Albino Cory Cats

[Maxta]

Are Albino Cory Cats harder to keep than others such as bronze or peppers?

Iv had 3 peppers for 6+ weeks and never had a problem with them, theyre getting on fine, along with a betta.

So i fell in love with catfish and decided to get some different types, so i went with albinos. I bought two about 2 weeks ago, and one of them died last week....i guess that was my fault due to the stress of changing the tank and putting new sand in, since he was a young one. So it left me with 1 albino. So two days ago i bought another two albinos to keep him company.

Now i think one of the new additions is gona die, again its the smallest. Ever since i added him to the tank hes been obsessed with the top of the tank, and the other one swims in the middle of the tank back and forth against the front window lol, i think he likes the airstone tbh. But anyways today iv noticed less movement from the smaller one thats at the top of the tank, and he kinda sits in a verticle position with his mouth at the very top of the water, and sometimes floats about with the current and then will swim off. Sometimes he done these kind of rolls too.

Also i noticed that the two new catfish have some kind of stuff, well fuzz, hard to explain, on their fins, and on the one who likes the airstone seems to have a tiny bit took out of his caudal, and his dorsal fin.

None of my 3 peppers have this, and neither does the other albino, or the betta.

The albinos i bought were from pets at home, and i made sure they were from a tank with no dead ones in, and the liveliest. And they looked in good condition when i studied them before buying.

Since noticing the one swimming at the top, i took the top off and put my hand in to chase him down and its worked. I also put my hand cupped in the water and he swam into it and started picking at me which was pretty cool. But since then ehs gone to the bottom of the tank.

Edit: Damn just after i posted this message, i thought he was dead. Was on the bottom of the tank practically on his side, so i moved the ornament to fish him out and hes now swimming about again....

Heres a video of him doing his thing, click it to view it:



If you look at the video and see the position hes in, verticle, thats what hes doing now, but no movement for a while, and then he'l be off again.

And if i had to guess, even though im not an expert and havent seen fin rot before, i would guess it was that. Their fins look ragged around the edges, with tiny irregularities in them, compared to all my 3 peppers and the other albino. Also the outside of the fins look whiteish.

Questions;

1) Is this fin rot? Could it also cause the other albino to be swimming at the top of the tank like that?

2) So i assuming i will need to buy meds, if so whats the best, or are they all effective?

3) Will the meds kill any bacteria in my filter? Im assuming they will because they kill the bacteria on the fish causing the fin rot, but need confirmation off someone.

4) If it is fin rot, why only two of the albinos, why not the other one or any of the other fish? Could it be possible they had it when in the shop?

 

[jollysue]

First question: Are you in the States or the UK? In the States get a Mardel product and it won't kill the bacteria. In the UK, someone else will give you help on meds.

Second question: have you tested the water? I suspect water quality issues from the behavior. Water problems can also lead to fin rot and other infections such as fungal.

A point of information: Albino is not a species it is a variety of species. Most available albinos are bronze, pepper and sterbai. I have albino peppers and they are no more susceptible than my other peppers. It is possible that the second albinos are a different species.

There are many unanswered questions that need to be answered in order to have a grasp of what may be going on. There is a list of the information needed pinned in the emergency forum.

Hope the little guys get better.

 

[WILDER]

Update on post.
http/www.fishforums.net/Think-My-Albinos...ot-t192380.html

 

[Maxta]

Wilder already answered in emergency, i posted in there as i thought it was more appropriate. Take a look if you wish:

http/www.fishforums.net/Think-My-Albinos...ot-t192380.html

Edit: Doh beat me to it lol.

 

[WILDER]

Put it on here so other members could advise.

 

[jollysue]

The fluffy stuff isn't actually fin rot, more likely fungus and/or columnaris--nasty stuff. I use a combination of anti fungal and anti bacterial. Because I am in the States I use Mardel Products--usually Maroxy for fungus, and I last used Trifulsa effectively for the bacterial (lost lots of plants though), but there are several Mardel antibiotics to chose from--very confusing.

Most likely the little guy started with one infection and then developed secondary infections.

Hope the rest do well. I suggest you start to learn to use a quarantine and hopital tank. It is cost effective and safer.

I'm sorry I deserted you before. I was headed to bed. I also was guessing you were in the UK and would be using different meds.

 

[Maxta]

No room for a quarantine tank anywhere unfortunately. My other fish seem okay, busy treating the water with King BritishFin Rot and Fungus control, added the first dose today at 1pm. But i read somewhere that its recommended to add stuff like what iv bought to the tank when introducing new fish JUST INCASE they have carried it from the shop. Is this true?

Whatever the stuff is, im unsure, but its probably a combo of both fin rot and fungus like you said, because the one that died had more fungus on him, as well as signs of finrot. And the other albino i mentioned thats still alive clearly looks like he has fin rot as his fins are alot more ragged and hav small bits out of them, but not much fungus. Hopefully this King British stuff works. On a good note, he seems happy swimming back and forth across the glass in the middle of the tank, loves the air stone i think lol, so no signs of him popping his clogs.

Thanks

PS. I told the lady in the shop that i bought the albinos two days ago and i think they had fin rot, asked her about the meds i was going to buy and said yeah thatl do just make sure you take the carbon out of your filter (good advice), then said have i tested my water because thats whats probably caused it, i said yeah its all fine, only traces of nitrate but that wasnt high, then said just could have been a secondary thing it picked up in my water and caused this. I am entitled to go back and get a replacement albino, but since iv lost two albinos out of four, both in the first week of getting them, on seperate occasions, i dont think il bother.

 

[WILDER]

Turn temp down by two degrees as columnaris thrives in warmer temps.

 

[Maxta]

Will do. Just the heater is weird, i think it may be because my rooms warm. I have the heater set at 24oC, but the thermometer at the other side of the tank measures the water as being 27oC, its been like this since i got it. So i know whatever temperature i want my tank at, itl be 3oC celcius lower on the heater lol.

So guess il have to turn it down to 22oC, and thatl make the water 25oC. That a better temperature? Only reason i had it at that temperature was because the betta was the first thing i bought.

Thanks for the tip