Parasite?

Id add more Indian almond leaves, as the first step, even making a tea out of it.
I suspect may be a minor infection, but its enough that a strong bit of tannins would really benefit here. Tannins have helped me with minor infections like this just fine.
Can brew them in a separate container and pour the tannins into the tank, or add the leaves directly.
 
Id add more Indian almond leaves, as the first step, even making a tea out of it.
I suspect may be a minor infection, but its enough that a strong bit of tannins would really benefit here. Tannins have helped me with minor infections like this just fine.
Can brew them in a separate container and pour the tannins into the tank, or add the leaves directly.
Do you really think tannins might be enough to cure it? *hopeful face!*

I did immediately throw in three more almond leaves (they already had two small leaves in there, not sure what type they were) and crumpled one up, hoping it would release more tannins that way. I've never made a tea out of it but very willing to try, do I just shred a leaf and steep it in boiling water for a while?

Should I add any water conditioner to that tea before adding it, or not worry since it would be such a small amount of water and so diluted? Could always add a few drops of Prime to the tank before adding it if needed.
 
Do you really think tannins might be enough to cure it? *hopeful face!*

I did immediately throw in three more almond leaves (they already had two small leaves in there, not sure what type they were) and crumpled one up, hoping it would release more tannins that way. I've never made a tea out of it but very willing to try, do I just shred a leaf and steep it in boiling water for a while?

Should I add any water conditioner to that tea before adding it, or not worry since it would be such a small amount of water and so diluted? Could always add a few drops of Prime to the tank before adding it if needed.
If you opt to make the tea, don't boil the water
Make a big jug of fresh water, dechlorinate it, and add a LOT of leaves, to make a really concentrated amount of tannins and add that water to the tank.

Ive had a couple cories get this issue, and tannins resolved it within a week or two for me.
 
If you opt to make the tea, don't boil the water
Make a big jug of fresh water, dechlorinate it, and add a LOT of leaves, to make a really concentrated amount of tannins and add that water to the tank.

Ive had a couple cories get this issue, and tannins resolved it within a week or two for me.
Sorry to pester with more questions! So you steep the leaves in cold water? Should I warm the water a bit (it's pretty icy cold from the tap at the moment, we're in a cold snap) to help steep the leaves? Glad my bulk order of almond leaves came in the other day!

I'm so glad tannins worked for you with this before! I only spotted this lump today, can't believe I hadn't seen it before, guess it came up fast, or I just hadn't seen him on that side when he was among the other cories. Have examined them all closely since spotting this weird lump, but the others all look fine. I was terrified it was some sort of parasite, given where it is, and that it's a smooth but jutting out bump, doesn't look like anything I've seen before. But if you have, I do feel reassured, and happy if it doesn't need meds!

Tank is due for a water change tomorrow, so might steep leaves and add half tonight, half tomorrow
 
Steep the leaves yes, room temperature water is fine. Aim for a very dark concentration of it.

Tannins should be first step before any meds with cories. Works for minor bacterial and fungal infections. If its not enough, we can go from there.
 
Steep the leaves yes, room temperature water is fine. Aim for a very dark concentration of it.

Tannins should be first step before any meds with cories. Works for minor bacterial and fungal infections. If its not enough, we can go from there.
You're an angel, thank you! I'll be keeping a very close eye on him for sure! He doesn't appear bothered by it at all at the moment, so hopefully the tannins will do the trick. Can see that the water has darkened a little already just from the extra leaves I threw in there, but it won't hurt to add the tea too. Will make that now :)
 
It is not TB.
It's just excess mucous, probably covering a small wound.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using salt or medications because they reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Add some salt, (see directions below).

--------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.
 
Current update on the little dude - nothing to report really! He still has the white mark, perhaps a very a very slight improvement, or perhaps it just doesn't look as bright now the water is a dark tea colour! Behaviour is normal.

Going to continue with tannins and plenty of water changes for now, have been re-adding more tannins after water changes, and will give it a full week to decide whether to move on to salt water treatment or perhaps eSHa-2000, which has helped with a problem like this before. I'd like to give it some more time to heal with tannins only, since it's cories and a pleco in there, and it doesn't appear to be getting worse at least!

Mystery how he did it, there really isn't anything with a sharp edge in there, except the barbs of other cories! Any chance he spiked himself on another cory, @CassCats ? Everything else in the tank is soft or smooth! Since he was one of the males chasing the females in that pre-spawning behaviour, can they injure each other doing that?
 
Some research papers on Ketapang/Catappa (Indian Almond).




Other websites info:



 
Last edited:
Some research papers on Ketapang/Catappa (Indian Almond).




Other websites info:



Thanks for these :) Interesting stuff!

I've been using the Indian Almond leaves for a while, just because the shrimp and fish like them, and I like the look of leaf litter too, but hadn't thought about making a stronger tea to try to heal something like this until Casscats suggested it. That's one of the benefits of a forum like this!

Little dude is about the same, currently doing 75% daily water changes and adding more tannins to replace what I remove each day. At least it doesn't appear to be getting worse, and no signs of anything with the other fish, so increasingly likely that it's a minor injury that will heal with time, clean water and tannins, and not some terrifying parasite or disease at least :)
 
During my childhood time, I remember we had this Indian Almond tree in front of our house.
But I was too young to know the use of the tree leaves.
But the problem with this tree is it will drop its fruits on our roof every now and then.
And the problem is our roof material at that time wasn't very strong and it would crack if the impact is slightly strong. LOL
 
if clean water and tannins is not making any difference, try some salt.

Yeah, he's still not improving with tannins. Doesn't seem any worse, thankfully, but I'd hoped to see some signs of it improving by now.

I'm wary about salt since it's cories and a pleco in there (I wouldn't hesitate with my livebearers, I know salt can help a lot with these things) but I'm tempted to try the eSHa-2000 I have in stock. Have used that with cories before, and it worked and they didn't appear stressed from it either.

eSHa 2000 ingredients: Active ingredients: 1 ml of solution contains: ethacridine lactate 6.3 mg, copper 2+ 3.2 mg, methyl orange 0.26 mg, proflavine 1 mg.

Claims to help with bacterial, fungal, parasitic infections, and wound protection.

Would like to get yours and @CassCats opinions first though. Haven't used it with a pleco in the tank before.
 
I've just seen a new white speck at the base of his dorsal fin, so have gone ahead and dosed the eSHa 2000. Time to treat whatever is going on with him, it's spreading.
 

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