3 Corys Lost In 2 Days

[crtwin]

Hey all,
Background info is that I just upgraded and stocked my tank (now a 25 gal)  and had 5 corys of various types, one friendly female betta 3 honey and 1 powder gourami. So yesterday day ago I noticed that my 1 ½ year old leopard cory was sick. His entire nose was white as if the tissue was dead and his barbells were shrunken and shriveled up. I went to my LFS and grabbed some artemis microbe-lift to treat what I thought was columnaris. I also grabbed voogle ultimate immune booster and treated the water according to label with both yesterday afternoon. A few hours later I found the cory who had been having trouble swimming and I had seen resting on his side dead. The betta appeard to have a white spot behind her gills by the section where her front fin connects, I saw this previously and thought it was damage from the tank change. Today right after treating the water again I found my julli cory dead, and two hour later my green cory dead as well, both looking completely normal and healthy. Thoughts? I’m worried I might lose the whole tank at this point.
Thanks so much to anyone with ideas

 

[ncguppy830]

water parameters is a start.

 

[Chad]

Agreed. My first three places to look are:

1. Water parameter or quality issues
2. Environmental conditions like tanks size, substrate, hiding places etc.
3. Other fish attacking or causing issues

After that I try to determine if disease is the cause.

 

[crtwin]

Thanks for responding,
The water parameters are stabilized at the same levels as the old tank which caused no problems. I have witness no harassment of any kind in the tank can can find no physical representation of that being the cause (nipped fins, damaged scales etc.) 
 
The female betta now has the same necrotic looking tissue on her back lower half as the first cory did on his nose. 
 
Does columnaris sound like a possible fit? 
 
Thanks again 

 

[Chad]

That's where photos will help. Can you post some showing the damage.
 
Certainly columnaris could be a possibility.

 

[fm1978]

Not sure about Columnaris... You would have seen white/grey fuzz around the mouth, gills and head area quite a bit before it got to the stage of dying, necrotic skin. It would have started as fluff then reddened and then you would expect to see lesions and skin rot.
 
It's also doubtful Columnaris if you didn't see evidence of these stages on any of the other fish.
 
Was it a particularly stressful move for the fish? Are you sure all water params were the same as your previous tank? 

 

[crtwin]

 

[Chad]

I don't see any evidence of Columnaris in the photos. The second is not clear enough to see much. The cory doesn't look well fed. Is he eating properly?

 

[crtwin]

Hello. Thanks for the reply.
 
Sorry for the blurry picture. And the Cory seemed to be eating fine.
Current water readings are: Nitrate 20, Nitrite 0, Chlorine 0, KH 80, pH 6.8, Temp 78F.
 
Also, here are some more pictures. My female Betta didn't make it.

 
Thanks again for your help.

 

[crtwin]

I don't see any evidence of Columnaris in the photos. The second is not clear enough to see much. The cory doesn't look well fed. Is he eating properly?

 
What do you think is on the nose?
 
Thanks again.

Not sure about Columnaris... You would have seen white/grey fuzz around the mouth, gills and head area quite a bit before it got to the stage of dying, necrotic skin. It would have started as fluff then reddened and then you would expect to see lesions and skin rot.
 
It's also doubtful Columnaris if you didn't see evidence of these stages on any of the other fish.
 
Was it a particularly stressful move for the fish? Are you sure all water params were the same as your previous tank? 

 
Hi,
 
The water params were the same and I don't think it was a stressful move.
 
Thanks.

 

[Chad]

I'm leaning toward a bacterial infection.
 
Can you tell me more about the tank? Size, age, etc.
 
Is the whole tank substrate those larger rocks? If so I recommend removing them and changing out the substrate. I have found that this kind of substrate makes it very difficult to keep a tank clean. Detritus settles and rots and is impossible to suck out amongst such large pieces of substrate.

 

[crtwin]

The tank is a 25 gal that has been going for about a week not with stock, transferred from a 10 gal. the substrate is primarily sand, better for corys, the rocks line the outside of the tank above a thin layer of sand. 

 

[Chad]

The tank has been running for a week?

 

[Skies]

The tank is a 25 gal that has been going for about a week not with stock, transferred from a 10 gal. the substrate is primarily sand, better for corys, the rocks line the outside of the tank above a thin layer of sand.

I think I may have figured out your issue... let me ask a few more questions, is this 25g running with an established filter, or all new media? I'm going to guess new media, correct? Is it fair to assume that your tank is not cycled? Do you know about the Nitrogen Cycle?

 

[crtwin]

The tank has all the old substrate from the old tank, so it is about 1/3 new substrate and the rest is old, the old filter cartridge was also used for the first several days as well. So no, not a new filter, not all new media, it was allowed to cycle un-stocked for about two days (just to make sure the sand settled and the readings were holding steady obviously not a full cycling time period) - I did also use the bio packet that came with the new substrate as well. I do know about the nitrogen cycle yes. 

The tank has been running for a week?

Yes, i let it sit for two days to make sure the readings were holding steady with the fish in limbo, of course not a full cycling but with the bio packet that came with the new substrate, the old substrate and filter cartridge transferred over I believed I had taken the necessary steps to have the tank be established.I am currently using a new cartridge, used the old one for a few days after stocking the tank.