Albino Cory Unwell I Think?

[Schmill]

Hi,

I've an albino cory who seems decidedly unhappy. At first I had put it down to him losing his 'friend' a couple of weeks ago. There are still 3 albino cory's in the tank, but this one seems very inactive.

I've just performed a 50% ish water change. All water parameters seemed fine, but I had previously dosed the tank with melafix and I wanted to make sure it was gone.
The other 2 cory's are fins up, and swimming around in their usual active way, but this one is just sitting under a plant.
Looking closely at it I'm not sure if some of it's barbs /whiskers are missing as it seems to have less than the other one that was nearby. It's also possible that it is slightly redder around the gills, and perhaps swollen slightly around the stomach, or I could be seeing things

I only have one floating 'trap' and at the moment it has 6 or 7 growing guppy fry in it so I am not sure what to do with this cory. Is it best to remove it, or to leave it in?
If it's stressed about losing a tank mate surely isolation is not good, but equally if it is not well then I should isolate it?

As I don't have another floating trap would it be ok to just float a tupperware tub in the water and put it in that, or will that stress it out?

I really don't know what to do here

 

[WILDER]

I only have one panda cory left he lost his mates but they were getting old and he's fine.
Do the barbels look thin.
Red gills can be bad water quality, gill flukes, bacterial gill rot.
Corys are more prone to bacterial infections.

Any signs of him flicking and rubbing.
Can you post your water stats.
I would treat him with a bacterial med and not melafix as it's only good on cuts and wounds.
Epson salt baths to help draw fluids out.

Anti internal bacteria med by interpet.

Problem with corys is that once they do get bacterial infections they go downhill fast.

 

[Schmill]

Hi Wilder,

I wouldn't say they look thin, just not there. Another albino cory in the tank seems to have two major barbs that go upwards from the mouth, two major barbs that go down from the mouth, and then two minor barbs between those, like in this picture:

However this poorly one seems to only have a couple of barbs that go downwards

Watching him, he does seem to flick his body every now and again now that you mention it.

Water stats are normally 26 deg C (although lower at the moment due to the water change), and are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite.

I got the Melafix as a general med for sores, and had used it as at first I thought his top fish was nipped, but now I realised it was just down
What is a good general med for antibacterial then please? (is that the Interpet one you mention?)

I'm not familiar with epson salt baths, is this something I can buy at the LFS?

I think perhaps the tank mate might have died from internal bacteria or something. At the time I related it to the frozen food I had just fed, but I guess it might have been bacteria, here is that thread (with pictures):

Death by Daphnia?

and also the previous topic I had posted about THIS cory when I thought it was just depressed:

Depressed Cory

 

[WILDER]

Was he rubbing himself before the red gills.
Does he rub the gill area or just his body.
Sores on fish can be parasites like gill flukes and bacterial.
How are the other fish acting.
All fish have a few flukes it when they get stressed there start to do the damage.
Young fry are more prone to flukes infestation.

Yes the internal bacteria med is by interpet.

Signs of skin and gill flukes are.
Flicking and rubbing.
Laboured breathing or gasping at the surface of the tank.
Swimming oddly like in a jerky movement.
Red inflamed gills, or pale gills with excess mucas.
Opaque body with excess slime.
Sores on body of fish.
Weighloss sometimes.
Spitting food out.
Erratic swimming.

Also flukes cause bacterial infections as in there hooks they carry a nasty bacteria which enters the fish blood stream when it pierces the skin.
If fish have had sores I wouldn't rule gills flukes out, if a fish has red inflamed gills and rubbing.

 

[WILDER]

Epson salt can buy from chemist or food stores.
<a href="http/www.fishjunkies.com/Treatments/salt.php" target="_blank">http/www.fishjunkies.com/Treatments/salt.php</a>

I would add the bacterial med or now with losing another one.
Keep an eye on flicking and rubbing.

 

[Schmill]

I don't think he was rubbing himself before, and there are no signs of wounds or sores on the body. All the other fish seem fine, thankfully, and the 7 guppy fry are in the same water, (they are in a floating trap with the 'grid' sides that lets teh water flow through).
Theres no dashing to the surface for air, (although I do run a venturi on the filter & also a length of bubble stone, so perhaps he doesn't need to?)
No extra slime layer, or anything, just really lethargic, and possibly this issue with the barbs.

I guess we wait and see what tomorrow brings. Either way I will go to the LFS in the afternoon and get some antibacterial Med.
Do you think it would be ok to get another 3 corys too, just in case it is 'mourning' (as there are now only 3 in the tank), or would that be risking it on the chance he does have a problem?

Thanks again

EDIT: Thanks for the Epson Salt link

 

[WILDER]

Yes I would still treat the tank with anti internal bacteria med by interpet.
No I wouldn't buy the corys with having a bacterial infection.
I wouldn't add any new fish for a month.
Keep a look out for flicking and rubbing or laboured breathing.
Sores on fish can be caused by parasites same with red inflamed gills.

 

[Schmill]

Ok many thanks, anti bacterial it is, more fish it isn't.

On an aside in that case...

I've recently taken filter media from this tank to seed my 300L tank filter with. Will the 300L tank now also need an antibacterial treatment? (It's on a fishless cycle), and also will the antibacterial treatment harm the 'good' bacteria in the filters?

Thanks

 

[WILDER]

Just water changes on the other tank.
Don't think anti internal bacteria med harms the filter as it never did when I used it.
Sometimes meds can slighly knock water stats.
Its more the antibiotics meds that wipe beneifical bacteria out in the filter.

Had a good bacterial infection link but it stopped loading up. See if the link works now for you.

[url="http/www.petsforum.com/cis-fishnet/afm/G29060.htm"]http/www.petsforum.com/cis-fishnet/afm/G29060.htm[/url

Taken from the link.

Of the species of Aeromonas, the one most familiar to the hobbyist is Aeromonas hyrdophila. There are many names for the infection produced by this bacterium, ranging from the scientific version, known as hemorrhagic septicemia, to the layman's versions, called redsore and dropsy. These names describe the main features of an infection that can take at least three physical forms. One of the most obvious is the external hemorrhagic (bloody) ulcer. These open wounds appear as localized ulcers on the body of the fish, often with areas of dead tissue and sloughing scales. Hemorrhages also may appear at the base of the fins. Some researchers postulate that Gyrodactylus (body flukes) may act as carriers for the bacteria, which then enter the wounds made by the flukes. These bacteria produce substances that allow them to adhere to the surfaces of cells. Other types of abrasions or tissue damage may also play a role in establishing infection.

Another easily identifiable form of the disease is dropsy. This condition, in which the abdomen fills with fluid and appears swollen, is due to an internal bacterial infection in the kidney, liver or intestinal tract. The resulting disruption of normal circulation of blood and other fluids causes a backup in the system. The fluids accumulate in the intestine and abdominal cavity, resulting in the distention of the abdomen. In severe cases, the scales may stand out from the body, displaying the condition often called pinecone disease. Sometimes the eyes may appear to bulge, known in scientific terms as exopthalmia. This type of infection does occur often in tropical fish but seems to be more commonly associated with goldfish.

 

[Schmill]

Good reading, thanks

 

[Schmill]

Just in case, I'm not sure if the LFS carry Interpet, but I know that they do API.

Would this be suitable as the antibacterial treatment?

API Pimafix

Thanks

 

[WILDER]

No pimafix is no good its only good with columnaris then you have to use another med with it.
Most lfs sell interpet brands.

 

[Schmill]

Thanks for the reply Wilder.

We went to the LFS this afternoon and couldn't see the Interpet brand, so picked up a bottle of Pimafix...

Then we read the bottle, discovered it read nothing like the description on the website, (had no mention at ALL of bacterial properties!), and put it back. Thankfully we did then manage to find the Interpet stuff and bought a bottle of "Anti Internal Parasite".

I have dosed the tank today, but was surprised at the seemingly low dosage? I don't know if you have a bottle handy but it seemed to be that the dosage was 1ml / 10L ? Just seemed very little!
Still I made up a small tub of tank water and mixed in the dosage of the A.I.P med, and then spread it around the tank as it instructed, (although even that was bizarre. The instruction say to "disolve in 1/2 Litre of warm water", but the bottle contains a liquid, with nothing in it to disolve, so all I did was swirl the water around a bit).

It also says to repeat the treatment on Day 4. Is the first treatment classed as being on Day 1, or Day 0 ?

Many thanks for you help, I shall keep this thread updated with progress whatever happens

 

[WILDER]

The internal bacteria med should be added to warm water to activate the med.
Heard on here if you add the med to cold water it dosn't work.
You can double dose but only recommend that in issolation if a fish was really sick.
I just get a jug of warm water from the kettle then add the med.
Then pour into tank.

 

[Schmill]

Oh @~"!@£~! !!

Will tank water have been warm enough to activate it? (26 deg. C ish)
I didn't want to just use 'normal' water as I didn't know if it would be safe to add dechlor to the med or not, and I didn't want to risk doing it without dechlor as I didn't want to potentially stress already unhappy fish.

So the question is now... do I dose again using warm water, or do I leave it as is, (and presume the tank water will have been warm enough to activate it?)