Cory Cats Missing Tails

Update and another question:

I got the Cory out of the tank and into qt. I ended up having to take out all of the hardscape to net him but that’s ok, I was already planning on redoing the hardscape soon.

Anyway, I noticed that some of the other cories had white on the edges of their fins as well (no missing tails or anything severe like the other one). Will daily water changes alone cure the fin rot in my main tank or will this tank need to be medicated as well?

I researched more on polyguard and it is not recommended for planted tanks or tanks with inverts. So it looks like medicating both tanks simultaneously will not be the best since the tank is heavily planted and has inverts. However, I was thinking that after I medicate the qt (1-2 weeks per label) I could transfer all the plants and inverts to the qt and then medicate the display tank. I already have carbon on hand to remove the meds from qt. It will be a major pain but I don’t want to risk losing my plants. I’m hoping that daily water changes alone will help the others and I won’t have to tear the entire tank apart.

 

Update and another question:

I got the Cory out of the tank and into qt. I ended up having to take out all of the hardscape to net him but that’s ok, I was already planning on redoing the hardscape soon.

Anyway, I noticed that some of the other cories had white on the edges of their fins as well (no missing tails or anything severe like the other one). Will daily water changes alone cure the fin rot in my main tank or will this tank need to be medicated as well?

I researched more on polyguard and it is not recommended for planted tanks or tanks with inverts. So it looks like medicating both tanks simultaneously will not be the best since the tank is heavily planted and has inverts. However, I was thinking that after I medicate the qt (1-2 weeks per label) I could transfer all the plants and inverts to the qt and then medicate the display tank. I already have carbon on hand to remove the meds from qt. It will be a major pain but I don’t want to risk losing my plants. I’m hoping that daily water changes alone will help the others and I won’t have to tear the entire tank apart.

Try to sokve that issue with waterchanges and Melafix. Keep a close eye on them and act when things worsen. This one needs the strongest treatment so treat that seperated.

 

Try to sokve that issue with waterchanges and Melafix. Keep a close eye on them and act when things worsen. This one needs the strongest treatment so treat that seperated.

Got it. That will be a lot easier than tearing all of the plants out and relocating to another tank. Thanks for the help!

 

Agree with DoubleDutch. Hopefully the water changes and Melafix will work for the main tank! Your poor guy in QT hopefully will start looking better soon

 

Update and a question.

The polyguard is working and the Cory in qt is recovering very well. The tail is growing back and I’m on my last day of treatment.

However, the daily water changes and melafix did not work for my main tank since one of the cories now has finrot on his tail is just like the original one. So I’m thinking that I should just treat all of the fish and be done with it.

My dilemma is that I can move the plants and inverts to the 10 gallon and treat the 40 gallon (easiest option) or move 30+ fish to the ten and treat there. My concern is that the polyguard would stain the clear silicone in the 40 gal if I went with the first option.

Does anyone have much experience with polyguard and how much it stains? My quarantine tank is already heavily stained from past treatments so I’m unable to tell if it would stain. Putting some spare airline tubing in the tank would’ve helped but hindsight’s always 20/20.

 

Happy to hear your one Cory is doing better! Have you considered trying Paraguard on your main tank. It has never left a stain in my 40 gallon and doesn't seem to bother the Nerites. It will do bacterial, fungal and finrot.

 

Update and a question.

The polyguard is working and the Cory in qt is recovering very well. The tail is growing back and I’m on my last day of treatment.

However, the daily water changes and melafix did not work for my main tank since one of the cories now has finrot on his tail is just like the original one. So I’m thinking that I should just treat all of the fish and be done with it.

My dilemma is that I can move the plants and inverts to the 10 gallon and treat the 40 gallon (easiest option) or move 30+ fish to the ten and treat there. My concern is that the polyguard would stain the clear silicone in the 40 gal if I went with the first option.

Does anyone have much experience with polyguard and how much it stains? My quarantine tank is already heavily stained from past treatments so I’m unable to tell if it would stain. Putting some spare airline tubing in the tank would’ve helped but hindsight’s always 20/20.

Mmmm didn't expect that.

 

Happy to hear your one Cory is doing better! Have you considered trying Paraguard on your main tank. It has never left a stain in my 40 gallon and doesn't seem to bother the Nerites. It will do bacterial, fungal and finrot.

So glad to hear that your cory is doing better! That's excellent news!

Clearly, since you have others getting sick, you have some sort of bacteria in the main tank (booo). I agree with Elkwatcher, try switching to paraguard for the main tank. It's in-between Polyguard and Melafix in terms of potency. I'd still keep up with the frequent water changes, however. I'd also maybe move the snails to your QT tank, just to be safe after you finish up the Polyguard treatment. But Paraguard won't stain the tank and is safe for the plants. It's my go-to medication. I think I'd still keep the really sick cory separate if you can for a bit, just to make sure he's not getting overdosed on meds.

 

Happy to hear your one Cory is doing better! Have you considered trying Paraguard on your main tank. It has never left a stain in my 40 gallon and doesn't seem to bother the Nerites. It will do bacterial, fungal and finrot.

Thanks! I do have paraguard on hand. That is what I used originally to treat my fish after I first got them. It worked well to stop whatever was causing them to die off but it is also what stained the silicone and airline tubing in the 10. I wonder what caused it to stain mine and not yours? I wonder if me using it so much caused the staining (I treated a couple different groups of fish for a few weeks each time). I don't remember if it stained after the first group though.

I do have kanaplex on hand. I haven't researched it since I first got it a couple years ago. Would this be an option to consider?

 

well...I don’t worry about the tubing TBH since that is cheap and easily replaced compared to other things in my tank....I don’t see any staining on my silicone. So odd.

You could try kanaflex, I love all products from Seachem, but when I treat I tend to go mild to more aggressive, so I still wonder if Paraguard is the best option here. I personally have only used Kanaflex with food, so I can’t talk much about it’s treatment in the water column. You could contact Seachem on that...they have amazing customer service.

Are all the fish affected or just a couple? Other option is to QT the sick fish only and treat those with polyguard. Clearly that is working against whatever you have in the tank. I think this option still means lots of water changes on the main tank, but it solves the staining issue and treats the fish. I think this depends on how many are suffering.

 

Is it an option to treat the second one also seperated and look what happens in the other tank. Antibiotics will mess up the cycle so I'd be careful using those in the main tank.

Finrot is a bacterial issue that, in my opinion, only takes its chance in certain conditions.

 

Is it an option to treat the second one also seperated and look what happens in the other tank. Antibiotics will mess up the cycle so I'd be careful using those in the main tank.

Finrot is a bacterial issue that, in my opinion, only takes its chance in certain conditions.

Do you not think water quality might be at the bottom of fin rot?

 

Do you not think water quality might be at the bottom of fin rot?

That is what I meand. Bacteria are always around and taking their chance when in the "right" conditions. Low flow, high Ph, etc....

Therefor I think it is quite strange that though several waterchanges / Melafix a second case occures.

 

well...I don’t worry about the tubing TBH since that is cheap and easily replaced compared to other things in my tank....I don’t see any staining on my silicone. So odd.

You could try kanaflex, I love all products from Seachem, but when I treat I tend to go mild to more aggressive, so I still wonder if Paraguard is the best option here. I personally have only used Kanaflex with food, so I can’t talk much about it’s treatment in the water column. You could contact Seachem on that...they have amazing customer service.

Are all the fish affected or just a couple? Other option is to QT the sick fish only and treat those with polyguard. Clearly that is working against whatever you have in the tank. I think this option still means lots of water changes on the main tank, but it solves the staining issue and treats the fish. I think this depends on how many are suffering.

That is what I meand. Bacteria are always around and taking their chance when in the "right" conditions. Low flow, high Ph, etc....

Therefor I think it is quite strange that though several waterchanges / Melafix a second case occures.

I wonder why it stains for some and not others. I searched "stain" on the paraguard listing on amazon and it looks like 3/4 of those reviews say it doesn't stain. Maybe the tank/brand has a role or maybe the way it is dosed? Mine is a 40 breeder from the petco doller gallon sale and I have always dosed straight into the water column. I read on a polyguard review on amazon that the reviewer mixed it in a cup first and that prevented the staining.

Over the past week I have been trying to really observe each fish and note of anything. Right now, two cories are certainly sick (one is being treated) and possibly a couple other cories and two rummies are. The two rummies are the smallest ones in the tank and with how active they are it is difficult to get a good look/picture. But the pelvic fin looks kind of tattered with slight cloudiness to it. For the other couple of cories, the edges of their pelvic fin has a bit of white on the tips. This is why I was thinking of treating all of the fish and hopefully just nipping it in the bud.

I was thinking water quality might be the cause as well. The first week of May I had a lot going on and missed my weekly 50% water change and went two weeks without one. Then this all happened afterwards. I was really hoping that the daily water changes and melafix would have prevented anymore of it in the main tank. But on a positive note, at least polyguard for sure treats it and I'm not going through a ton of different meds to find something that does.