My Cory Decomposing

[jcabs100]

I havent seen this before but one of my fish died about 2 Weeks ago and it looked like it was its (sorry for my ignorance) whiskers looked as if they were being burned off and its fins were roting but it didnt look like fin rot and then I saw yesterday it was happening to another one of my panda Cory so I did a 50% water change but I would like to know what this is called or if anyones had this problem ive had my fish tank over a year now no problems this is my first problem that ive had

 

[twodoctors]

Not good I'm afraid. 3 of mine was like that and I moved them into a "clean" hospital tank. 2 of them still died about 2 weeks later. Started with shortening of barbels, then heavy breathing. Then a few weeks later it died. I didn't use any med to treat it, as I don't know what the problem was to start with. Whatever it is it didn't affect my other corys as they bred in the hospital tank with all that going on. Only 1 of the short barbel ones remaining and just noticed its breathing is a bit heavier than others... sigh! Anyway good luck!

Adrian

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Any chance you have gravel rather than sand on the tank floor? I've no idea if barbels will regrow just with daily/bi-daily water changes, just as fins would regrow, or whether you need to add a medication. Thankfully, this was one crisis I did not have, when I had Sterbai corydoras and Emerald Brochis.

 

[jcabs100]

Well I have sand substrate my other fish are fine its just one of my panda Cory

 

[CezzaXV]

What are your water parameters like? I've heard this can be a problem if they're not great, including high nitrates.

 

[Gilli]

Sounds like fin rot which can be due to poor water quality - what are your water stats? Your corys barbels will grow back in time if you can cure them of the fin rot. Is your substrate sharp gravel? If its rounded pea gravel then it should be fine - they can be kept on this with no problems, but if its sharp it may be damaging the barbels which they use to find food. as long as they have a little of the barbels left they will be ok - ive had corys where they have nearly all disappeared and they managed fine and they did grow back fully.

Keep up with the water changes because this is as good as meds and should solve the problem if its poor water quality.

 

[snazy]

That's the ammonia talking I am afraid.
When was the last time you tested your water?

 

[This Old Spouse]

Sounds like fin rot which can be due to poor water quality - what are your water stats? Your corys barbels will grow back in time if you can cure them of the fin rot. Is your substrate sharp gravel? If its rounded pea gravel then it should be fine - they can be kept on this with no problems, but if its sharp it may be damaging the barbels which they use to find food. as long as they have a little of the barbels left they will be ok - ive had corys where they have nearly all disappeared and they managed fine and they did grow back fully.

Keep up with the water changes because this is as good as meds and should solve the problem if its poor water quality.

I'd sure like to know just when the barbels are supposed to grow back. Due to my own ignorance, several of my cory lost barbels and they haven't grown back, even though the water conditions have been excellent since I figured out what to do. It's been more than a year.

 

[jcabs100]

I test my water everyday my ammonia is 0 nitrate .5 and nitrite 0 all my water parameters are fine

 

[This Old Spouse]

Then I'd say they're suffering from fin rot/mouth fungus, which is actually a bacterial infection. Myxazin would be my recommendation.

 

[snazy]

What tests are you using to test? Why do you test every day?

Are there any plants or any nitrate remover things, as 5ppm is hard to achieve in a cycled tank.

I test my water everyday my ammonia is 0 nitrate .5 and nitrite 0 all my water parameters are fine

Sorry, do you mean the nitrAtes are 5 ppm, or nitrItes are 5ppm?

Edit: My apologies. I see the tank has been setup for 1 year.

 

[jcabs100]

Its ok and I will use the medicin e TOS suggrsted no plants but I am planning kn changing it would you know as to what would cause the fin rot

 

[This Old Spouse]

It's likely caused by poor water conditions. I'd be doing large, regular water changes, possibly daily, until they're all back to normal. The way I worked it was a large water change, then dose with the antibiotic.

 

[jcabs100]

Really I change my water every week I do at least a 20% water change or is that not enough its a 55 gallon tank I take 2 5 gallon bucket filled with tank water i'm guessing this is 20%

 

[This Old Spouse]

It's really not enough. I do at least a 50% water change on all my tanks every week. I have a 55g, a 29g and a 20g. The 2-5g buckets of water you take out aren't completely full either, so you're actually doing less than 10g total.

I'm not trying to knock your cleaning regimen, but with cory they need to have ideal conditions to flourish. I've also heard that pandas are more susceptible to poor conditions than other cory. At any rate, I learned with mine that doing at least 50% is what I need to do to keep them healthy. With all that rummaging around the tank floor where all the poo lands, their barbels are contacting all that stuff all the time. Keeping it really clean is the only way to avoid problems, IME.