Corydoras and saltwater dip

[Alice B]

My nitrates got to 80 ppm on my 29 gallon in my busy season of April and May, I buffered pH but didn't do water changes and I have corydoras in the 29. of my 6 juvenile Julii cories, I lost 3. After the last one I noticed the missing whiskers. So I did a couple of water changes and 10 days of melafix but still a red splotch where there should be a whisker. And I ran a search for best antibiotic for corydoras whisker rot. What came up were instructions for a fairly light saltwater dip (1 teaspoon kosher salt per 1/2 L of water - about half the strength I normally use for dips). Well what do I have to lose, the fish have not been improving and we know antibiotics eat biological filters.

I fixed them up a dip, got all cories including my bronze guys that are ok but not perky in one cup, and dumped all into dip at once. Article recommended 15 to 30 minutes, so I looked at the clock, and I've kept an eye on them. Had some upside down little cories in the first couple of minutes, but I'm at 22 minutes now and every fish is right side up and looking better. Supposed to kill bacteria and boost the slime coat. I'm moving them all to a 10 gallon hospital tank with 10 gallons of their now cleaner water and one of their sponge filters while I redo their tank. But I think it might be a good treatment. Opinions?

 

[Byron]

Before subjecting cories (or any fish for that matter) to the additional stress of salt, make sure it is what is necessary. What is the substrate composed of? And nitrate at 80ppm is too high as you may know, this has to be brought down; while not usually a killer in itself, nitrate does weaken fish so they are more susceptible to various other issues.

 

[Alice B]

bare glass substrate. I have done a couple of large water changes to drop nitrate, that was where I started when I basically got home from work after a couple of months. (I drag in every night but during the busy season water changes are hard to arrange)

I am going to put them on a gravel substrate. I'm not thrilled with the sand filtration option, I had no substrate holding nitrates in that bare tank except the gravel in my chinese takeout dishes with the plants. 3 big sponge filters for filtration. I want them healthy and I want undergravel filtration. I lost 2 of my baby julii's to getting trapped between a sponge filter and a glass wall, only one to whisker rot. right now they are in a bare glass 10 with their water and a sponge filter from their tank. All survived the saltwater dip and came out happier. Then I doubled the salt volume and dipped the mollies from their tank, knowing mollies love salt, and put them in the 10 gallon too.

 

[Lynnzer]

I treated a tank with salt around 3 or 4 weeks ago. I had suspicions of some sort of fungal disease on a few fish. It didn't harm them, including the panda corys and sterbai and the tank seems to have corrected itself.
I did a water test before the salt addition, then after and I was horrified to see the difference. I tested for hardness with a TDS meter and the water appeared to have almost tripled in hardness.
I was so horrified that I changed half the water back again which meant of course that the salt dose was at 50% recommended.
Then Essjay brought me up to date by telling me that a TDS reading doesn't actually give me the hardness, Dang.
Never mind, the tank's running well now.

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[jaylach]

While I'm not all that experienced with using salt other than actually doing a marine aquarion I don't think that I'd use kosher salt. Whether doing a marine tank or medication I don't think that I'd use anything except Instant Ocean.

As an aside why do we (or at least myself) tend to use 'marine' only in relation to a salt tank? Are not all aquariums, whether salt or fresh, marine?

 

[GaryE]

This thread frightens me.

Salt is a chemical like any other. To a Corydoras, from often very pure freshwater, it is stressful and completely alien. But sometimes, if you use salt as a medication, it is worth it short term.

It does not replace antibiotics, clean clean water, did I say clean water and clean water. It doesn't kill bacteria. It boosts the slime coat by acting as an irritant, probably painful, that causes the fish to put its defenses into overdrive. With Ich parasites, for example, the extra slime makes it hard for them to burrow in and attach, so the pain gives a gain. There are far better Ich meds, but if you're stuck, it can be used.

Since slime is a big part of fish defenses, it can help with a variety of surface problems. But it is an irritant, and probably burns a bit.

Internally, it is great stuff if your fish has evolved over limestone, or in hard water. If your water is soft, and your fish are tuned to minerals in their systems, salt is good and can help with some diseases. In hardwater fish, it can help them balance the water inside and outside their bodies.

Ammonia and nitrate related problems? Nope. Not them.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS - what am I doing? There is salt (sodium chloride) and salts. Different things. Aquarium salt is just non iodized, kosher/pickling salt. Aquarium salts are mineral mixes used to achieve balances in marine tanks, brackish tanks, Rift lake tanks, etc. The formulation is different depending on the use, and the effects vary.

 

[Byron]

bare glass substrate. I have done a couple of large water changes to drop nitrate, that was where I started when I basically got home from work after a couple of months. (I drag in every night but during the busy season water changes are hard to arrange)

I am going to put them on a gravel substrate. I'm not thrilled with the sand filtration option, I had no substrate holding nitrates in that bare tank except the gravel in my chinese takeout dishes with the plants. 3 big sponge filters for filtration. I want them healthy and I want undergravel filtration. I lost 2 of my baby julii's to getting trapped between a sponge filter and a glass wall, only one to whisker rot. right now they are in a bare glass 10 with their water and a sponge filter from their tank. All survived the saltwater dip and came out happier. Then I doubled the salt volume and dipped the mollies from their tank, knowing mollies love salt, and put them in the 10 gallon too.

bare glass substrate. I have done a couple of large water changes to drop nitrate, that was where I started when I basically got home from work after a couple of months. (I drag in every night but during the busy season water changes are hard to arrange)

I am going to put them on a gravel substrate. I'm not thrilled with the sand filtration option, I had no substrate holding nitrates in that bare tank except the gravel in my chinese takeout dishes with the plants. 3 big sponge filters for filtration. I want them healthy and I want undergravel filtration. I lost 2 of my baby julii's to getting trapped between a sponge filter and a glass wall, only one to whisker rot. right now they are in a bare glass 10 with their water and a sponge filter from their tank. All survived the saltwater dip and came out happier. Then I doubled the salt volume and dipped the mollies from their tank, knowing mollies love salt, and put them in the 10 gallon too.

First, the barbel erosion is quite possibly due to the bare substrate. This should never be used with any fish, but certainly never with substrate feeders like cories. You might be surprised at how sharp the seemingly-smooth bottom glass actually is. And here again, bacteria are rampant because they do not have the grains upon which they can attach and properly develop.

Gravel is not a substrate for any cories, so please do not do that. They need sand. They expect sand so they can filter feed, the sand encourages the bacteria bed.

 

[DoubleDutch]

The legend of the Cory

Over the forty-plus years Ian Fuller has kept and bred Corydoras, he’s seen many twisted tales emerge. Here he looks at straightening a few of them back out.

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

 

[Alice B]

Legends be legends. I lost the most damaged julii this morning, having so far avoided antibiotics and instead doing lots of water changes in their 10 gallon. They have a 50 or 80 gallon sponge filter in there, well cultured. I see legends that recommend sand and others that recommend plain glass but at this point all recommend antibiotics. I put a thin layer of sand in their 10 and Furanace for the fin rot. While they aren't as bad as the one that died, 10 days of melafix did nothing to regrow whiskers, the salt dip seemed to help, but clearly they need antibiotics. If they can only live on sand in a 10 I'll find them a home if they survive. I figure a sand tank requires a weekly water change and that is not something I have time for. This layer is thin so it can't develop anaerobic bacterial processing

 

[DoubleDutch]

Meds and antibiotics don't do anything for the regrowth nor take away the cause of the infection. They will only will (hopefully) end the infection. Then we need provide the right circumstances to let them regrow (if the tissue isn't damaged too far).

I am not a sand fetishist but if Ian Fuller tells usnit is the best, I don't have any doubts. He is not just a legend but THE Corylegend.