HELP ANY ONE, Sick Bronz Cory.

[laserone]

Hi everyone, I'm new

Ive got a cory that is about 1 1/2 years old, Today I noticed that he was not moving from one corner. Upon examening him, He seemed to have Fin Rot on dorsal fin and tail fin. He is hardly mobile and his skin has lost its luster. Just looking poorly in general.

I've put him in a 1 pint plastic containe for the time being while I write this messge and try to do what I can. He's very week. I'm going to need help real quick.

I'm afraid of medicating. I've heard that cory's are sensative to medications.I need some good advice from al you knowledgeble sorces.

On hand meds.
Maracyn 2
Formalin 37%
Fungas cure
Ick cure
epson salt
sea salt

In the event that I loose him, I would like to know What could have effected him.I've had a very healthy tank for a long time.

Tank specs. Well cycled tank 10 gal tank, 2/3 artificial Plants, About 20 inch's of live elodora floating plants, established over 1 year.
Amonia 00
Nitrite 00
PH 7.6
Nitrate 10

Fish, 1 ea. Synodontis Queen, 5" long. 1 ea. Corydora "Bronz", 1 ea. marble Molly 1 1/2" long.

Whats new, Freeze Dried Blood worms. I bought some last week and have fed this about three times in one week.

[hellocatfish]

Do you have a bucket or hospital tank that you can isolate him in? Most meds or salts will either bother any plants you have, or your biological filter, or both.

I think you probably have nothing to lose by medicating at this point. Fin rot is a perplexing disease. My daughter's betta just came down with it AFTER I cleaned out some of the betta poop and changed the water. I think somehow that process disrupted the very delicate balance that was working so successfully in that tank for so long--I'd had a lot of plants maintaining the water quality and no filtration. I did add filtration and that just totally made the betta go over the edge. I'm treating with Maracyn and Maracyn 2 and sunlight. I take the betta out in his very small tank and let him soak up some late afternoon sun, which seems to have halted the progression of the fin rot, though it's not cured it.

I don't know what's in the Ick cure and the Fungus cure meds you mention. I have used Jungle Buddies' fungus cure and ick cure and anti-parasite fizzing tablets in my cory tank with no problems, other than damaging the beneficial bacteria and setting off a mini-cycle. When I had a female betta get a bit of fuzz after injury from the male, the Jungle Buddies did clear the fuzz fungus off of her. But fin or tail rot isn't necessarily fungal. Sometimes it is, sometimes not.

Aqarium Salt designated for freshwater tank use doesn't hurt cories but it doesn't seem to do anything for fin rot, either. It hasn't worked on the betta, that's for sure. So far Jungle Buddies let me down with the Betta, and so that's why I'm trying the Maracyn and Marcyn 2.

Here's a link to a discussion others are having about fin rot in cories and the use of medications: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/rss.php?p=795811

The meds I would AVOID would be Pima Fix and MelaFix. They are not antibacterial despite claims, and I read somewhere...sorry I don't remember where, that one of them could damage the breathing organ in cories. They do help with wound healing but I would only use them on my goldfish if I had to. Not my cory tank or betta tank.

I think you're also supposed to avoid any medication with copper in it. I'm not sure about that--hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong. Good luck with your fish. Let us know how it goes.

[Danno]

Mela fix will help but you need marycin in the liquid form and folow the directions i dont believe marycin 2 will do it might be caused by gram negative bacteria in which case if marycin 1 doesnt work you can try 2 give him some black worms to keep his strengh up and maybe some brine shrimp pellets and a pint container is not enogh water to keep him in for very longhe needs a lot of aeration and clean water this is the kind of thing that often happens if an undergravel system is plugged up or the pump is not working if you have one clean the gravel and if you find that it was plugged up you may want to remove the plates aentirely to clean under them and you can rinse them while they are out with luke warm water not hot and you are not trying to clean them just unplug the holes in them they must be kept in non chlorinated water if you are not putting them back right away to preserve nitro bacter on the plates also if they plugged up you might want to run the system in reverse pumping water under the plates instead of pulling water out hope this helps
Danno

[Danno]

he is right dont use pima fix on corys melafix wont hurt him but it wont cure him either it is only good to help the wounds heal i had a red parrot who had all her fins completely rot off before she was cured it took about for months but you can't tell her from the rest of them now and he is right about the copper meds too they are bad for cory's
Danno

[hellocatfish]

Okay....do NOT use salt! I had tried it once when the betta first got rot. Then last night I decided to try it again, in conjunction with the Marcyn 1 and Maracyn 2, because I keep reading how salt is supposed to boost the work of the medication. The salt set me back a full day of progress. It made the fins all gooey.

Aquarium salt can work some wonders for such a simple treatment, but fin rot ain't one of them! Live and learn. I changed out the salt and the fins improved right away with the Maracyn1 and Maracyn 2 combination. The powdered form I'm using indicates the two can be combined. I haven't seen the liquid form--I hate using the powder so if I come across the liquid I will get it or order it.

I have a feeling I will be treating this poor betta for awhile. He actually looks pretty good--you have to look close to see that the fins are not normal. The first day I had him in the sun, he was on a fast pace of damage. But after a couple of hours out in the sun the damage halted, and then I reversed some of it with the medication.

Now it's at a stand-still, not any better, but at least not getting worse--as long as I keep the salt out!

The betta will get the 5 gallon goldfish tank after he recovers. I am moving the goldfish to a larger tank once I get the new canister filter ordered for them. The 5 gallon is fully cycled, thanks to contributions from my older 40 gallon tank. A third goldfish is just living in buckets, under quarantine and treatment for the usual stuff goldfish harbor when you first get them.

I had the chance to put the betta in the sun for only one day so far. If the weather cooperates tomorrow I will put him out again and report back on if it helps or not. My betta is a very social fish with people and in fact seems to thrive on attention and adventure, so this doesn't seem to stress him out in the least. I am not sure if taking a cory out would be possible without causing some stress. It probably would, so even if this works for my betta, I am not sure it would be a good idea for a cory unless nothing else works out. And it remains to be seen if sunlight is really of any help.

[hellocatfish]

Sunlight DOES seem to help a LOT. This morning the betta's fin edges looked kind of melted and gooey. I put him in his little tank out in the late afternoon sun for about an hour and while he was outside the edges quickly got healthy looking. There were still the two antibiotics in his water. I then did a water change once I got him back in the house and put fresh medicine and water in. He's looking well, but I can still see small signs that the rotty goo is just waiting to come back. I'll try more sun tomorrow if weather and my schedule permit.

I don't think the tanks being near windows would help. His tank was already near a window and not in direct sunlight. I think being outdoors in the direct sunlight lets all the rays get in. I don't have a UV sterilizer anymore, but maybe UV sterilization would accomplish the same result. I don't know.

Well I just thought I would report back to you in case it can be of any help. I hope your fish is doing better. Best wishes!