Corydoras Has Something On It's Mouth. Someone Help!!

Does anybody know what is wrong with my juliI corydoras?? I'm not sure what's wrong with his mouth?

All of them look like thie apart from 2. The other 2 have whiskers. I'm not sure If it's normal and I haven't seen it before or something is wrong.

Have just treated for fungus on tank in general.

I brought a guppy from the local fish store and then After a few days in the tank I woke up in the morning and he had died and he had fungus on him.

No fish had fungus other than him but I treated the tank for fungus just in case.

But now have seen this and I'm not sure what it is?

Someone please HELP

 

My phone quality sucks at everything, especially looking at pictures, but from what I can see of the pictures it just looks like what could happen sometimes from them shoveling around in the gravel and under the rocks with their nose trying to eat, sorta like a pig does. I had a lady ask me the same thing and I checked her tank out and that's what hers were doing. Hers went away pretty quickly after I had her drop in a couple of those really small sinking pelltes.

 

Thank you so much. I do put in shrimp pellets and corydoras pellets. I also put in algae wafers for them. Just wondered if it was a fungus and got worried thank you so much for your reply

 

You're welcome but it is hard to see the pictures on my phone, so I could be wrong. And if it is what I said, it could still get a fungus from his skin getting rubbed so raw and the protective slime wouldn't be able to help much, so there still would be a chance of infection.

 

I will keep an eye on it to make sure they are okay. I have a replace slime coat solution which might help them repair their skin so I will put that in. And I have fungus treatments in case it did get infected so hopefully it heals up soon!

 

That sounds good! I hope he does!

 

Welcome to FL emfish.

If you don’t mind answering some questions about your tank, that would be really helpful.

What size tank is it?

Please list what types of fish you have and how many of each.

What type of substrate do you have?

How long has this tank been set up?

What are your current water parameters?

Am I correct in understanding that most of your cories do not have barbells? It’s difficult to tell for sure from your pictures.

These responses will help me (and other members) figure out the best advice to give you.

 

To the questions already asked I would add were the whiskers there in the beginning? I was looking at your gravel and while corys do fine with some gravel I am seeing a lot of sharp edges in yours.

 

25 gallon
10 harlequins
6 guppies
2 mollies
6 Molly fry- about 2 months old
6 cories
3 Otto's
4 wood shrimp

Seems overstocked but I have ultimate filtration and I have a 55 gallon being set up soon. This tank has been set up for around 6 months but I had a smaller one with the 10 harlequins, 6 guppies and 3 cories in beforehand.

Tested on master kit API
Ammonia- 0
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate-30

I think most of them don't have barbels? But I'm not sure. The parameters are good as I have just had fry dropped last night and that wouldn't happen if the water wasn't good.

Substrate is medium sized stone gravel mixed with smaller sized gravel and I'm pretty sure it's not too sharp? There is also sandy bits in the corners of the tank

Been keeping fish now for around 10 months and I am quite informed on them now.

But am always learning.

 

Is there a layer of something on the substrate as well? Algae or slime? Or is it the pic?

Though I've some fat Corys myself I think this C.trilineatus is really obese.
Could it be you're overfeeding and that causes pollution of the substrate?

 

If they were missing the whiskers when you got them it could be a genetic defect. The fish are so inbred these days missing body parts is common. But that does not address the fungus issue. DoubleDutch makes a good point.

 

It looks exactly like something my zebra danio has had for about two months. He's still doing fine and the other fish haven't sprouted any of those weird growths either. I wouldn't worry if he's acting normal.

 

If they were missing the whiskers when you got them it could be a genetic defect. The fish are so inbred these days missing body parts is common. But that does not address the fungus issue. DoubleDutch makes a good point.

If it is genetic there wouldn't be an infection (closed skin)
99% of Corys loosing their barbells is caused by "meeting" ammonia / nitrites.
That can be with the wholesailer, during transport, with the LFS and in the tank.
This fish isn't "starved" so I suspect something happened just here.

Could be dirty / polluted substrate cause of the shape / form and / or by overfeeding.

As said the pics show somekind of layer over the substrate to me, that points me that way. I'd treat this fish seperated.

 

Good points.

 

I Hoover the gravel every week and the layer you can see is just algae as the rocks are white they sometimes go a bit greeny which is something that cannot be helped.

If the tank was polluted then the ammonia and the nitrite would be high wouldn't it?

He hasn't acted any differently but just noticed my JullI Cory's don't have the barbels but my other Cory's do? It could be genetics I'm not sure?

Thanks for all your comments!

 

How long have you had the jullI cories? You never noticed until now whether or not they had barbells? Generally speaking, healthy cories have healthy barbels. As mentioned, maybe there is some sort of genetic issue involved? In the future, I would definitely take a close look at the barbels when purchasing any new cories.

With your mix of substrate (different size gravel as well as patches of sand), it may be difficult to vacuum effectively. With an all-sand substrate, waste is on top of the sand so you can simply vacuum close to the surface to remove it. Gravel (as I’m sure you know) requires more rigorous vacuuming to get to all the leftover food and waste that can slip through. Although your overall water parameters seem fine, there can be local pockets of water with poor parameters. This can occur in or near the substrate, which means the cories would be the most impacted. I personally believe that is likely what has been happening here.

I also do not think your particular type a gravel looks like a good match for cories and is likely what caused the damage to your cory’s nose.

I’m glad you are planning to upgrade to a larger tank soon (as you are aware, your tank is close to being over-stocked). Would you consider a sand substrate for the new tank?

 

Had the cories 5 months now roughly. I think they did have barbels before otherwise I wouldn't have noticed anything different. I was considering sand for the new tank yes as I thought it would be better for them. And cleaner. Have brought the 55 gallon but am waiting until I move to set it up so hopefully everything is okay until then . Thank you for your help

Think I might change the gravel to sand in this tank. Do it in sections and replace plants too to ensure everything is perfect. So do it in 3 sections at each water change. Want my cories to have the best home but don't wanna do it all too soon so will start tomorrow and hopefully should have a new substrate within 3 weeks!!! Thank you everyone for your help.

I am going to run another course of fungus treatment in the tank to make sure that the cories nose isn't infected and that my other fish don't have the fungus anymore and hopefully from then on I have less problems!!

Thank you everyone

 

I think it is fantastic that you want to create the best environment possible for your fish I feel like it’s going to be a big job to make all of these changes to your current tank. How soon will you be ready to set up the larger tank? Do you know exactly when you are moving? For your sake, I wish you could just get them set up in their new home without having to do all this extra work ahead of time.

 

Won't be setting up the new tank until I move in June or a few months after and want to make sure they are okay until then.

Since I have had fungus in the tank too want to make sure it's not embedded in the plants and gravel. I have had another fish death and am suspecting maybe a fungus. Can't exactly tell as I think the shrimp got to him before I did

I am also thinking that changing the gravel to sand will help keep the waste down too. It will be a big job but will be worth it for my fish in the end. Going to do a big clean today of the gravel and replace a section of it with new plants and sand then treat with antibiotics and continue to renovate the tank week by week when I do a water change. Going to do it in 3 sections.

Also. The nitrate in my tap water is high so I use still bottled water. Is this okay for the fish? Just want to make sure that it is before I continue to use it. I treat afterwards with API stress coat to remove the chlorine from the water but there is no nitrate ammonia or nitrite in the bottled water so was assuming it is fine. Just want to have it confirmed again

The renovation starts today!!

 

Yes, June is quite a ways off, so I agree that it’s important to make some changes now. I’m very sorry that you lost another fish. What kind was it?

Exactly how much nitrate is in your tap water? Once I know that, I will comment on using bottled water.

You mention treating with antibiotics, but I thought the concern was fungus? Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections. What is the name of the medication you are using?

Just a couple of other questions:

How often are you feeding your fish and what are you feeding them?

How often are you changing the water and how much water each time?

You mentioned “ultimate” filtration above. Can you be more specific about the exact filter you are using?

Would you mind posting a pic of your full tank?

 

Lost a male guppy. There is around 40-80ppm of nitrate in my tap water the colours are very similar so it is hard to tell. But it is a very deep red.

Am treating the fungus with Waterlifes Protozin treatment for fungus and fin rot.

I feed my fish twice a day but small meals. They have tetra pro energy, tetra pro colour and sometimes tetra pro algae. They have lots of different food so I just pick which one in the morning. I feed the corydoras a mix between algae wafers and corydora pellets.

I change the water every week on a Tuesday and I take out around 30-40 litres which is around 30-40%. It depends how dirty it is. Usually 35 litres is sufficient enough. I vacuum the gravel with a proper gravel cleaner.

I have 2 filters.
Aqua El ASAP 700
Fluval U2
And a bubbler

I have since trimmed down the tree on the right hand side and trimmed the moss as it was too wild. The plant behind the slate has also been removed.

Will post another pic when I get in today.

Also the sand in this picture isn't very clear. It's at the edges. Some of the gravel has mixed in during cleaning

 

UPDATE- my new sand tank. Replacing the plants too on the right hand side eventually. Doing. Only the ones with black algae on. Tank should be finished very soon