MELANISTIUS CORIES NEED MORE ADVISE ASAP!!! HELP PLEASE :)

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platytetrafan

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Jan 20, 2007
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Hello to all: Ok I posted in Freshwater illness regarding what is happening and reposted again an update on the fish affected but no real response. I am restocking my 36 gallon bow trying to do all the right things everything was going well had three schools of healthy fish go through QT with no problems until last week. I went to my local fish store and purchased 6 melanistius cories I never had these type of cories before and wanted to try another type they looked adorable. There were a lot of them in the tank and I thought I had 6 nice cories until I returned home and after acclimating them to the QT and putting them in the water I noticed one corie with a small white fuzzy lesion on the tip of the left pectoral fin but nothing else on the body or the mouth. The other cories seem to be ok. I had done a good water change before putting them in and also had added a golden long finned danio but found him dead a few days ago he looked a bit scrawny not sure what the issue was but there was nothing I could see externally & water parameters are good and ammonia is 0 in my QT.The brilliant rasbora also added seems to be doing well no signs of illness. I was told in the freshwater illness forum to just do water changes and not medicate. Only thing I have in the house is pimafix and aquarisol. I started out just watching the fish they are all eating very well nothing left on the bottom of the tank and when the hood light is off they are very active.

On Monday night the white fuzzy tip on the fin of the corie affected was getting more fuzzy white and the fin looked as if it was getting red so I decided to start medicating the other fish show no signs of this problem. I am using pimafix & hoping for the best. I did a 25% water change tonight because the tank was due for the weekly water change and then added the pimafix to the water. I noticed tonight that the fuzzy area is kind of pinkish red in the center and white around. I have read that columnaris can look like this but am not sure that this is what it is. The other fish do not seem to be coming down with whatever this is and I don't see any actual lesions on the body or on the mouth. I hope I am doing the right thing this looks like a fungus of some type. They say columnaris can't wipe out the tank in days but the fish have been in the tank a week today. So could this be some other type of fungus? I have to treat for 7 days with pimafix and can repeat the treatment if necessary. I really hate it when this happens especially when I was doing everything right with the QT process and now have to deal with something that started in the fish store and I am not 100% sure what am dealing with. Could use some more advise I figured medicating was the right thing to do was afraid of not doing anything and then losing $20 worth of fish.
 
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Byron Amazonas

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I don't normally enter disease threads due to lack of knowledge, but here I think I will as it may help (I have had fungus and columnaris, the latter only last month for the first time) and no one else has yet commented. And guessing on your own often means losing fish. Medications must be carefully considered and be appropriate as I mentioned in the other thread.

This is not columnaris. Columnaris is a bacterial disease, not a fungus [it is often mistakenly thought a fungus due sometimes to the appearance] and would not appear only on a fin tip, but on the fish body. From your description I would say this is fungus on your cory's pectoral fin spine, and the colouration mentioned here supports this as fungus will colour with medications. I couldn't really tell from the photo posted in the other thread or I may have entered the thread. I have twice had fungus appear on a cory pectoral fin, though closer to the body in my case, and successfully treated it with methylene blue or malachite green. And not in the tank water, but directly to the patch of fungus.

Have a bottle either of methylene blue (this is probably the best) or malachite green [in my situation I had some malachite green/acriflavin mixture, doesn't matter] ready and a cotton swab (Q-Tip type). Net the cory out, and carefully get it on the opposite side in the fish net so you can just raise it above the water surface with the fungus fin exposed at the top. The fin has to be out of the water and I find the fish is quieter if just out as well. Dip the Q-Tip in the dye and dab the fungus on the fin. Don't worry, the dye will spread over the fish, no problem. Lower the fish just into the water for a few seconds, then repeat. Release the fish.

The dyes stain the fungus and kill it on contact, so don't be afraid to really saturate it. Within a few days it will completely disappear.

Byron.
 

platytetrafan

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Thanks Byron I appreciate your help...I started pimafix to the tank on Monday this med is for fungus and for bacterial infections. I am thinking to atleast finish the course of 7 days with this med before starting another treatment. I am hoping you are right about this being some other type of fungus because if was columnaris I doubt my fish would still be alive they don't exhibit any of the other symptoms they describe and this white fuzzy area is just on one fin and no where else. I have to keep my eye on my water parameters too. I have a filter sponge in the filter compartment it does not have carbon in it I did not remove it. How strong is this methylene blue or malachite green? I have never used either before I have no experience with it and if it is on the cory will it have any affect on my brilliant rasbora as far as leeching into the water?
 

Byron Amazonas

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Thanks Byron I appreciate your help...I started pimafix to the tank on Monday this med is for fungus and for bacterial infections. I am thinking to atleast finish the course of 7 days with this med before starting another treatment. I am hoping you are right about this being some other type of fungus because if was columnaris I doubt my fish would still be alive they don't exhibit any of the other symptoms they describe and this white fuzzy area is just on one fin and no where else. I have to keep my eye on my water parameters too. I have a filter sponge in the filter compartment it does not have carbon in it I did not remove it. How strong is this methylene blue or malachite green? I have never used either before I have no experience with it and if it is on the cory will it have any affect on my brilliant rasbora as far as leeching into the water?
No. There will be very little getting into the water. Methylene blue years ago was the normal ich treatment, but now we seem to have better, but it is still often recommended to prevent fungus on fish eggs if one removes them from cichlids for example.
 

platytetrafan

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Ok am gonna finish the 7 day course of pimafix and see what happens then if I don't see a change I will try the Methylene blue. So far my water parameters with using the pimafix are fine no ammonia spikes the fish are still eating well and active. The fuzzy area looks like the tip of a cotton swab with a reddened center. How does methylene blue affect my biological media I read that the malachite green causes high ammonia spikes.
 

Byron Amazonas

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How does methylene blue affect my biological media I read that the malachite green causes high ammonia spikes.
When used as I suggested previously, straight on the fungus and out of the water, the amount of methylene blue or malachite green entering the tank water is so minimal it cannot possibly affect anything but the fungus to which it was applied.
 

platytetrafan

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TRYING ANOTHER MEDICINE NEED SOME FEEDBACK ABOUT FUNGUS GUARD TABS BY TETRA

Ok have been treating my cory for fungus I have six but it looks like only two have come down with it and the harlequin rasbora with pimafix in my QT since last Wednesday. The results not that great the cory still has fungus on it's fin not to the degree it had been but it's still there. I went to my LFS tonight and told them what happened and that I was disappointed that I brought home a cory from their store that was sick it looks like another cory also had the same thing because on its fin the fungus looks like it's a smaller amount & closer to the top of the fin not at the bottom where the other cory's ailment started.

I asked them about Methylene Blue they recommended a product by Tetra called Fungus Guard. It is a green tablet that fizzies when placed in the tank and it turns the water green the one tablet treats for 4 days. Then you can retreat after doing a good water change if needed. I read some reviews on the med and most people have liked it and gotten good results. The med also treats fin rot and bacterial infections it seems a little stronger than the pimafix. I did a 25% water change and vaccumed the bottom of the QT & placed the tablet in the tank. All the fish so far seem to be doing ok. I have a filter sponge in the canister but there is no carbon in it. I was told the med does not affect the biological filter bacteria but am going to keep an eye on the ammonia levels anyway just to be sure. I hope this works the pimafix was meh. Has anyone used this product and if so what was the outcome? Am hoping for the best these cories are really cute and am hoping to cure what's ailing them & prevent the rasbora from coming down with whatever fungus this might be.:feedback:
 

platytetrafan

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Jan 20, 2007
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Ok so I am 4 days into the treatment with using fungus guard. I unfortunately lost the rasbora during treatment :( but the cories seems to be doing well. It seems that two of them have this fungus it started at the tip of the fin on one of the cories and seems to have travelled upward towards the body and it seems that way with the other one as well both fish had this fungus from the beginning the other cory the area is smaller & not as fuzzy. Since I started with this treatment all of them are very active and eat like vultures which makes me very happy. I am convinced this is not columnaris if it were all of the fish would have been gone. On the box of the medication it does say you can retreat after 4 days if the fungus is still there it is but not to the degree that it was. So tomorrow I will do a good 25-50% water change and then remedicate and see what happens. I tested the water today and ammonia is at 0 so as the box says it does not interfere with biological filtration. I have a filter HOB filter sponge in the canister but it is carbon free. Crossing fingers this helps the med was pretty cheap $ 4.99. Just two of them are affected the others from the beginning of QT have not come down with this pretty weird. Will update again in the next few days.
 
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