New panda cory

[AngelnAlex]

I got a new panda cory 2 days a go at my lfs and noticed when we got home his top fin was missing. Now he seems to have a cotton ball formed in the place of his missing fin. Im getting the quarantine ready for him now. But im not sure what to treat him with. 29 gallon, .25 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 20ppm nitrate, 5 glowlight tetra, 6 longfin danios, 4 cory and 1 gold algae eater.

 

[Byron]

That looks like fungus on the damaged fin, which often occurs when the fish "skin" has been broken and exposed like this.

Corys are highly sensitive to all medications, so with fungus my preferred treatment is direct. Get a small bottle of methylene blue or malachite green (or you can use a medication having either of these in it if you have one, but purchasing one of these is best). Net the cory, and lifting it just above the water, dab the fungus/fin with a cotton swab dipped in the methylene blue or malachite green. Dab both sides of the fin, but not directly on the fish's body. Some may run down onto the fish, that's OK. The fungus will instantly turn blue or green, killing it. Put the fish back in the tank. The dead fungus will disappear in a couple days.

Byron.

 

[AngelnAlex]

That looks like fungus on the damaged fin, which often occurs when the fish "skin" has been broken and exposed like this.

Corys are highly sensitive to all medications, so with fungus my preferred treatment is direct. Get a small bottle of methylene blue or malachite green (or you can use a medication having either of these in it if you have one, but purchasing one of these is best). Net the cory, and lifting it just above the water, dab the fungus/fin with a cotton swab dipped in the methylene blue or malachite green. Dab both sides of the fin, but not directly on the fish's body. Some may run down onto the fish, that's OK. The fungus will instantly turn blue or green, killing it. Put the fish back in the tank. The dead fungus will disappear in a couple days.

Byron.

That looks like fungus on the damaged fin, which often occurs when the fish "skin" has been broken and exposed like this.

Corys are highly sensitive to all medications, so with fungus my preferred treatment is direct. Get a small bottle of methylene blue or malachite green (or you can use a medication having either of these in it if you have one, but purchasing one of these is best). Net the cory, and lifting it just above the water, dab the fungus/fin with a cotton swab dipped in the methylene blue or malachite green. Dab both sides of the fin, but not directly on the fish's body. Some may run down onto the fish, that's OK. The fungus will instantly turn blue or green, killing it. Put the fish back in the tank. The dead fungus will disappear in a couple days.

Byron.

All i have handy containing these is some betta revive. Can i dab that on him?

 

[Byron]

All i have handy containing these is some betta revive. Can i dab that on him?

Yes, since you have it. I looked it up, and it contains both methylene blue and malachite green. I hope these are strong enough in this solution to work, they might well be when used direct and not dispersed in the tank water.

Byron.

 

[AngelnAlex]

Yes, since you have it. I looked it up, and it contains both methylene blue and malachite green. I hope these are strong enough in this solution to work, they might well be when used direct and not dispersed in the tank water.


It looks like the methylene blue is < .5% and green at <.01% so 1/3 of full strength. I'll give it a try. Hopefully it is enough for the little guy.

 

[StandbySetting]

Just be careful when using malachite green as it is toxic to inverts, if you have any shrimp or snails you'd be better treating the fish in a hospital tank.

 

[Byron]

Just be careful when using malachite green as it is toxic to inverts, if you have any shrimp or snails you'd be better treating the fish in a hospital tank.

I would agree if the substance was being added to the tank water (which given the fish and the substance I would not recommend), but here the treatment is applied directly to the fish, and when released back into the tank there is too little of the substance left to do anything. Netting the cory is stress enough without moving it to another environment as well.

 

[angelcraze]

I'd much rather treat the affected fish in the affected area than dose a whole tank. I've used the same (well methylene blue only) with a Q-tip on one of my angelfish's fins-once time swab-and healed nicely, looking better the very next day.

Good luck with your cory. I didn't even take my angel completely out of the water. I spot treated her in the net, not sure if that is possible with a little cory, but maybe you could still keep him/her in the net to get the job done quickly.

 

[Byron]

That method is what I was suggesting, maybe wasn't too clear. Net the fish and leave it in the net, just lift it above the water surface so you can apply the swab directly onto the fungus area. Get both sides of the fin. Then lower the net so the fish is back in the water. I've done this two or three times with cories over the years, and they usually remain motionless once they are just out of the water, so it is fairly easy to manage. You can usually get the fish to lie on one side in the bottom of the net, then do that exposed side of the fin, lower the net just into the water so the fish turns over, and the other side is exposed.

 

[TekFish]

If you do this with the Cories, just be aware that they do have spines, so be careful when turning the fish over or handling it with your fingers.