/she will swim up to get food, but you can tell it is having issues, and it quickly sinks to the bottom. 
 

Yesterday I noticed another young Molly doing the same thing! I’ve started researching what is going on... Any thoughts?

[Colu]

It could be swim bladder problem

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

That’s what I am thinking, but I’m not sure what is causing it. All parameters are low (0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, less than 10 nitrates, pH stays around 😎 and temp is just below 76. 

[Colu]

Swim bladder can be caused by over feeding which leads to constipation. or  gulping to much  air when feeding from surface or a bacterial infection  I would qt not feed for 5days  and treat with aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 2 gallons after 5days feed crushed peas if no improvement treat with maracyn 

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

Well, it has been a month since the last casualty to the disease without any new infections. I have made a number of changes to try to keep the fish form being stressed. 

We purchased an infrared thermometer (in this pandemic it's also nice to have for quick temperature checks). It has a surface temp setting and I was able to dial my temperature in a little bit. It wasn't off much from my tank thermometer, but I thought I would note it.

I have dialed my lights back to 35% intensity, and the duration is now only 8 hours total. 2 hours ramp up, 4 hours on, and 2 hours ramp down. This was more to find balance with algae, but I know the lighting could cause stress. The crypts are so thick I doubt it, but I thought I would note it.

My cories already received a varied diet, but I have also added Vitachem to their diet. This was recommended by @Candi during a livestream. I occasionally treat their food, but I am weekly adding it to the tank. 

And of course I treated the tank back in December for bacterial and fungal infections. I did lose a couple of Mollies in that process (including my absolute favorite Black Molly that was born and raised in my tank). Everyone else in the tank made it through the treatment without any hiccups.

This marks a month since I last lost cory. I saw my four remaining Paleatus today going after some food. I paid close attention to their bodies and everyone looked normal. Im hopeful things remain balanced for my Cories and I can confidently begin adding some more. I really want that school of Sterbai.