Sick Albino Cory - Help Please

[This Old Spouse]

Maybe someone else has a better knowledge about Esha 2000. I know what it's for but that's about it.
 
After reading your description about what happened to the cory (getting caught in the java moss) I'm leaning toward injury rather than illness.
 
 

 

[mark4785]

No, unfortunately I don't have a spare tank. Is it not wise to add the recommended 2nd/3rd doses over the weekend? It does say it isn't harmful to other fish but I don't want to cause further issues.

Is this Cory lethargic? The reason I ask is because they usually swim away from direct light and it looks as though it's tired. 
 
Lethargy is usually accompanied by fin and body rot probably from the onset of bacterial septicemia getting into the wounds.

 
Both of the Albino's have been a bit lethargic over the past couple of days. although this is the only one showing physical signs of illness. My peppered Cory are fine and behaving normally.

 
 
I would medicate for fin rot and early signs of body rot. Definitely medicate for the former because white ends at the tip of the fin are actually an indicator of this disease.
 
You need to ideally topically treat the ends of the fins and seal them from pathogens in the water using propolis. Melafix will be a good product to use for this although I'm not sure if you just add it to the water or can actually topically treat with it. I'd personally use the NT Labs koi paramedic kit product to topically treat it but you will need to be efficient in everything you do to minimise stress.

 

[greenmumma141]

If you're wary about treating the whole tank, and I don't blame you, you could always scoop the cory out and treat with a medicine bath in a bucket. I use a two gallon bucket, a gallon would do too, that way you can still deal with the correct dosing.  

 

[NickBFC]

Cheers for the replies. Sadly, I woke up early this morning and the poorly Albino had passed away The other fish all seem fine so I have done a decent sized water change and will continue to monitor stats. May well have been the injury/trauma from getting caught up the other day.

 

[This Old Spouse]

 
So sorry for the loss. Probably for the best in the long run. I have an old albino that should've passed away months ago, but she's still hanging on. She doesn't seem to be suffering so I can't quite bring myself to end her little life.

 

[mark4785]

Sorry to hear about the loss.
 
I would recommend doing a considerable water change, using a syphon to clean the gravel as you do so, so as to remove any necrotic tissue that came off of the ill fish. This will stamp out the likelihood of the healthy fish eating something that they shouldn't.

 

[NickBFC]

Thanks, did a big change earlier today so hopefully this will help. The other Albino is still acting strangely (lying with head partly buried in sand etc), and lethargic. Although I have seen him swimming around so I am not sure what's going on. All of the other fish look/behave absolutely normally. 

 

[mark4785]

Thanks, did a big change earlier today so hopefully this will help. The other Albino is still acting strangely (lying with head partly buried in sand etc), and lethargic. Although I have seen him swimming around so I am not sure what's going on. All of the other fish look/behave absolutely normally. 

 
Could you provide a picture? This would help me and others to see if there is anything wrong.
 
It could be that it is also developing fin-rot and body-rot due to either bad water quality or from being injured on something.

 

[NickBFC]

Here's a picture of the fish. There seems to be some small white spots (the picture is as clear as I could get) but I am not sure if these are normal, or a disease of some sort. Since the big water change, it seems to be behaving more normally but at times is still burying head in sand/lying at strange angles which he wasn't doing before.
 

 

 

[mark4785]

Here's a picture of the fish. There seems to be some small white spots (the picture is as clear as I could get) but I am not sure if these are normal, or a disease of some sort. Since the big water change, it seems to be behaving more normally but at times is still burying head in sand/lying at strange angles which he wasn't doing before.
 

 

 
Thanks for the picture.
 
Are there any fertiliser tablets or food buried in the sand? If the fish is hungry I guess it could go to strange lengths (i.e. burying it's head) to get food. Another explanation for it burying it's dead would be to get out of view of your lighting; the skin of albino's are more sensitive to light. In my opinion, the skin of the albino does look a bit more reddened than it should be. 
 
If the spots you mention are white (and the size of a grain of salt) the fish will have white spot (treatable with Waterlife Protozin). If they are the same size but yellow, it will have Oodinium (velvet) disease (treatable with WaterLife Protozin).
 
Its quite possible that it could have one of the above seeing as some of your stock are suffering from skin problems (i.e. fin-rot and body-rot) which would allow parasites to take hold in the skin more easily.
 
Is the fish rubbing its skin on objects? You may have to observe the fish for 30-60 minutes because Corydoras tend to sit for long periods.
 
What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and PH level of your aquarium water? Ammonia & nitrite should be 0 ppm, nitrate should be below 30 ppm and your PH, for Corydoras fish, should be between 6 and 7.2. If you have any issues with these water parameters you should do as many water changes as you can to get the water parameters in range. Never medicate an aquarium until the water is suitable.

 

[Aviici]

Not sure if anyone else has said/asked about this but.. do you have a heater guard? If all the other fish seem fine, then maybe your late Albino Cory could have burned himself on the heater and given himself that wound. This could then cause his little friend to be a bit lonely after losing his pal, and therefore behave a bit differently, probably lonely.
If all the other fish are fine and you don't have a heater guard this could be the case...
 
If not ignore this Hope it could help though, Good Luck!

 

[NickBFC]

Thanks for the replies. The marks are white, but bigger than white spot - it may be natural, I don't remember if he had these before though. The Nitrite/Ammonia levels are always 0 (tested again today), I haven't tested Nitrate yet but will do later if I have a chance. My PH is high in this area, around 8.0 but as the fish has been healthy for about 5-6 months I'm not sure if the higher PH would be the issue?
 
I don't have a heater guard so you could be right although I reckon the late fish damaged herself on the plant when she got tangled up (since cut that right back). The remaining Albino could well be lonely, but he was acting a bit strangely a day or so before the other fish died. All of the other fish are still fine without showing any issues, although the Albino does seem to be swimming around normally today so I guess I need to keep monitoring the situation.

 

[mark4785]

A PH of 8.0 is a bit high for a Corydoras as they do come from South America where the PH is acidic/neutral in their natural environment. You may want to try reducing the PH very gradually to see if the reddened patch disappears. I'm sure that if you told an experienced LFS fish hobbyist that your PH was 8.0 (not a sales' person) they would agree that it's a bit on the high side for that fish.
 
My armoured Corydoras are kept in water with a PH of 5.5 - 6.5 and they often chase each other through breeding caves and have a good appetite.