Whats on my Corydoras skin?!

[Heather7465]

I'm at a loss to what my little Panda has? Please give me your thoughts on what he has, so I know how to treat it. Look behind his eye and gill. It's an oval raised shaped thing on his skin. It has a hard appearance not fuzzy such as, cotton wool disease. He has one protruding spot not multiple as I would typically see with ich or white spot disease. It's not on or in his gill like we would see with gill flukes. He is not flashing, he eats like a pig, and fins are never clamped due to stress.
I 30%-50% water change EVERY Sunday.
Have not added any new fish to my aquarium recently except for plants. Going to test my water here soon. I'll post asap. Had to run into town for multiple fish meds & a quarantine tank.

 

[Avel1896]

Hey
NH3 NO2 NO3 ?
GH KH pH ?
There's obviously an issue as your Cories, in addition to this "patch" have lost their barbels.

 

[Heather7465]

Hey
NH3 NO2 NO3 ?
GH KH pH ?
There's obviously an issue as your Cories, in addition to this "patch" have lost their barbels.

All 10 of my Corydoras p. have their barbels. I had to feed them to get this picture, so they are digging in the substrate. I'll post additional pictures of my fish so you can see their barbels

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Hey
NH3 NO2 NO3 ?
GH KH pH ?
There's obviously an issue as your Cories, in addition to this "patch" have lost their barbels.

I can see why you thought that, but if you look at the photo where he's up against the glass, looking at the camera, you can see the barbels. They just blend really well against the sand, making them hard to spot while they were digging in the other photos.

Also OP, love the honey gourami! What a beauty.

OP, I wouldn't add any medications until you're pretty sure you know what you're dealing with, so gonna tag @Colin_T .

I will say that my one of my bronzes had a similar lump at one time, not fuzzy like a fungus, or spreading or red like an infection, just a weird white patch that was almost like a little nodule or cyst, but hardly even raised. Never did find out what it was, but some extended treatment with eSHa-2000, a relatively safe broad treatment eventually got rid of it, and the fish seems fine now. Hope it's as simple for you!

 

[Heather7465]

All my readings are fine. pH is high 8 but I'm not about to throw in chemicals to lower my pH to neutral.
Thanks for the compliment AdoraBelle, on my guy Meghji my little honey gourami. He's the kindest smartest gourami you'll ever meet!
Anyways, I'm off track....so stupid question could it be his rib bone popping out? He's a very young corydora. Deformity?

 

[Avel1896]

All 10 of my Corydoras p. have their barbels. I had to feed them to get this picture, so they are digging in the substrate. I'll post additional pictures of my fish so you can see their barbels

That's nice
BUT pH 8 is way too high for Cories and Gouramis. GH ? KH ?

 

[Heather7465]

kH 120 ppm and gH 60-120 ppm (it's hard to tell). I can't chase my pH nor do I want to mess with it incase it causes more harm than good. My tap water is neutral (I tested it before deciding my species of fish. Being a new fish owner I should have tested pH in aquarium), so I don't know why my aquarium raises it.
My panda corydoras laid eggs, so the adults seem to be healthy and happy. This is my FIRST illness since starting the hobby 8 months ago.

 

[Avel1896]

It is GH 7 and KH ≃ 5
Such GH and KH paired with pH 8 seems weird to me.
@Byron ?

 

[Byron]

I never guess on disease issues, so I will alert @Colin_T @coriesinhawaii and @DoubleDutch .

On the pH, leave it alone is wisest. They may add something to raise it, but you do not want it fluctuating by much. It is not the issue with the cory, I would be fairly certain of that. You can however sort out the difference in pH. Let some fresh tap water sit for 24 hours, then test; this out-gasses any CO2 which will cause a lower reading. Test the tank water (no waiting needed here) and see how it compares. You may find the tap water pH is actually higher than 7, closer to the tank, but this test should tell you/us.

 

[coriesinhawaii]

I can’t say for sure what it is but one of the following:

1. A benign (harmless) tumor
2. A cancerous tumor
3. A viral infection
4. A parasitic infection

If it’s the first one no treatment is needed. If it’s either of the middle two there’s not really any treatments available.

If it were me I might try an external anti parasitic med like Prazipro or Paraguard because neither of those harm the bio filter and they haven’t ever had an adverse effect on cories I’ve treated with them so there’s not a lot to lose in using one of them. I would watch and wait before trying any meds for internal parasitic infection (might be required if the external treatment doesn’t penetrate the lesion well enough). I would only go that route though if the bump gets bigger and/or the fish starts having other symptoms of illness. Salt can be beneficial for parasitic infections as well but I avoid using it in cories because they don’t tolerate salt very well.

Since you haven’t added any fish lately it might not be necessary to quarantine him as whatever he has would have to be in the tank already (if it’s even an infection) but that’s definitely a judgment call.

 

[Heather7465]

I can’t say for sure what it is but one of the following:

1. A benign (harmless) tumor
2. A cancerous tumor
3. A viral infection
4. A parasitic infection

If it’s the first one no treatment is needed. If it’s either of the middle two there’s not really any treatments available.

If it were me I might try an external anti parasitic med like Prazipro or Paraguard because neither of those harm the bio filter and they haven’t ever had an adverse effect on cories I’ve treated with them so there’s not a lot to lose in using one of them. I would watch and wait before trying any meds for internal parasitic infection (might be required if the external treatment doesn’t penetrate the lesion well enough). I would only go that route though if the bump gets bigger and/or the fish starts having other symptoms of illness. Salt can be beneficial for parasitic infections as well but I avoid using it in cories because they don’t tolerate salt very well.

Since you haven’t added any fish lately it might not be necessary to quarantine him as whatever he has would have to be in the tank already (if it’s even an infection) but that’s definitely a judgment call.

Chewy.com has Prazipro online. I'll order it. Thank you

 

[Heather7465]

I never guess on disease issues, so I will alert @Colin_T @coriesinhawaii and @DoubleDutch .

On the pH, leave it alone is wisest. They may add something to raise it, but you do not want it fluctuating by much. It is not the issue with the cory, I would be fairly certain of that. You can however sort out the difference in pH. Let some fresh tap water sit for 24 hours, then test; this out-gasses any CO2 which will cause a lower reading. Test the tank water (no waiting needed here) and see how it compares. You may find the tap water pH is actually higher than 7, closer to the tank, but this test should tell you/us.

Oh, leave the tap water out overnight then test. That's something new I've never read! I'll try it to test pH because my faucet water reads alot lower than my aquarium. Thanks

 

[Heather7465]

CoriesinHawaii,
It looks to me like a growth possibly a tumor, but I'm still going to treat for external parasites to help the little guy out. If symptoms are still there after a week, then plan B internal meds. I appreciate your help

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

CoriesinHawaii,
It looks to me like a growth possibly a tumor, but I'm still going to treat for external parasites to help the little guy out. If symptoms are still there after a week, then plan B internal meds. I appreciate your help

Will you keep us updated on how the little guy is doing please? Wishing him a speedy recovery!

Sorry to take it off-topic again, but;

My panda corydoras laid eggs, so the adults seem to be healthy and happy. This is my FIRST illness since starting the hobby 8 months ago.

Sounds as though the cories are very happy with their home! They have to be in good condition and feeling secure in their enviroment to breed, so that's good I was so excited and scared when my bronze cories first spawned, and mind-blown when my pygmy cories started spawning, but it's so fun to raise fry! Hope you find yourself with some tiny cory fry soon, they're absolutely adorable.

 

[Heather7465]

Will you keep us updated on how the little guy is doing please? Wishing him a speedy recovery!

Sorry to take it off-topic again, but;

Sounds as though the cories are very happy with their home! They have to be in good condition and feeling secure in their enviroment to breed, so that's good I was so excited and scared when my bronze cories first spawned, and mind-blown when my pygmy cories started spawning, but it's so fun to raise fry! Hope you find yourself with some tiny cory fry soon, they're absolutely adorable.

Thank you AdoraBelle!!! Yes I will update next week on my little panda buddy!
I'm feeling exactly as you did with your bronze spawn. Feeling so excited that I can possibly have cory fry to raise, but also very nervous that they won't hatch. (Note to self always have Methylene Blue on hand). Awe, the cutest of all the cory cats Pygmy Cory ❤ If I ever get an additional aquarium those are going to be my next species I get!