Corydora-Melafix

[Snoyo1]

Hi everyone I would really appreciate help with this. My brown Cory looks sick. Well he actually is pretty active and seems happy but his top fin is droopy and one of the side ones is shorter then the other like if he injured it so I bought melafix and started treating the tank yesterday but I’ve just read on another forum that melafix is a death sentence for fish and that it’s really bad for gouramis and I have a dwarf gourami in the tank and I don’t have a quarantine tank. I’m thinking am I able to put just my sick looking Cory in a bucket with water from the tank and keep him there while I treat him? Or is there an alternative treatment I can do? There’s a picture of him there.

 

[seangee]

There is nothing in that photo to suggest that he needs treatment. Adding medication without a confirmed diagnosis is never a good idea. If you think he may have been injured the best treatment is fresh clean water - just do a 75% water change using dechlorinated water at a similar temp to the tank. This will also dilute the melafix in the tank which does not seem needed.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Cory’s are labyrinth fish, like bettas and Melafix can coat that organ and suffocate them.

 

[Snoyo1]

There is nothing in that photo to suggest that he needs treatment. Adding medication without a confirmed diagnosis is never a good idea. If you think he may have been injured the best treatment is fresh clean water - just do a 75% water change using dechlorinated water at a similar temp to the tank. This will also dilute the melafix in the tank which does not seem needed.

sorry that wasn’t the best photo. I’ll try and get a better photo because I’m not sure if it’s an injury I’ve just noticed now too that he has a cut on his top fin too and one of the side fins just looks like it’s getting shorter and shorter. I will try the 75% water change though thanks for the advice.

 

[James7]

Cory’s are labyrinth fish, like bettas and Melafix can coat that organ and suffocate them.

This is not correct, maybe you were thinking that Gourami were labyrinth fish?

Corys are known for going up to the surface to gulp air but they don’t have a labyrinth organ.

 

[ClownLurch]

How many Corys do you have?

 

[Snoyo1]

How many Corys do you have?

I have two. One albino and one brown one. The brown one always looks so malnourished though and the albino is huge and healthy.

 

[ClownLurch]

Aaaah.
They should really be kept in groups of 6+. Apparently you can mix n match the different types as they’ll buddy up. They’ll not live long healthy lives as a two strong shoal.
There’s millions on here know more than me about the subject but it’s something that’s pointed out to newbies by the regulars every day. Shame the lfs doesn’t point it out at point of purchase.
Someone else will be along soon to agree with me. Don’t worry we’ve all been guilty of far bigger mistakes than this.

 

[Snoyo1]

Aaaah.
They should really be kept in groups of 6+. Apparently you can mix n match the different types as they’ll buddy up. They’ll not live long healthy lives as a two strong shoal.
There’s millions on here know more than me about the subject but it’s something that’s pointed out to newbies by the regulars every day. Shame the lfs doesn’t point it out at point of purchase.
Someone else will be along soon to agree with me. Don’t worry we’ve all been guilty of far bigger mistakes than this.

Thanks for the advice I will definitely buy more. I did have two more but they passed away months ago and I just didn’t have the heart to buy more because I felt too guilty that they died. The tank is way more established now tho and I’ve also recently bought a better filter so maybe it’s better to buy some more now.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I concur with the above, please do not use Melafix.

Cory’s are labyrinth fish, like bettas and Melafix can coat that organ and suffocate them.

I do also suggest getting more. 5 more albino minimum and 5 more “brown”. (I assume it’s a bronze Corydoras?)

 

[FishGuest5123]

This is not correct, maybe you were thinking that Gourami were labyrinth fish?

Corys are known for going up to the surface to gulp air but they don’t have a labyrinth organ.

@James7 Perhaps I ‘m wrong??? Maybe the info I’ve read is incorrect. Just first one I pulled up....Corydoras catfish have a labyrinth organ that allows them to breath atmospheric oxygen. ... Although corydoras are bottom dwellers you will frequently see them come to the surface for a gulp of air. They are excellent fish for community tanks.

Another from Aquarium Advice..

Labyrinth Breathers: Corydoras prefer to live in cooler waters but possess an auxiliary breathing organ that enables them to survive in those shallow pools of low oxygen warm water. You can see them come up to the top to breathe. If you’ve walked barefoot along a river in the summer, you know how warm these shallow pools can get.

 

[Essjay]

Cories swallow air and oxygen is absorbed from their intestines.

From the profile of bronze cories on Seriously Fish

They are facultative air breathers and possess a modified, highly vascularised intestine which has evolved to facilitate uptake of atmospheric oxygen and aid survival in oxygen-deprived environments. In the aquarium you’ll occasionally see them rising to the surface to take in gulps of air.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Cories swallow air and oxygen is absorbed from their intestines.

From the profile of bronze cories on Seriously Fish

Is that the same as labyrinth organs?

I have seen my panda Cory’s doing up to the surface to get air. (I always thought they had a labyrinth organ. )

 

[Essjay]

Labyrinth fish have a chamber above their gills which is lined with blood vessels to absorb oxygen. It is this chamber which can get contaminated with oily residues such as those found in the -fix products.

The labyrinth organ does the same as cories' intestines, just that one is the gut, the other is in the head.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Then technically, they are not labyrith fish. My apologies. I have been misinformed. So @essjay, is Melafix safe to use?