Cory seems sick

This is it this morning

Lamie said:

There is still salt in the tank. When I did the water change I replaced the salt. I'll leave the salt in the for the recommended time 2 weeks. But how should I do my water changes for the next two weeks or so. If I did 4 10litre buckets last night when should I do the next water change?

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Can a mod merge this with the previous thread please? We're getting a bunch of scattered threads about the same tank that require combing through posting history or memorising all the details @GaryE @Fishmanic .

Lamie said:

There is still salt in the tank. When I did the water change I replaced the salt. I'll leave the salt in the for the recommended time 2 weeks. But how should I do my water changes for the next two weeks or so. If I did 4 10litre buckets last night when should I do the next water change?

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The salt might be what's helped that mouth wound heal up so fast.

The more water changes the better. Keep replacing the salt proportionately to the amount of water you're replacing.

Test the water daily. If ammonia or nitrites are ever above zero, a large water change is needed, and the lower the nitrates the better, but water change if it hits 20ppm or more.

Lamie said:

I am worried about the sand. I can buy it but I really don't know how to put it in. My thinking is that I make a corner with sand as I have a large piece of wood that I can place sideways through half the tank. Sorry about jumping around on different posts

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I explained how you can add it in a different thread. If you stick to the same thread so people have the same info, and ask follow up questions, then people are better able to help you without having to crawl back through posting history.

Yes, in the video and photo, he's still not in perfect condition. It's not an instant fix. But considering how red and raw that wound was on his mouth only the other day, shows improvement, he's not worse, he's better than he was, so giving him up as dead is odd.

AdoraBelle Dearheart said:

What percentage of the total water volume?

What temp is the tank at now, and have you checked ammonia, nitrites and nitrates again since?

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The tank is 24 degrees.
I can change 4 buckets (maybe 4 1/2 at a stretch)
I haven't checked ammonia, nitrites and nitrates but I will do

AdoraBelle Dearheart said:

Does ammonia usually show at 0.25ppm? It does happen sometimes, and some people always have that reading straight from the tap, but it's usually, I think, ammonium rather than ammonia, and therefore not a problem. But can a chemistry smart person like @Essjay , @Seisage or @gwand check that, with the pH given above, and see what you guys think, please? I get too confused with pH, GH, KH and potential swings, and the difference with the ammonia/ammonium.

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Yes, 0.25ppm can sometimes show up erroneously, depending on what test kit you're using. I've heard the API master kit can sometimes throw false results of 0.25ppm, but that also doesn't mean it can just be ignored.

To Lamie: The thing to also keep in mind about ammonia readings is that most test kits test for total ammonia, i.e. both ammonia (NH3) and ammonium (NH4). NH4 is much less toxic than NH3. It shouldn't be ignored, but it's not as much of a pressing issue, especially since plants can utilize it (nitrifying bacteria generally do not). The ratio of NH3:NH4 varies with pH and temperature. With a reading of 0.25ppm of total ammonia, a pH of 7.4, and a temp of 24C, the concentration of NH3 is 0.003ppm, which is technically considered safe. The cutoff is 0.025ppm of NH3, at which point it can start to harm fish. There's a good calculator and well as a set of tables that are good reference points for calculating free ammonia (NH3). If you aren't willing or prepared to measure all three (ammonia, pH, and temp) and look up the NH3 values every time you test your water, then just keep things simple and stick with the advice of doing water changes any time you see any ammonia show up on test results.

https://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/FreeAmmonia.php (note that you have to set salinity to 0ppt)

AdoraBelle Dearheart said:

So I'd knock the heater down a few degrees, and set it to only come on if it reaches 22 degrees C. That should keep it comfortable for both species.

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Agreed. This will also help reduce NH3 since higher temperatures = higher NH3 concentrations.

AdoraBelle Dearheart said:

I'd get another plant like limnophilia sessiliflora, or some cryptocorynes

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Here is a photo of the floating plants

I'll just post in this thread now.

Lamie said:

Here is a photo of the floating plants

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I think it's water sprite, isn't it, @Colin_T ? or @Wills ?

AdoraBelle Dearheart said:

I think it's water sprite, isn't it, @Colin_T ? or @Wills ?

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@MattW3344 any ideas which plant this is? I think water sprite, but I'm no where near 100% sure.

@Lamie did you get those water test results? Remember when testing nitrAtes with the API master test kit that the bottles need to not just be shaken, but really banged hard on a hard surface a few times, shaken, banged again, continue shaking etc. That stuff separates out when it settles and then can give an inaccurate reading, and it takes a decent amount of work to shake it up so it combines again properly.

I'm at the local fish shop this is the sand I can see

Or the even finer grain

AdoraBelle Dearheart said:

I think it's water sprite, isn't it, @Colin_T ? or @Wills ?

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@MattW3344 any ideas which plant this is? I think water sprite, but I'm no where near 100% sure.

@Lamie did you get those water test results? Remember when testing nitrAtes with the API master test kit that the bottles need to not just be shaken, but really banged hard on a hard surface a few times, shaken, banged again, continue shaking etc. That stuff separates out when it settles and then can give an inaccurate reading, and it takes a decent amount of work to shake it up so it combines again properly.

Lamie said:

I'm at the local fish shop this is the sand I can see

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I think I will get this one. It's not the finest but I think it will be ok

AdoraBelle Dearheart said:

@MattW3344 any ideas which plant this is? I think water sprite, but I'm no where near 100% sure.

@Lamie did you get those water test results? Remember when testing nitrAtes with the API master test kit that the bottles need to not just be shaken, but really banged hard on a hard surface a few times, shaken, banged again, continue shaking etc. That stuff separates out when it settles and then can give an inaccurate reading, and it takes a decent amount of work to shake it up so it combines again properly.

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The ammonia reads at between 0 and 0.25ppm. Its a bit more yellow than the last time I checked. Maybe it 0.20
The nitrite is 0. It's blue no mistaking it
Looks like nitrate is 0 as well.

AdoraBelle Dearheart said:

if it's consistently at the hotter end of their range, and you lose this sickly cory, then it may be worth considering returning or rehoming the remaining peppered cory, and switching to a more tropical type of cory that is less likely to struggle with the summer heat there. Or keeping something other than cories, if you want to keep the gravel substrate.

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I'm considering this now. I think I'll keep the gravel substrate. I'll try something other than cories and rehome the remaining cory. I'll still have to wait now for taking the salt dilution process and then wait another two weeks before I get anything else. The tetras. I could maybe get a few more. I'm not sure what other fish to get now. I'll research and read up on everything you have sent through

AdoraBelle Dearheart said:

@MattW3344 any ideas which plant this is? I think water sprite, but I'm no where near 100% sure.

@Lamie did you get those water test results? Remember when testing nitrAtes with the API master test kit that the bottles need to not just be shaken, but really banged hard on a hard surface a few times, shaken, banged again, continue shaking etc. That stuff separates out when it settles and then can give an inaccurate reading, and it takes a decent amount of work to shake it up so it combines again properly.

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pretty sure it is water sprite has very similar leaf structure to this