? Sick Cory

[righter]

Hi all! I'm a new member, a new cory mom, and relatively new to aquaria.

I have two small (0.5 - 0.75") corys who I've had for about 3 weeks. The fish store where I got them said they were aeneus corys, but I'm really not sure and fish stores have given me bad info more times than I can count.

They're currently sharing a tank with 2 fancy goldfish. We lost a fancy goldfish shortly after we got the corys. The vet said she thought it was a tumor and we think maybe she swallowed a piece of gravel. So it probably wan't infectious. But to be safe, everyone is getting a course of PraziPro and Jungle Anti-Parasite food. We're midway through the Prazi treatment.

One of the corys seems very healthy, active, eats well, etc. The other one, who is smaller, spends most of his time hiding. Even when I feed them, he doesn't participate in the feeding frenzy, although after a while he will go scavenge in the gravel or on the fake rock. He is able to swim perfectly well, but seems to get tired easily. Sometimes he just about convinces me he's fine, and then he goes back to being "off".

We finally got out the magnifying glass to look at him and he has a white spot behind his gill on the left side. It's about level with his eye. It looks raised to me, as if something were "stuck" to him. The edges aren't well defined and a couple times it looked like maybe it had a "streamer" coming from it. (He's such a small fish that it's hard to tell. And he's too small to get a decent photo.)

I have no idea of what this is or what to do about it. I don't know if it's some sort of infection or if we ended up with a cory with congenital problems.

The environment:
37 G Eclipse tank
2 small (1.5-2 in each)fantail goldfish
2 small corycats (.75 in each)
PH 7.7
NH3 0
NO2 0
NO3 0 (tested multiple times with two test kits)
Hardness 100-125
Alk 100
Temp averages about 70.7, which I know is colder than they like.
Fluval 250 canister filter
Marineland filter/biowheel
Airstone

We use RO water with RO Right.

I've really grown attached to the corys and want to do whatever I can for this guy. Does anyone have any idea of what's wrong and/or what I should do to help?

Thanks!

 

[NEONCORY]

Well, I am not expert for diagnosing the ill of the fish. Here is something I know about. I know the goldfish are well...cold water fish and the Corys are tropical fish. I know the aeneus are indeed the hardiest among the corys. However they are still tropical fish and most would be much better in around 75F exception of few corys. Not to mention, white spot could be the ick. Which happen more often the fish had the cold spell also the recommended treatment for the ick is raise the temperature. So the cycle of this parasite will quicken and treat them while they are free swimming. Also the higher temperature give speedier metabolism for cory.
In short, I would definately separate the goldfish and corys in separate tanks/containers. Since you only have 2 corys, the container doesn't have to be big. 5G with heater and filter would be ideal but you probably can get away with 1~3G. And small container would be easier to treat the fish anyway however the smaller the water volume less steable the water is. So you have to keep eyes on the water parameter better.
Although I am not totally sure about it is ick or not. It sure sounds like it. And if it is, You do need to treat all the fish and water. Although goldfish might not like the higher temperature which usually use to treat this.
Any case, you probably need to separate them and treat them separate.
And after all this, I would difenately keep them in separate tank for their well being. The fish kept in the less than ideal water parameter is main cause of illness. Just like us, we catch cold when our body cooled to lower temerature too much. Or don't feel good when the temperature is too hot.,etc.
Although I don't know if you have another tank and right now is not good time to add any fish however Cory would be much happier if they are kept with more than 4~6 of their own kind.
But definately, please separate the Goldfish and Corydoras. And move to their right water parameter. And diagnose the illness properly and treat them accordingly. Since you don't have picture, you might have tough time getting advice from this forum.
But I hope your fish get better. Good luck.