# OMG my poor little cory!!!!!!!!



## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

I just was watching and feeding my fish and one of my little cories has his tail eaten!!! The whole inside is eaten, its like a V now!!! It looks like his anal (?) fin has been getting chewed on too! I didn't think anyone in my tank was aggressive..... I have 3 black skirt tetras, 3 swordtails, 3 black mollies, 4 cories, one rubberlip pleco, one clown pleco and one khuli loach. There is a hiding place for the rubberlip and a hiding place for the clown...... and plenty of other random hiding places too. WTH??? Who would be the most likely candidate for hurting him?

Think I should move the cories to my 10 gallon with the snail and mollie/swordtail fry?? I don't want him hurt!


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## Guest (Jun 21, 2006)

What size tank are all these fish in? You say it looks like the tail is being eaten from the inside out, that is fin rot not agression from the other tank mates.


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

I'm really hoping someone sees this soon.........I don't know what to do, he's acting okay but it has to hurt and I surely don't want him hurt further. I think maybe I should just remove him and put him in the 10 for now......but I don't want him lonely either so I don't know if I should remove all 4 of them!! But then, what if its one of the other cories hurting him???

Help!


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

You know the shape of cories tails, the v shape? Well, the inner part of his tail is gone....and some of his other fins are picked and eaten. He is in a 30 gallon btw.

I got on chat and got some advice real quick (I didn't see you'd posted). I pulled out my little 5 gallon. I took some gravel and water from my 30 as well as one of the two filter sponges and I put all of this in my 5, where he is now. I will get some melafix in the morning for him..............

Keep your fingers crossed that he is okay and no one else gets attacked! My suspects are my clown pleco (who is more territorial of his log than the rubberlip is of his rock) and my fat female (I assume by the belly bulge) black skirt tetra. No one else ever chases anyone. Sometimes these two will get a little picky about their personal space...........

If this becomes a problem, I can put the cories in the 10 gallon and get rid of my fry ASAP...................


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## Guest (Jun 21, 2006)

I'm glad you're getting things in order to fix up your little guy. Keep us posted on how the treatment goes. It does sound like fin rot to me, also. After treatment, if you put him back in, I'd keep a close eye on the tank and see if you can see signs of aggression. I'd also see the blackskirts as being suspect. I've had a few of those and they are MEAN little boogers!


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

Thanks!! What the heck is your screen name btw?? LOL!

I wonder whats worse........fin rot or aggression??


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## Christine (Nov 4, 2005)

It says "Michael" .... tho after reading it, I think I may now need glasses hehe


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

I was thinking it might be Michael.......but yes, I was straining to read it.


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## Guest (Jun 21, 2006)

Have you added a heater to the 5g? If not you need to put it back in the 30g and treat the whole tank because if it is fin rot then the other fish will need to be treated as well. The fat belly of your black widow tetra could be eggs in it or it could just be fat.


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## pureplecs (Jan 25, 2006)

I don't know how many fry you have in your ten gallon but the cories sure wouldn't hurt the fry... unless you just have way to many fry and don't want to overstock?


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

Crap...... Okay, no there is not a heater in the 5 gallon....but my counter maintains my tank temps in the 70's so I don't usually turn on the heater for the 10 I have, unless its cold in the house (which it isn't).

So, if the temp is fine in the 5........ I should put him in the 30 and treat them all? No one else has any symptoms of anything........ I watched them very closely to make sure.


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

pureplecs said:


> I don't know how many fry you have in your ten gallon but the cories sure wouldn't hurt the fry... unless you just have way to many fry and don't want to overstock?


I have one big snail and 10 fry (mollies and swordtails) in the 10 gallon.......

If I have to treat the cory with melafix, I don't want to treat everyone else for no reason. However, if he's being picked on and I have to move him permanently.............. Think I can safely keep all 4 cories in the 10 gallon with the fry (who will eventually not be in there)? I did want to add some other fish later. A small school of something SMALL.


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## Guest (Jun 21, 2006)

Hi msdolittle. Sorry to strain your eyes. My hope is to blind everyone with my screen name so that they will always remember me. Looks like my plan is going well so far. 

Christine - That's a beautiful betta for your avatar...is that one yours? I think glasses with really thick frames the color of that fish would be great.

Just my opinion...take it for what it is...I would not add the cory back into the tank and treat all the fish. Whenever one can avoid using meds, one should. There are often diseases floating around in our tanks, just like in the world. If the rest of your fish haven't caught the illness, I would let their immune systems continue to do their job. It's great that you have a quarantine tank to treat in...not many folks have one of those.

If you do end up having to house him and his 3 buddies in the 10 gallon forever, I don't foresee any problems.


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## Christine (Nov 4, 2005)

Hahaha! Great sense of humor Michael. Yes that betta is one of mine, thank you for the nice words about him.

I agree with what Michael said. I wouldn't treat the others unless there's a reason.

Btw, what kind of cories are they?


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

I'm starting to really like you Michael.....I like a twisted sense of humor. 

Thats my thinking, I don't like to medicate unnecessarily or prophylactically. I'll let him be in his own little tank........ Hopefully all goes well and I think I WILL move them to the 10 gallon because I don't want to risk this happening again if it IS aggression.

Thanks guys, I'll keep you posted.


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

Christine said:


> Hahaha! Great sense of humor Michael. Yes that betta is one of mine, thank you for the nice words about him.
> 
> I agree with what Michael said. I wouldn't treat the others unless there's a reason.
> 
> Btw, what kind of cories are they?


Paleatus (sp?)/salt and pepper.


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## Sprite42 (Mar 10, 2006)

Have you by any chance checked your water params in the 30g....just out of curiosity?


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## Guest (Jun 21, 2006)

Corydoras paleatus are called Peppered cories. Salt and Pepper cories are Corydoras habrosus (smaller ones).

I agree, I wouldn't treat the whole tank. I'm not sure if it would be fin rot or aggression. The black skirts are the only ones I would suspect and usually they don't nip any fish except ones with long fins. The pleco might have been aggressive, but I don't suspect he caused the fin damage.

What are your water parameters by the way? And when did you do the last water change?


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

I do a 30ish % water change weekly (those plecos are poopy suckers)..........and I had just done one that day actually. I haven't checked my params in a couple weeks. I probably should have checked before I did the water change. I'll check them later today anyway just for the hell of it.

Oh, then btw, they'd be peppered cories because they are the paleatus.

I got his meds this morning btw and just put it in.


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## Guest (Jun 21, 2006)

IMO you should always have a heater running because if the temp goes below 78F it will turn on and you won't have any temp flunucations which is stressful towards the fish.


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

Durbkat said:


> IMO you should always have a heater running because if the temp goes below 78F it will turn on and you won't have any temp flunucations which is stressful towards the fish.



Good point Durb. The heater is always on on my 30, I'd considered turning it off because it gets so warm in there (I have to add cold water and ice frequently......and I keep the lid open and a fan running on the tank) but thats a good thing to consider, leaving it on to avoid major fluctuations....... My 10 has remained pretty steady somehow luckily.


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## harif87 (Jun 5, 2006)

You should add some salt to the 10 gallon to help with the healing, and it wouldnt hurt to put some in the 30 gal either.


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

Ugh.............not with cories. They don't tolerate salt well.

And..........I'm not so sure about the melafix...........His eyes look a little bulgier than normal........I'm thinking I'm going to half the recommended dosage (1/2 teaspoon per 5 ml is recommended, I think I'll do a quarter teaspoon next time.......).


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## Guest (Jun 22, 2006)

Yeah harif salt and corys or other scales fish=bad

The heater won't come on if the temp has gone over the set temp so when you add ice and stuff like that it will come on if the temp goes below the set temp.


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## harif87 (Jun 5, 2006)

Durbkat said:


> Yeah harif salt and corys or other scales fish=bad


I really knew that i just wasnt thinking.......now i feel stupid lol


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

harif87 said:


> I really knew that i just wasnt thinking.......now i feel stupid lol


Don't feel stupid.....I figured you knew that, you were just looking for treatment for injuries.


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

I'm going to say that the black skirt tetras are the culprit to the tail. They LOVE to nip tails. It does help if the black skirts have more of their own kind, that way they nip their own tails instead of others. When i was brand new to fish keeping the fish store suggested guppies and the black skirts. Well... Lets just say the guppy lasted about 15 seconds before his tail was gone. A while later it nipped off my pleco's fins. (dont ask how).


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## harif87 (Jun 5, 2006)

msdolittle said:


> Don't feel stupid.....I figured you knew that, you were just looking for treatment for injuries.


Thanx for the benefit of the doubt that was actually exactly the case, i was just looking for basic treatment for ailments. Looks like i need to pay a little more attention when i think
BTW, cories are also sensitive to meds so be careful when treating...


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

Hm, well, I have three BS tetras.......I'm thinking of moving all 4 cories eventually to the 10 gallon tank. (I did get another khuli loach today btw). So I'll have the three tetras, three swordtails, three mollies, two plecos (rubberlip and clown) and two khulies (once I move the cories). The tetras haven't bothered anyone else, maybe because everyone else is so busy? 

Do you think it would be a good idea to get more BS tetras? Or, do you think they'd just attack the newbies? Really, from what I can see, only one of the tetras is semi aggressive. She wasn't like that when I had my gourami (RIP)....but now its as if she is queen of the tank. The other two are pretty passive........ Damn..... I don't know what to do. I don't want chaos in there. I'd really hate to move the cories, I love them in the bigger tank.....but I don't want them picked on either.


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

harif87 said:


> Thanx for the benefit of the doubt that was actually exactly the case, i was just looking for basic treatment for ailments. Looks like i need to pay a little more attention when i think
> BTW, cories are also sensitive to meds so be careful when treating...



No sweat.


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

Oh, and I diluted the medicine in the tank (changed a little of the water) because, I dont know if anyone noticed when I mentioned this earlier......but it looks like his eyes are buggier now that I added the melafix. I think I'll do half the recommended dosage at the next treatment.

Now, does this stuff evaporate out of the tank? Should I do a water change each time before adding more meds? According to the directions, I need to treat for 7 days then do a water change........it seems like the meds would build up in the tank and if he's showing (or am I crazy) signs that its too much medicine......should I change the water daily while I'm treating? I think thats what I should do.......


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## girth vader (Apr 24, 2006)

treat the recommended dose. I wouldnt half it. MELAFIX and PIMAFIX dont contain erythromicin or copper, so overdosing with either of those two isnt a concern, within reason of course( extra .5cc wont kill the fish). I would do as the instructions say and wait a week before you do a H2O change. Lets hope its not POPEYE coming on, even using hard meds and MELAFIX I have no luck in curing that disease.

Zig.


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

Girth.......he already passed away. I don't know what the deal was....... But thanks anyway!


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## girth vader (Apr 24, 2006)

very sorry to hear that:console: I have had zero luck curing POPEYE, which is what it sounded like was happening. Bacterial infections can be so hit or miss, and being cories, they are harder to treat because of their fragility. Kind of puts you between a rock and a hard place, crossing your fingers......
I have lost 2 fish to POPEYE in the last 2 months and it breaks my heart. I would separate the BSs though. Sounds to me like it started with fin nipping, which stressed your cory, which led to fin rot, still being stressed from the nipping could have led to the more serious bacterial POPEYE. Sry again.


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

I did go ahead and separate them. I only have three cories now. I lost two of my original group and got two more but one of them died right away....... I have them in my snail and fry tank and so far so good. 

Thank you!


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