Cory with red sore looking spot!

[Polardbear]

I just noticed one of my cory girls has developed a red sore looking spot. I did not see this on her yesterday so it must have just come up. I've moved her and her sister to an isolation tank but I don't have any idea what to do for her. Her sister looks kind of pink in the exact same area. Anyone have any idea what could be wrong with them?

The tank they came out of is at 77 degrees, sand substrate, 20 gallon, ammonia 0, nitrite 0 and nitrate 20. Water changes 30% weekly. I've had these 2 girls for about 9 or 10 months and never had any problems with them before. They are both eating fine and very active - doing synchronized swimming routines all around the tank.

This is the girl with the red sore -

Another shot of the sore -

And this is the other female who is getting pink in the same area -

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Polardbear

I hate to see that on a cory! It's a bacterial infection in an advanced state.

As soon as possible, please give them a good water change and treat it with Kanamycin (Seachem's KanaPlex) or Tetracycline, or you could try using Maracyn 1 & 2 together. Do it tonight if you can.

Good luck to you. I hope they recover soon.

 

[Polardbear]

Thanks Inchworm. I'm running to the LFS right now to get some Kanamycin. I moved them into a 10 gal tank by themselves and changed the water before I put them in it.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Polardbear

Don't blame yourself about this, you are doing everything right. It's something about this time of year that causes a lot of corys to get sick. I have some I'm treating too.

 

[Polardbear]

Darn, I so wish I hadn't gone to the LFS. I went to the one store anywhere near me that usually has Kanamyacin, and of course they were out. They didn't have any Tetracycline either. Took a quick peek at their tanks and wouldn't you know it? They had 4 little males of the same species as my 2 sick girls. I've only been trying to find them some male companions since January or February. Darn it, I had to pass on them as the girls are now in the only open tank I had. Not to mention the way my luck runs if I'd bought them the girls wouldn't make it and I'd spend another 6 months looking for females for them.

Continued on down the road to the next LFS and of course they had neither med on hand but had a new shipment of Adolfoi corys in! And fairly reasonably priced, $11.99 each or 3 for $27.99. I don't know how yet but I am going to figure out a way to free up one of the other 10 gallon tanks tonight. I have got to have those Adolfois!!!

Third store I finally found some Tetracycline and have given the girls their first dose. I also added an airstone to the tank to increase the oxygen. They are still swimming around like they don't have a care in the world, I hope that's a good sign. Should I consider adding a little salt to the tank or not? Also, is 77-78 degrees ok for the temp? I can warm it up more if needed but that's about as cool as it's going to get.

Thanks for your help Inchworm, as always it's greatly appreciated!

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Polardbear

Hummm..............My recommendation to you now is to just give in and get another tank! You know you want it, and you really can't loose out on the chance to get those adolfois! They are stunning fish, and they are not very often seen, at least around my way.

I had a similar experience today too, but fortunatly I got off with only buying another little African Dwarf Frog to replace one that had died a while ago. After buying those black corys this weekend, I've shot my entire fish budget for the next 10 years, at least!

Anyway, the lfs was out of KanaPlex, which is the medicine I usually use, so I am trying out the Tetracycline on a tank of sterbais. He said that's what he usually uses for catfish, and I do trust this man. He's had a good many years in the business and has never steered me wrong yet.

As for the temperature, 75-76 degrees is usually best for fish with bacterial infections because the lower temperature slows the growth of the harmful bacteria. I think that the temperature has a lot to do with corys, and probably other fish, getting sick at this time of year. A sudden rise in temperature can be as harmful as a sudden drop, at least for corys, and can lead to bacterial infections. If you can't keep it that low, there's not much you can do about it, but at least don't warm them up!

My theory is that when a house is closed up during the heat of the day, the water in small tanks can heat up fairly quickly and then drop again when the owner comes home and turns on the air conditioner. After a few times, the fish gets sick. The sudden shortage of meds at the lfs seems to confirm that many people are having the same problem, and if you look at all the members with sick corys, you'll surely see that we are not alone with this.

I don't think salt will help much since you are already using a strong medicine, but as a last resort, and I hope it doesn't come to that, salt dips might be worth a try. They are quite helpful in fighting the kind of infection that looks like fungus and eats away at tails, fins and barbells, but I'm not sure if they will do yours much good.

Let's hope for the best and give the Tetracycline a few days to work.

 

[Polardbear]

I'm seeing some improvement this morning, the angry red color has faded to a pinkish color. I'm feeling a little more optimistic about the girls today!

I'm wondering if this is fallout from an incident 11 days ago. On the 14th we had a 2 hour power failure. 2 hours doesn't seem very long but when it's 105 degrees outside the house went from 78 to 86 degrees and all the tanks (which had been at 75/76 degrees) climbed to the 80-81 degree range. It took almost 24 hours to get them back down to 78 and I haven't been able to get them below 77 since. My water out of the tap that day was at 82 degrees and currently is at 86 degrees. To do water changes I either have to fill my buckets up and let them sit overnight or float frozen bottles of water in them for a few minutes. Other than that one day the house is at a constant 78-80 degrees. I work nights and the bf works days so the A/C is never off. I've been watching all the tanks closely since that day and I had a couple of days where I got nitirite readings of .25 in a couple of tanks and did water changes but everything seems stabilized now. I'm going to point a fan at the sick cory tank and see if I can get it to come down another degree or 2.

I'm off to the LFS now, those Adolfois are calling me. The bettas have volunteered to give up their divided 10 gallon tank and move back to individual tanks temporarily. I'll just pull the dividers and the Adolfois will have a place to stay for a few weeks.

Will continue with the Tetracycline for at least 5 days. Here are todays pictures -