PlanetCatfish.com

Hi I posted the health query with the panda a couple of months back. It was too late for the little guy - he was my favorite :*( . I tried after this to keep the water quality up to par, 50% water changes w/ 40% gravel area vacuumed, once a week, but a problem still exists. I love corydoras and have about 7 of them in a smallish tank (17 gallons) - originally fewer, but a few batches of eggs and successful fry later...and I don't have room for a bigger tank.

I see that 4/7 of the corys have stubby pectoral fins! One of my albino pair (male one) had this problem at the same time that the panda died so I isolated him and gave him a Cipro treatment for 2 weeks and they all grew back, but within a month of putting him back, he's lost them again. I was wondering what I should do with him and NOW several of them have the same issue!

Is there something that I should treat the whole tank with that is safe and won't kill my Biofilter?

1. Water parameters
a) 74-76 F
b) pH: 7.4
c) GH don't know- don't have tests
d) KH don't know- don't have tests
e) Conductivity or TDS (if GH and KH aren't provided) don't know- don't have tests
f) Ammonia: .25 ppm
Nitrate: 30 ppm (unusual)
Nitrite: .5 ppm (as of this morning, unusual spike)
just experiencing an unusual parameter change - weird, as water change happened 2 days ago!
g) Water change frequency
once a week 50%
h) "Routine" water treatments: Prime (chlorine) + Flourish (plant fertilizer)

2. Tank set up
a) Size 17 gallon
b) Substrate: Small gravel
c) Filtration: HOB sized for up to 30 gallon
d) Furnishings: Live plants and wood
e) Other tank mates: total of 11 fish (7 other types of corydora, 1 neon tetra, 2 threadfin tetra)

f) How long has it been set-up?: 3 years

g) Food used and frequency: Hikari wafers for bottom feeding fish, 3 wafers once a day plus a tiny pinch of powdered food for tetras, live food - frozen brine shrimp,bloodworms - half a cube once a week and peas once a week after a fasting day

h) Recent change: NONE

3. Symptoms / Problem description or history
Bad water conditions a month ago. Panda died. Currently, several Corydoras have stubby fins. Other than the fins, no changes in behavior except the Albino male (currently dubbed Mr. Stubbs, who is less active) - are generally lively. The other Albino cory, female tried to mate, unsuccessfully, with Mr. Stubbs, the finless albino male yesterday after a water change.

4. Action taken (if any)
None - hoping for something for some advice on the whole tank. Don't have an isolation tank big enough for all affected

5. Medications used (if any) / changes in fish observed since treatment began (if any)
None.
Have used full spectrum anti-biotic (Cipro) before only in serious cases

I was having the same issue with perfect water parameters. I hope you find better answers than I did. If I find out anything, I will post it for you.

Chloe & Cowboy,

If you are concerned that treating the whole tank will damage the bio-filter you can make up a medicated food mix to target the sick fish. I used focus/kanaplex/metroplex mixed into flakes to target a sick juvenile corydoras trilineatus. This little guy lost parts of his pectoral fin, pelvic fin and all of his tail down to its base. But he never gave up and ate his medicine every day. I used a pipette to deliver it directly to him. He soon learned to eat right from the tip of the pipette! On day 12 of the treatment his tail and other fins started growing back. His tail, which was completely gone, eventually grew back entirely! I was shocked, because I though he had no chance. I gave up on him at least a dozen times. I had even bought clove oil to euthanize him. Now he's fully recovered and going strong and I call little "Peanut" my miracle catfish!

Good nutrition is important to help fish grow back damaged fins. I used frozen & thawed baby brine shrimp via the pipette to supplement Peanut during his sickness.

Here is a link to the Seachem web site that will tell you all about the medicines and how to compound a custom food mix for your fish. Its very easy to do: http://www.seachem.com/medications.php

Also, I would highly recommend you buy a 10ml & 2ml pipette and pump. These items are invaluable to accurately dispense medicines, conditioners, supplements, foods, etc. They are cheap to buy and will make your life so much easier. Here are the links:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GV ... UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0019 ... UTF8&psc=1

Best of luck! -Mike