one of my corydoras has a hole in his side, another has a fungus?

Tank size: 10 gallons
tank age: 4 months
pH: 7.2
ammonia: .50 ppm ammonia (this is a bit high, the antibiotics likely hurt my bb/cycle a bit so i'm dosing prime and doing water changes, taking care of this issue).
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 0. it is heavily planted but idk why i'm not getting any nitrates. did all this testing today.

kH: don't have a kit for this
gH: don't have a kit for this
tank temp: 76F


Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior): so i'm back again with my corydora issues. my bronze corydora used to have 2 white spots (that didn't look like fungus) 3-4 weeks ago. they then grew only a little bit, i started treating with aquarium salt and 20% daily water changes for 2 weeks. the whiteness on his body started coming off, but then it just kept going and there was a small hole in his side. he had 2 paraguard baths, and i treated the tank with antibiotics (API fin + body cure, so the specific antibiotic of doxycycline). i left for the long weekend, came back and now he looks like this (pics below). the whit spot further from his head is smaller, but the one closer to his eye is bigger. also, he swims a bit weirdly, not scraping/rubbing himself on things but a bit twitchily, favoring the side of his body that does not have the white hole/spot. also, another one of my corydoras has some kind of white growth above her eye, pics are attached of that as well. i think it's fungus but need a second opinion. (and yes i know you are supposed to have 3 of the same kind of corydora, i'm getting another tank soon and will get the right numbers of corydoras then). i'm feeling pretty overwhelmed and not sure what to do right now as now 2 of my fish have issues.

Volume and Frequency of water changes: usually 30% once a week

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: just dosed API fin + body cure but things got worse (it was a half dose as i only had enough meds for a half dose)

Tank inhabitants: 2 male endlers 3 corydoras

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): none

Exposure to chemicals: just the API fin + body cure

Digital photo (include if possible): the first photo is the before picture of what the corydora used to look like when the white spot/hole was smaller, then the next pics are of him now, and then the final pics are of the other corydora who looks like she has fungus.

please help if you can! thanks in advance!

Skip the salt in this case, to me this looks more like a bacterial infection.

I would source out some antibiotics such as kanamycin (kanaplex) and treat with that.

NCaquatics said:

Skip the salt in this case, to me this looks more like a bacterial infection.

I would source out some antibiotics such as kanamycin (kanaplex) and treat with that.

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thanks so much. tomorrow is prime day so i'll see if i can get a good price for it. i'm worried about it crashing my cycle though, do you know if it's safe? i don't have a spare filter for a hospital tank but have an air pump and air stone for bath usage. also, do you think it could be hole in the head disease? and should i try treating with paraguard? i'm not sure what to do for the corydora that i think has fungus. thanks again!

I would take a bit of your filter media out, place it in a bag of water with prime. Then do treatment. When treatment is done you can place it back in your filter to re-seed your cycle.

NCaquatics said:

I would take a bit of your filter media out, place it in a bag of water with prime. Then do treatment. When treatment is done you can place it back in your filter to re-seed your cycle.

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good idea, i didn't think of that haha. i also did some reading about it and most people said their cycle was fine. would you suggest treating the tank with paraguard in the meantime or just leaving the tank be until i can get the kanaplex? thanks so much

I know Melafix is a natural.antiobiotic that doesn't affect cycle. It does get absorbed by active carbon tho. Depending on your filter, the cartridge on a HOB is just more for mechanical filtrations, with some chemical from the carbon. You can remove these, use Melafix as directed, and not disrupt your cycle. The filter will still maintain plenty.of.culture on the surfaces...

That tank looks like it could benefit from a smaller rubber lip pleco or some oto's. Get that glass cleared up of algae. Algae can sometimes produce toxins and.release them into the water. Not sayin this is what happened, but, you'd make a gang of oto's a happy bunch in there. Maybe a bristlenose of something....

Uhm.. algae is a plant like organism, it functions like plants and is harmless.
Melafix unfortunately is not very effective either

Anyways, I'd say just go with the kanaplex. Id skip the paraguard as you dont want to overdo it with the medications if there isn't a need.

Please don't add a pleco or otos to a ten gallon, at least don't add anything while treating a disease. Plecos are too large for a ten gallon, otos have specific requirements.

While the algae isn't causing harm, I would take a clean, chemical free unused sponge and clean the tank walls. You can remove the algae yourself that way, and we want to prepare the tank for treatment. Clean the inside of the glass, and give the substrate a good vac as well, and do a 75% water change. When fighting a bacterial infection, you want to remove as many disease organisms as possible. Less of the (harmful) bacteria in the tank, easier for the cories to fight off what they're already dealing with. Clean fresh water is the best medicine, and water changes won't harm your cycle since the beneficial, nitrifying bacteria live in the filter and on tank surfaces, not in the water column. Cleaning the substrate won't remove too many of the helpful bacteria, but it's important to have clean substrate when you have cories.

Do daily 50-75% water changes until new meds arrive, then remove any carbon from your filter before dosing the antibiotic, since carbon absorbs medications.

You can save that portion/any BB living on the carbon/other media you put aside by putting it in a container of old tank water with an airstone running on it (BB need oxygenation to survive, and the media mustn't be allowed to dry out). But bear in mind that while antibiotics might cause a mini-cycle, it usually is a mini cycle rather than a full tank crash. Means you have to monitor with water tests and might need to do large daily water changes for a while, as filter bacteria re-grow the colony to its previous size, but the antibiotics don't usually wipe out all of the beneficial bacteria, just knock the colony size down a bit, so they need some time and some management for a while to catch up.

AdoraBelle Dearheart said:

Please don't add a pleco or otos to a ten gallon, at least don't add anything while treating a disease. Plecos are too large for a ten gallon, otos have specific requirements.

While the algae isn't causing harm, I would take a clean, chemical free unused sponge and clean the tank walls. You can remove the algae yourself that way, and we want to prepare the tank for treatment. Clean the inside of the glass, and give the substrate a good vac as well, and do a 75% water change. When fighting a bacterial infection, you want to remove as many disease organisms as possible. Less of the (harmful) bacteria in the tank, easier for the cories to fight off what they're already dealing with. Clean fresh water is the best medicine, and water changes won't harm your cycle since the beneficial, nitrifying bacteria live in the filter and on tank surfaces, not in the water column. Cleaning the substrate won't remove too many of the helpful bacteria, but it's important to have clean substrate when you have cories.

Do daily 50-75% water changes until new meds arrive, then remove any carbon from your filter before dosing the antibiotic, since carbon absorbs medications.

You can save that portion/any BB living on the carbon/other media you put aside by putting it in a container of old tank water with an airstone running on it (BB need oxygenation to survive, and the media mustn't be allowed to dry out). But bear in mind that while antibiotics might cause a mini-cycle, it usually is a mini cycle rather than a full tank crash. Means you have to monitor with water tests and might need to do large daily water changes for a while, as filter bacteria re-grow the colony to its previous size, but the antibiotics don't usually wipe out all of the beneficial bacteria, just knock the colony size down a bit, so they need some time and some management for a while to catch up.

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thanks so much! i know that my tank is pretty much at it's stocking limit, i'd never put a pleco or a group of otos in a tank that small (i know otos like a larger group). i was growing out the algae as kind of an experiment for something but i will scrub it off prior to medicating. good tip with the airstone, thanks! and i'll do the water changes as well. but i'm not sure if kanaplex is the best medication to go with, i checked the website and it said that corydoras could be sensitive to it (since they're scale less fish) and it's not good for plants. my entire tank is planted and i can't set up a hospital tank. do you have any medication suggeststions or should i stick with the kanaplex and risk it? some people on the amazon reviews said that it was fine for their corydoras and plants

I have had oto's in a.10 gallon. They were perfectly fine. They only get an inch long. They like heavily planted tanks.

As for algae being harmless, it may be now. It actually releases gasses into the environment and.other things. There is a.reason why when there is a major algae bloom in lakes that it is followed by fish die off. Depending on the type, it.can be very toxic. It can kill off all the plant life as well. If it can.destroy an.ecology in a big lake with millions.of gallons, it.certainly can.do harm in a 10 gallon. It might look like a plant, but it ain't. It is a.mass of.cellular organisms. Ever opened a tank with a lid covered in it? The off gas will knock you over. It is best for everything in there to keep that under control and.minimal. If ya want to use a manual method, cool. If you don't want.to add a.few oto's, get a nerite snail or 2. They will go to town as.well.

Corys, and yes even.oto's, require a.minimum of a.29 gallon tank. They are both very social fish, so being.kept alone will cause issues sometimes. And by alone I mean without any of their.kind. Sometimes you get a lucky one, but yes, you should keep corys in groups of 3 minimum, 6 ideally.

Fishiemang said:

I have had oto's in a.10 gallon. They were perfectly fine. They only get an inch long. They like heavily planted tanks.

As for algae being harmless, it may be now. It actually releases gasses into the environment and.other things. There is a.reason why when there is a major algae bloom in lakes that it is followed by fish die off. Depending on the type, it.can be very toxic. It can kill off all the plant life as well. If it can.destroy an.ecology in a big lake with millions.of gallons, it.certainly can.do harm in a 10 gallon. It might look like a plant, but it ain't. It is a.mass of.cellular organisms. Ever opened a tank with a lid covered in it? The off gas will knock you over. It is best for everything in there to keep that under control and.minimal. If ya want to use a manual method, cool. If you don't want.to add a.few oto's, get a nerite snail or 2. They will go to town as.well.

Corys, and yes even.oto's, require a.minimum of a.29 gallon tank. They are both very social fish, so being.kept alone will cause issues sometimes. And by alone I mean without any of their.kind. Sometimes you get a lucky one, but yes, you should keep corys in groups of 3 minimum, 6 ideally.

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She said that otos need specific care, not that they won't work in a 10 gallon. I agree, they aren't a "beginner" fish imo.

NCaquatics said:

Uhm.. algae is a plant like organism, it functions like plants and is harmless.
Melafix unfortunately is not very effective either

Anyways, I'd say just go with the kanaplex. Id skip the paraguard as you dont want to overdo it with the medications if there isn't a need.

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thanks so much! and i'm not a fan of the mela/pima/betta fix products as i know they are harmful to some fish (the ones with labyrinth organs especially) so i was not going to go that route.

what does worry me about kanaplex is the effects it will have on my plants and my corydoras. i went to the seachem website and it said plants are harmed by it, and corydoras are sensitive to it (since they are scale less). do you think i should still go for it and risk it? have you used it in planted tanks with corydoras? can i do a kanaplex bath? i'd like to add it to the water column and into their food as the infection seems to be on the exterior of his body. and how helpful is it with fungus? i think that's what my other corydora has and i'm not sure how to treat that either.

sorry for all of the questions and thank you so much for your help!

I've not.found special care.needs...but....is what it is.

Use water changes.

An old guy years ago told me: Be a water keeper, not a fish keeper.

If the water is good, the fish will heal. I agree with the above statement that water is the best medicine. Is very true.

I will gracefully bow out now.

lavathebetta said:

thanks so much! i know that my tank is pretty much at it's stocking limit, i'd never put a pleco or a group of otos in a tank that small (i know otos like a larger group). i was growing out the algae as kind of an experiment for something but i will scrub it off prior to medicating. good tip with the airstone, thanks! and i'll do the water changes as well. but i'm not sure if kanaplex is the best medication to go with, i checked the website and it said that corydoras could be sensitive to it (since they're scale less fish) and it's not good for plants. my entire tank is planted and i can't set up a hospital tank. do you have any medication suggeststions or should i stick with the kanaplex and risk it? some people on the amazon reviews said that it was fine for their corydoras and plants

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I'm not super knowledgeable on meds available in the US I'm afraid, but since @NCaquatics suggested that one and she's our cory expert who keeps many species and breeds them too, and is careful about their sensitivities, I'd trust her judgement. @NCaquatics have you used kanaplex?

Personally I've used eSHa 2000 on what seemed to be a bacterial infection on my cories recently, they healed up and didn't seem stressed by it, but I don't think eSHa products are available in the US? Have a look and see, it's also anti-fungal.

Having said that, I don't *think* the mark on your second cory is fungal, it doesn't look raised and fuzzy in the pic, it looks like the early stages of the same affliction the other one has, to me. But maybe you could get more pics after cleaning the glass? Also if you turn off all other light sources in the room other than tank lights, and don't use flash, you won't get those reflections when you take tank photos

AdoraBelle Dearheart said:

I'm not super knowledgeable on meds available in the US I'm afraid, but since @NCaquatics suggested that one and she's our cory expert who keeps many species and breeds them too, and is careful about their sensitivities, I'd trust her judgement. @NCaquatics have you used kanaplex?

Personally I've used eSHa 2000 on what seemed to be a bacterial infection on my cories recently, they healed up and didn't seem stressed by it, but I don't think eSHa products are available in the US? Have a look and see, it's also anti-fungal.

Having said that, I don't *think* the mark on your second cory is fungal, it doesn't look raised and fuzzy in the pic, it looks like the early stages of the same affliction the other one has, to me. But maybe you could get more pics after cleaning the glass? Also if you turn off all other light sources in the room other than tank lights, and don't use flash, you won't get those reflections when you take tank photos

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i'll go do that right now and attach pictures! it does look a little fuzzy to me but it's hard to tell in the pics, hopefully the new pics will help. what does confuse me is what this disease could even be. i thought the cory with the hole in his side got it from scraping himself and then it got infected. i guess it's possible the other one scraped herself and now it's going through the same thing but the fungus/disease is acting different, it's growing a bit faster.

i looked online for esha 2000 but i can't order it here in the US, thanks though! keep an eye out for the pics, they should be attached in the next 20 or so minutes. thanks again!