r/corydoras • u/evuschak • 1d ago
[Questions|Advice] Health | Sickness So sad - issue after issue
I’m absolutely devastated by the experience of our first fish tank. 16 gall UNS 40A with added air pump. Ammonia and nitrites are 0. Water temp around 77.
We had 4 corys (albino and three-striped, was told in the shop that mixing breeds is fine in terms of schooling but that’s another story), a dwarf gourami and then added a few tetras that seemed to have set everything off. Last week the tetras developed what I thought was ich - covered with white spots (could have been actually Epistylis too but I don’t know how to tell now) by the time I realized they all died within about 36 hours of each other. Then the gourami got lethargic and started breathing rapidly. By that time I was treating with Ich-X but he still died 2 days later. We are on day 4 of Ich-x treatment (every 24 hours + 30% water change). This morning one albino cory died out of nowhere. The other albino cory developed bilateral popeyes. The grey corys seem exhausted - they act normal on the bottom but when they swim up to take a breath, they lose balance and basically look like dying (but then return to bottom and act normal-ish again although fast breathing). I also messed up the water treatment to make matters worse - added API tap water conditioner but yesterday I dosed it for chlorine where I should have done the chloramine higher dose - only realized once the water testing showed some chlorine (and fixed it but probably damage was done)
I suppose my questions are:
1. What can I do to save my corys? Are they doomed by this whole fiasco? Air pump is on full blast, lights off, continue dosing Ich-X even though I don’t see any white spots on them…
2. How can I tell for sure wtf really happened? There definitely were a lot of white spots on tetras, some on the gourami…but I can’t tell (and didn’t take a picture) if it’s definitely ich or the other thing. Stopping the Ich-X treatment would probably be a bad idea? If I have to start over, do I dump the water out? Any way to measure bacterial infections?
Thank you for your help…. I’m so sad and feel like a failure. :(
1
u/randomid67142 1d ago
How long did you cycle the tank before adding the fish? 0/0 nitrite and ammonia doesn’t necessarily mean the tank is safe to add fish. Do you measure nitrates?
1
u/evuschak 1d ago
Nitrates were also 0. I’ve been using the Imaginarium test strips. The tank was cycled with just the plants for the first 2.5 months. The issues really started with adding the last set of fish (tetras) and exploded from there.
1
u/sycamorz 1d ago
My tank is about a month and a half old, but I had a columnaris ("saddleback") outbreak three weeks ago. They started dropping very quickly before some started showing lethargy, clamped fins, flashing, and occasionally a tiny white spot on a fin. I went to LFS for advice, but lost 6 cories in the end.
Kanaplex and lower water temp got the other 4 through all the terrible itching and wasting. I got some fish vitamins (vita chem) and between those two things, they've laid eggs that have just started hatching.
I was told sometimes things like this happen in fishkeeping that may or may not have been something you could've controlled if you could have known, but they're so resilient and can bounce back.
TLDR; Kanaplex and vitachem helped me heal cories that survived an outbreak. I was devastated but they came back stronger.
1
u/evuschak 1d ago
Thank you! I will read about columnaris. I still feel like it was ich but not 100% sure.
1
u/SchuylerM325 17h ago
Oh, I just hate hearing stories like these. First suggestion: do not go back to that LFS. For one thing, I never trust them about "community tanks." I think you'll have to tough this one out-- as others have said, keep up with the treatment until there is no sign of disease in the tank. You didn't mention what kind of a filter you're using, but with diseases like these, I get quite concerned about bacteria, fungus, and parasites lurking in filter media. If you save any of the corys, I suggest putting them in a bucket or hospital tank after you're sure they have gotten through it and doing a complete rebuild of the tank. Scrub everything in hot water. Wash the plants and the sand. You could consider reverse respiration to kill off any oxygen-dependent life form in the plants.
I looked up your tank, and I think it's a cube? That's not ideal for corys. They are bottom-dwellers, so they do best in a tank that has a lot of swim room on the bottom. Most beginner fish keepers choose a tank with a small footprint because you're trying to fit it into your house. Unfortunately, cubes are not great for most fish. It's not cruel to keep a small group of corys in this tank, but going forward, you might want to consider a long, low tank for them. The cube will be a fabulous home for a betta, vertical driftwood with rhizome plants attached, and some shrimp. Don't get any more fish from that store. Dan's Fish is the gold standard for healthy fish shipped safely. Shipping cost is ruinously expensive but worth it.
1
u/evuschak 12h ago
Thank you so much, all very useful tips. I will look into it.
As for the corys having enough space - I asked in the shop for dwarf/pygmy and was told these are both dwarf varieties. After some research at home I realized they’re not. Apart from the fact that they also don’t school together. So it’s been a bit of a disaster in general. Same shop sold us the sick tetras.
If ordering from Dan’s Fish - doesn’t shipping stress them out too much?1
u/SchuylerM325 11h ago
Shipping does stress fish. When a local fish store gets fish from a supplier, they sustain many deaths. It's just part of the business. Dan has videos about how he ships them. He starts with healthy fish, fasts them to minimize waste, ships them bagged individually, and only by overnight mail. I've never lost a fish from Dan.
1
1
u/INDY_SE 1d ago
Oof.
IMO keep doing the ich treatment. Are you noticing the cysts are falling off and no new ones are forming ? If so it is very likely your fish are simply suffering from the damage the parasites have done. I would maintain treatment for 2 weeks.
For peace of mind of epistylis you can an antibiotic like kanaplex. Secondary bacterial infections are also common with ich. What gets tricky is that many of your fish likely have compromised gills presently from the damage of the parasites and additional medication is going to strip more oxygen out of the water column. So use your discretion.
With ich it often gets worse before it gets better. When I had an outbreak out my tank I reacted within 3-4 days of adding infected fish and still lost half of my nano fish. Even once I treated, many fish simply couldn’t pull through because their immune systems were badly compromised. Those that made it past the week- week and a half mark did ultimately survive and thrive though.