Pale and inactive Cory catfish

[Harryg00]

One of my four Cory catfish has suddenly gone pale and very inactive in the past week and isn’t eating now any help with this would be appreciated.
My tank is 54 litres with 5 neon tetras, 1 guppy and 4 Cory catfish.
And the tank stats are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and 10 nitrate.

 

[mark4785]

I have experienced these symptoms in Corydoras in the past. All the symptoms point to an internal bacterial infection. As this fish doesn’t fair well with bacterial infections I would recommend you treat the water ASAP with anti-bacterial medication. One effective product is Waterlife Myxazin.

If you a feeding any frozen or live foods that are getting stuck in the gravel/filtration system stop feeding this as this is often the source of the bacterial infection as it rots.

If you have been feeding these kind of foods, or the tank is otherwise dirty, do a thorough cleaning of the filter media in a bucket of tank water and clean the gravel thoroughly. Follow this up with a 80%+ water change.

 

[Harryg00]

I have experienced these symptoms in Corydoras in the past. All the symptoms point to an internal bacterial infection. As this fish doesn’t fair well with bacterial infections I would recommend you treat the water ASAP with anti-bacterial medication. One effective product is Waterlife Myxazin.

If you a feeding any frozen or live foods that are getting stuck in the gravel/filtration system stop feeding this as this is often the source of the bacterial infection as it rots.

If you have been feeding these kind of foods, or the tank is otherwise dirty, do a thorough cleaning of the filter media in a bucket of tank water and clean the gravel thoroughly. Follow this up with a 80%+ water change.

I have been doing large water changes the past few of days to try and help it but it is now lay on its side so i fear there is not much helping it now.
I do have some interpet anti internal bacteria if that would help?

 

[mark4785]

I have been doing large water changes the past few of days to try and help it but it is now lay on its side so i fear there is not much helping it now.
I do have some interpet anti internal bacteria if that would help?

You could always try it. I personally stick with what I know works well which is Myxazin.

If it is laying on its side then it is probably too late. I take note you have another Corydoras in the tank so it may still be worth treating and cleaning the tank so it does not succumb to the same problem.

 

[Harryg00]

You could always try it. I personally stick with what I know works well which is Myxazin.

If it is laying on its side then it is probably too late. I take note you have another Corydoras in the tank so it may still be worth treating and cleaning the tank so it does not succumb to the same problem.

Just before making the post I did a water change of about 75% (the picture is from last night) and cleaned the filter and have now just added some of the anti internal bacteria so I’ll just have to see what happens

 

[mark4785]

Keep us updated. Unfortunately if it is on its side and also not eating it will die. The treatment is more a preventative at this stage in my opinion.

 

[Harryg00]

Keep us updated. Unfortunately if it is on its side and also not eating it will die. The treatment is more a preventative at this stage in my opinion.

Yeah I agree.
but one thing that I have just found I just tested my water and both the general hardness and carbonate hardness are reading 0 on the test strips which I haven’t seen before.

 

[mark4785]

Yeah I agree.
but one thing that I have just found I just tested my water and both the general hardness and carbonate hardness are reading 0 on the test strips which I haven’t seen before.

What is your aquarium pH level and what is your tap water KH and GH?

If your carbonate hardness is 0 your pH will be changing wildly which is lethal. You can raise it slowly by adding 5 tsp of bicarbonate of soda per 50 gallons of water.

 

[Harryg00]

What is your aquarium pH level and what is your tap water KH and GH?

If your carbonate hardness is 0 your pH will be changing wildly which is lethal. You can raise it slowly by adding 5 tsp of bicarbonate of soda per 50 gallons of water.

Well I’ve just done a larger water change and both the GH and KH were reading 0 or close to it but the Ph is between 6.5 and 7 on the test strip

 

[Harryg00]

GH and KH

 

[mark4785]

The test strip method of testing is highly unreliable. I would recommend using the API GH & KH testing kit. More information can be found here: https://apifishcare.com/product/gh-kh-test-kit .

 

[Slaphppy7]

Get one of these, the paper strip tests aren't known for the best accuracy: https://apifishcare.com/product/freshwater-master-test-kit

The GH and KH tests aren't included, they are available separately: https://apifishcare.com/product/gh-kh-test-kit

 

[Slaphppy7]

The test strip method of testing is highly unreliable. I would recommend using the API GH & KH testing kit. More information can be found here: https://apifishcare.com/product/gh-kh-test-kit .

We posted at the same time, lol

 

[Harryg00]

Unfortunately the Cory has died and a tetra went with it but other than that all the other fish seem happy and healthy but I will look into one of these test kits

 

[mark4785]

We posted at the same time, lol

Pfft copy-cat (fish).