Random cory issue

[BIG_Z]

I have one cory out of my school that has been showing some wierd syptoms. It looks like he/she has fungus in its mouth (looks like it has a full mouth all the time) It has not been acting wierd other than not eating for the past few days. The fungus has not spread on to any other part of its body. I normally treat everything with salt, almond leaves, and heat but I have heard that salt can be really bad for cories. Any recomendations on things to try that are safe for cories? I have not used any real meds in years so if you tell me what to use please use the common product name so I can google it and buy.
Thanks,
-James

 

[mscichlid]

Act fast! Are the corys in a big tank? I would set up a 10 gallon hospital tank right away. Also, you'll need to treat the whole lot. This disease is going around and there are cases on every fish forum I have visited. Simply Discus, The Angelfish Forum II, Monster.

Instead of typing or adding a link I thought I'd copy and paste one example from Monsterfish.

Mouth rot or mouth fungus is not a true fungus but rather a bacterial disease that can quickly kill fish. It is most often found in tanks that have a high bacterial load and need more frrequent water changes and gravel vacs, overfeeding is often one of the culprits.
The disease is Flexibacter columnaris and in the more virulent cases usually accompanied by a second infection of the Aeromonas bacteria. The disease can also manifest as tail-rot and cotton wool disease. It can also (less commonly) cause swollen, smelly bodies by expressing as systemic septicemia. Listless behavior and lack of appetite are also early symptoms.
It occurs most commonly in the spring.
The bacteria grows poorly at temps. below 76 degrees F. but very quickly above 77degrees F. so it is one of the diseases that you actually want to lower the temp. for, 74-75 F. is ideal during treatment. Aquarium salt at 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons will prevent most outbreaks but not all.
Once an outbreak does occur it is important to move quickly as small fish can succomb within 24 hrs and large ones within days.
The bacteria responds well to any antibiotics but the Aeromonas also often present responds best to minocycline while the Flexibacter is less responsive to that than to other drugs.
Kanacyn (kanamycin) will treat both. A simultanious use of both Maracyn (erythromycin) and Maracyn 2 (minocycline) is reported as treatment of choice but several other meds such as Tri-Sulfa, and Myxazin or interpet's Anti-fungus and Finrot are also reported as reliable treatments.
Anti-biotics usually impact on your biofilters bacterial colony so if possible bypass that and rely on mechanical filtration and water changes during treatment. Follow the dosage directions on any medication you choose to use.
Because it can also cause systemic internal infections feeding antibiotic medicated food during treatment is not a bad idea.
This information comes from both personal experience and a combination of several articles on the disease, the best of which is found at this website http://www.flippersandfins.net/flexibacter.htm#
Good luck,
Guppy

 

[mscichlid]

Oh, and I have successfully treated plecos with Barbie's (planetcatfish) salt treatment with no problems. Haven't tried it on corys.

In the post above, it mentions that it occurs mostly in the spring. I find that to be inaccurate. This disease has no calendar year preference!

 

[BIG_Z]

I moved all the cories into a 10 gallon tank and that one showing signs into a 5 gallon. Just ordered Maracyn and Maracyn 2. Hopefully they show up before the fish pass. Two day shipping was the fastest offered. Now I will sit at work for the next 12 hours and wish I had dropped the tanks temps instead of upping them.

It said that it is normally found in high bac. count tanks that need more water changes. On the tank they were in I was doing 15-20% water changes a day and dont see myself doing more than that. This is what I get for buying a fish from petsmart....

Also it said that those meds will wreak havoc on bio filters.. I have no extra mech filters and most of my tanks run on sponges..now I am worried about how that is all going to pan out.

 

[mscichlid]

Crappola. You're too far away. I could give some exrtra sponge filters. In the meantime, you'll have to do water changes everyday on the hospital tanks.

I have also read that columnaris is usually followed by, or simultaneously presents with septocemia.

 

[BIG_Z]

I have more sponge filters than I can shake a stick at (well I could shake a stick at them and dont really even understand that expresion but I will use it anyway) Would taking out the sponges and throwing in an air stone and doing 50% wc a day work out? I just dont want to murder all the bac on a sponge filter and cause some ungodly swings in my qt tanks on fish that are already weakened. Over a year without a fish issue and I breakdown and buy a "cute little fish" from a chain store and unleash the wrath of god on my tanks (second random disease in under two weeks that has popped up with my fish now) :angry:

 

[mscichlid]

Yes, I would go with airstones. Check all your other fish in every tank because if you are just seeing the symptoms and have been doing water changes with the same hose, and using nets from tank to tank....you know where I'm going don't you?

 

[BIG_Z]

Yep, luckily my laziness has lead to having a drain tube for each tank (have them perm. hooked to each tank at the level I want so all I have to do is start a siphon and can move on to the next tank while it drains to the level I want it to) and the nets get dipped in a bucket of mixed up Star San sanitizer (leftover from back in my beer brewing days) between tank usages (Rinsed in clean water before going back in a tank). Score one in the win column for being lazy LOL


Edit..Just realized the tip of the hose bringing freshwater into my tanks is never sanitized between tanks... :unsure: ...let the paranoia set in now

 

[Avatar]

Your sponge filters should be treated as well or sterilized and restarted...

...otherwise you're at risk of just reintroducing the pathogen back into the tank. No big deal - just put them in a container for a day or two afterwards with black water from a disease-free filter, squeeze them a couple times to start the inoculation process and they'll be colonized in no time. Generational time for bacteria is usually measured in hours (and can be as short as 15 minutes), not days, should do the trick.

 

[hollyfish2000]

Just out of curiosity -- does this have to be introduced by outside fish or does it spring up spontaneously even in tanks with no outside contact?

 

[BIG_Z]

From the info I was able to find on it:

It is often brought in on new fish but also often lives in small amounts in your water for long periods of time and waits for a fish to get weak/stressed before it becomes an issue. So I guess given the right conditions it could appear to spring up at random (when a fish has other issues) but was actually already present and just not creating issues yet.

* I could be wrong as with many fish diseases a lot of the info on the net seems to be conflicting*

 

[mchambers]

Source?

No big deal - just put them in a container for a day or two afterwards with black water from a disease-free filter, squeeze them a couple times to start the inoculation process and they'll be colonized in no time. Generational time for bacteria is usually measured in hours (and can be as short as 15 minutes), not days, should do the trick.

Your advice makes sense to me, but it flies in the face of all the conventional wisdom you see at various aquarium forums, which seem to think that it takes two weeks for a filter to be colonized by bacteria in sufficient numbers to do the job. Do you have a source for this or is this based on your experience?

 

[Avatar]

Experience -

I would assume that colonizing a filter in a new clean water clean gravel tank without inoculating it would take at least 2 weeks and maybe more.

 

[BIG_Z]

Hmm. Well as of this morning the sickest fish no longer has the cottony growth and is eating. But two of the other corries now have a little bit of fuzz growing. One has it in its mouth just like the first one and the other has it more towards the side of its face. I am really hoping those meds show up soon.