FishesForLife
- #1
Hi All,
I have a question about a cory that's missing a fin.
Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 10 gallons
How long has the tank been running? 5 years, but moved it to a new apartment 2 months ago - kept 50% of the water, plus all the substrate and filter media (stayed wet the whole time)
Does it have a filter? Yes, HOB with an extra sponge over the intake for more biological filtration; also there's one air stone that runs 24/7
Does it have a heater? No - stays at apartment temp of ~77F
What is the water temperature? 77-80F
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) 6 albino corydoras - 1 adult female and 5 juveniles ranging from 3-9 months old; also have a large live amazon sword plant and two small live anubias as well as a few plastic plants and decorations
Maintenance
How often do you change the water? Once every 7-14 days
How much of the water do you change? 20-50% depending on nitrate levels, TDS, and how much gunk is coming up with gravel vac
What do you use to treat your water? API Stress Coat
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Vacuum about half the substrate during a given water change - always the place where I drop food, plus other areas to reach 50%
*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? Yes
What do you use to test the water? API drops
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20 - but just did a water change, so now closer to 10
pH: 6.8
Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? daily with about one fasting day per week
How much do you feed your fish? about 7-8 API bottom feeder pellets OR 1 Hikari tubifex worm block (about once a week)
What brand of food do you feed your fish? API and Hikari
Do you feed frozen? No
Do you feed freeze-dried foods? Hikari tubifex worms about once a week
Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? Babies born in the tank - range from 3-9 months old
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? About a month for the first fish, today for the second fish
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? First fish, probably 6 months old at time on injury - noticed a piece of tail including part of the spine missing about a month ago, almost like a bite, but it appears to be healing well and is mostly regrown now, no obvious signs of infection, no fuzzy growth, no redness, no new lesions; second fish, probably 5 months old - missing most of left pectoral fin including the spine, noticed today, no obvious signs of infection or disease.
Have you started any treatment for the illness? No - just maintain water parameters, water changes, varied diet
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? No - born in my tank
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? All the fish seem maybe a little more skittish than normal? They sometimes just dart around really fast for no apparent reason and then stop suddenly and just sit there panting. And they all also seem to be breathing kind of fast in general, but hard to tell if it's all the time or only when they're spooked. The big female has mostly taken to hiding in a rock ever since I took her mate out a couple months back to stop them from breeding more and overstocking the tank.
Explain your emergency situation in detail. (Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now)
About a month ago, I noticed that one of the baby fish was missing the upper part of its tail, including the spine. It looked kind of like a bite, but the corydoras are the only fish in the tank, and I've only ever seen one cory take a bite out of another's tail (both those fish are long gone), so it doesn't seem likely that they're hurting each other? But there have been no changes to their tank's decorations, so I'm not sure what they could injure themselves on - no obvious sharp edges or tight spaces where they could get pinched. It also doesn't look like fin rot or any other disease that I know, because I don't see any redness, fuzzy growth, white spots, red streaks, weird poop, etc. Substrate has stayed the same - mixed sand and small, smooth gravel. Diet has stayed the same. That first baby fish has almost completely regrown its tail with no signs of any other problems, and I really haven't done anything special. Now there's a second fish that's missing a chunk of its left pectoral fin, including part of the spine (see attached photo), but again, no obvious signs of infection, no apparent mechanism of injury. The Amazon sword and abubias both have some exposed roots, but I've never seen any of the fish get caught in them. Anyone have any idea what's causing these fin problems? I'm completely at a loss but must be overlooking something. Thanks in advance!
P.S. Everybody's barbels look great.
I have a question about a cory that's missing a fin.
Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 10 gallons
How long has the tank been running? 5 years, but moved it to a new apartment 2 months ago - kept 50% of the water, plus all the substrate and filter media (stayed wet the whole time)
Does it have a filter? Yes, HOB with an extra sponge over the intake for more biological filtration; also there's one air stone that runs 24/7
Does it have a heater? No - stays at apartment temp of ~77F
What is the water temperature? 77-80F
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) 6 albino corydoras - 1 adult female and 5 juveniles ranging from 3-9 months old; also have a large live amazon sword plant and two small live anubias as well as a few plastic plants and decorations
Maintenance
How often do you change the water? Once every 7-14 days
How much of the water do you change? 20-50% depending on nitrate levels, TDS, and how much gunk is coming up with gravel vac
What do you use to treat your water? API Stress Coat
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Vacuum about half the substrate during a given water change - always the place where I drop food, plus other areas to reach 50%
*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? Yes
What do you use to test the water? API drops
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20 - but just did a water change, so now closer to 10
pH: 6.8
Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? daily with about one fasting day per week
How much do you feed your fish? about 7-8 API bottom feeder pellets OR 1 Hikari tubifex worm block (about once a week)
What brand of food do you feed your fish? API and Hikari
Do you feed frozen? No
Do you feed freeze-dried foods? Hikari tubifex worms about once a week
Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? Babies born in the tank - range from 3-9 months old
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? About a month for the first fish, today for the second fish
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? First fish, probably 6 months old at time on injury - noticed a piece of tail including part of the spine missing about a month ago, almost like a bite, but it appears to be healing well and is mostly regrown now, no obvious signs of infection, no fuzzy growth, no redness, no new lesions; second fish, probably 5 months old - missing most of left pectoral fin including the spine, noticed today, no obvious signs of infection or disease.
Have you started any treatment for the illness? No - just maintain water parameters, water changes, varied diet
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? No - born in my tank
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? All the fish seem maybe a little more skittish than normal? They sometimes just dart around really fast for no apparent reason and then stop suddenly and just sit there panting. And they all also seem to be breathing kind of fast in general, but hard to tell if it's all the time or only when they're spooked. The big female has mostly taken to hiding in a rock ever since I took her mate out a couple months back to stop them from breeding more and overstocking the tank.
Explain your emergency situation in detail. (Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now)
About a month ago, I noticed that one of the baby fish was missing the upper part of its tail, including the spine. It looked kind of like a bite, but the corydoras are the only fish in the tank, and I've only ever seen one cory take a bite out of another's tail (both those fish are long gone), so it doesn't seem likely that they're hurting each other? But there have been no changes to their tank's decorations, so I'm not sure what they could injure themselves on - no obvious sharp edges or tight spaces where they could get pinched. It also doesn't look like fin rot or any other disease that I know, because I don't see any redness, fuzzy growth, white spots, red streaks, weird poop, etc. Substrate has stayed the same - mixed sand and small, smooth gravel. Diet has stayed the same. That first baby fish has almost completely regrown its tail with no signs of any other problems, and I really haven't done anything special. Now there's a second fish that's missing a chunk of its left pectoral fin, including part of the spine (see attached photo), but again, no obvious signs of infection, no apparent mechanism of injury. The Amazon sword and abubias both have some exposed roots, but I've never seen any of the fish get caught in them. Anyone have any idea what's causing these fin problems? I'm completely at a loss but must be overlooking something. Thanks in advance!
P.S. Everybody's barbels look great.
