PlanetCatfish.com

Hello there, hope everyone is well. Well this is my first post and I wish it wasn't of such an upsetting nature.

I would gratefully ask for some advice if it's ok. I'm new to fishkeeping as you will probably gather. I have a small tank (25 litres) and in it I put some neon tetras and 2 Peppered Corydoras. This was what was recommended by my local Aquatic shop. Anyway, all of the fish in the tank seem happy and have done for a week or so.. But today i see that one of the Corys has what appears to be an inflammation at the base of his front right fin(technical i know). I have checked my pH level, my ammonia level and my nitrite level, and if i'm honest they do seem to be a little high. pH is 7.6, ammonia is 0.4mg/l, nitrite is 0.5mg/l, temperature is 26C. I did a 50% water change today and checked all levels again, they all appear to be the same as before.. My question is, could these levels cause an inflammation such as I described? or is it more likely that he's just caught his fin on something?

I desperately want to make him better, although he appears to be very healthy and happy other than this.

Thankyou in advance, and I hope my next post doesn't contain such bad news.

Will....

Hi Will.

I assume that your tank is about a couple of weeks old, and even if it was cycled properly, ammonia and nitrite levels still might rise after adding fish. The cycle might last some time, depends whether it was cycled before or not. In the meantime you have to help the fish with the ammonia and nitrite by using something which will detoxify them until they will be consumed by the nitrifying bacteria. I use a product called AmQuel Plus which does just that, or there is another product called Prime. Both are available in the UK (I also assume that you're from the UK...) but not everywhere. If you can't find either in your local shop, then they are available online from several websites. With AmQuel, they state on the bottle exactly how much of the stuff will detoxify how much ammonia or nitrite, and if needed, you can treat your tank with more than the recommended dose. Your water should be well aerated when using AmQuel as it reduces levels of oxygen in the water. Subsquent doses might be needed if your ammonia or nitrite levels rise.

If you can't find any of the above products you can use AmmoLock to detoxify the ammonia and add some salt to the water (half a tablespoon for your size of tank would be enough) which will help the fish dealing with the nitrite.

As for the fin, I don't fully understand by your post whether it is a wound or a case of finrot. Either way, I would recommend using Melafix which is widely available here in the UK and which helps with wounds and finrot. I think it's very potent, so I prefer to give half doses in the first few days to be on the safe side. You can use Melafix and AmQuel together, by the way.

As for your pH, leave it as it is. 7.6 is not too bad for a peppered cory, and it's better to get them to get used to your pH rather than messing with the pH and subjecting them to unstable pH levels.

Last thing, your local shop could have given you a better advice... It is generally agreed that cories should be kept in groups of at least 6 fish. It's not like they're going to die because there are only 2 of them, but it would be better if you could get some more, although there's not a lot you can put in a 25 litre tank... Don't worry though, doesn't matter what size of tank you get when you get into the hobby, after a short while you already want to upgrade and when you do, your 25 litres could be a perfect quarantine tank.

Good luck with the fish and keep us posted!

EDIT: Oh, one more thing. Using StressZyme or Nutrafin's Instant Cycle or JBL's FilterStart (this is just a selection, there are also other products) will help you with your cycle, so using one of those is also recommended!

Thankyou very much for your reply (although i dont know exactly what your name is), it helps me in choosing what action to take.. I think i'll change about 50% of the water for a couple or three days and then go to the measures you recommended. I am very worried about my fish as I strongly believe that they wouldn't be in the situation they're in if it wasn't for me, so I very much hope that I can sort this problem out. (so many sites say that you can accept some fatalities when running a tank in, which i think is so wrong).

Will....

Well, I've done another water change tonight and the toxic levels are definately lower. It's incredible that it seems as though the fishes whole attitudes change when the water is less toxic. They appear much calmer etc. The inflammation is still there but looking more closely it could actually be the gill rather than the fin. It's very difficult to see as they're so close together and he's only a small fellow. He's very active too, he gives me neckache just trying to keep up with him.

Tomorrow I will take a look for some of the products you mention.

Will...

Inflammation of the gill is more serious than the fin. I don't think the Melafix would help with that. I think that the best thing to do in that case is a salt dip as it will most probably clear the inflammation without having to try out different medicals until something works and I'm not a big fan of medications...

The method I use is putting 4 litres of aquarium water in a bucket, adding 4 teaspoons of salt (aquarium salt, or rock salt, or sea salt, or any other salt which has no additives like anti caking agents) and put the fish inside after the salt has dissolved for five to thirty minutes, depends how the fish takes it, so you have to monitor it closely.

I believe that water changes, AmQuel Plus and salt are your best aids as fish keeper. I have a cabinet full of treatments which I bought just in case I need them, all are unopened... I have only ever used Melafix to treat wounds to the body or the fin.

Although we should do our best to prevent fatalities, accepting that there might be few fatalities is a must. Even if we do the best we can, things can happen which are not always our fault. My traumatic case is buying 5 cories at a shop to find 4 of them dying by the time I got home. I fought for their lives ER-style, but after two days I had to conclude that it would better if I gave up on 3 of them and had to kill them. The fourth has survived and doing well, thanks for asking! I avoid the shop and have found another shop with healthy fish, never lost even 1 fish I bought there, and although it's harder for me to get there, buying healthy fish and receiving honest advice (even if it's not of the shop's interest) is worth the effort.

Okay, sorry for the sentimental bit and all the best for your fish,
Golan.

Golan, my cory is fixed! I'm very happy.. I've been changing the water lots and then i put one of those bacteria "kick-starters". The level of nitrite still gets up a bit but the ammonia is staying pretty much at zero. So i'm just gonna keep changing the water until the tank gets a bit more mature and able to handle the number of fish I have.. Thankyou for all your great advice, from myself and also my cory

Will...

Great news Will!

Hope both you and your cory have a merry christmas and all.