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It looks like a bronze cory to me too . I'm not a cory expert so you may want to post that link in the bottom feeder section. People love those "ID My Fish" posts

I thought you had added Nox-Ich? You mentioned they were getting pale and thought it was from that. This is the med I thought you had in the water. If you have had it in there since seeing the spot it will kill off freeswimmers looking for a host. That's the idea of early treatment - get them before they can all attach to a fish.

I couldn't see the black area. .

Make sure that white spot doesn't turn into something fuzzy. Keep an eye on it.

I don't know what you mean by "You already have an effective med in the water ", i haven't add any meds. The med that should be in the tank is the parasite clear that could still possibly be in there, so that's why I am going to run carbon first. The spot i was talking about wasn't that little white mark. It's the one beside that. The dark spot. It is kind of hard to see in those pics. And I havent seen that white spot before. Take a look at the first picture again and it's right above where his stripe begins. Since you are the expert could I also get you to ID that cory for me . I originally bought 6 cories that were labelled as blue cories (Corydoras nattereri), but the employee said for some reason the cories were more of a darker colour instead of blue. Then 3 of those cories died and I went back and picked up what was labelled as assorted cories. At first I thought they were the Corydoras nattereri, but after closer inspection I noticed they looked a lot like bronze cories. Sorry to get off topic, and I know that isn't a good pic since you can't see the whole cory, but I think that one there is a corydoras nattereri.

Ok - just looked at the pics. Are you talking about that one white spot on the head? I'd say inconclusive. Let's put it this way, if there is ich in that tank and one spot has landed on a cory, then there are many more in the water looking for a host. But guess what? You already have an effective med in the water at the time they are most vulnerable - when they are freeswimming. Even if that is an ich spot - if it is the only ich spot, then the only concern would be if it infects, but the malachite and salt will help prevent that.

Also, you may find that by tomorrow that one spot is gone. I've panicked more than once when a spot showed up on an oto or cory. Keep in mind they are stationary and stuff floating around has a habit of falling on them and staying there a few hours until they move fast enough for it to come off.

I watched one time, as I sweated it out, the cory went spastic as they sometimes do, looking like he was on 30 cups of coffee, and I watched as the "spot" flew off .

Excuse my redundant post above - I accidentally read your last post on page one where you asked what a cyst was .

I managed to snap a few pics of the one that has that dark spot on it but I couln't get a good shot of the other fish that has the yellowish spot. I got a few but you couldn't see the spot or the flash just reflected to much off the fish. Here's the pic of the other cory. Its kinda on the top left hand side of the fish.
http://community.webshots.com/album/266579836ADlnft

Please read the links I provided above, especially on ich life cycle. It explains the cyst stage of ich.

As I stated above, formalin is available in Rid Ich Plus, which also has a safer formula of malachite green. I don't know how that compares to Nox-Ich. Before switching, I would run activated carbon, after a water change, should you decide to do that.

I really can't help beyond that. Fish are flashing and showing apparent signs of ich. You are already on a path to treat ich. When the cyst falls, if that's what it is, the ich is not done. You will read in the lifecycle, it is only beginning. A single ich spot that has dropped to the bottom of the tank will develop into hundreds more that will look for a host. It is at this stage that ich medicine kills the parasite - NOT will it is on the fish. Unless you feel the stuff is harming your cories, I'd stick with it for now to see if that checks it. If after time it shows it is not helping, then my advice is to switch to Rid Ich Plus. If it was that toxic, it wouldn't be for sale. Just follow precautions on the box.

Wait until morning and drop some food in a corner and come back 15 minutes later - hopefully they are there

I recommended Formalin at half strength because we don't know what is doing it. Without skin and gill biopsies, we simply can't tell. However, if we assume a parasite is involved, the best course of action is to look at a med that will cover all of them. The only one is formalin. Copper is not effective for costia, as far as some of the latest literature is concerned, and minimally effective for ich. While it may not be pleasant to use, I suppose its a balancing act. Many people use Rid Ich Plus and don't have issues. I used it once on fish that appeared to have parasites. I have asthma and was not bothered by it. I sure didn't sniff the bottle. I think the cautions are there to let you know, you ought not be putting your fingers or nose directly in the bottle.

Hope this helps.

Last edited by Cory_Di at 04-Feb-2005 19:23

Oh wow. I'm a little bit confused on what to do now. So is this ich or velvet or something else? I'll lure the cories out with food and try to take a pic. This will be hard though kuz the slightest movement will scare them away. I don't think i can use a flash since that will scare them away also.

A pic may be necessary. If you can, take the pic at a slight angle to the glass, using flash, if it is blurry without.

Here's the thing tho - if those are ich cysts, the only thing your salt treatment will do is to possibly reduce the chance of infection, which is common from the bites. I'd just use plain melafix and/or Pimafix to counter that possibility, with a little salt in the tank to make sure they don't end up with osmotic shock from an electrolyte imbalance. (open wounds allow salt to leave their system and they end up with osmotic shock - salt in the water balances out in their system).

http://www.novalek.com/kpds.htm

Read this from the University of Florida Extension - an excellent resource on fish stuff. Not only is it good on the subject of ich, but discusses Malachite Green and its potential for cancer. The only thing I have a problem with in the article is their idea of running the tank at 90F for a specified time, followed by a drop to 70 for specified time, then back to 90, then back to 70. Dr. Edward J. Noga, Professor of Aquatic Medicine has written that temperature shock can happen with as little as a 3F change in 24 hours. His recommendation is to minimize it to 1F during 24 hours and in extreme cases where it is necessary to change the temp abruptly, no more than 1F per hour for a max of 4F in 24 hours, if I recall. Even then, it is highly risky. 4F down and you could end up with ich or velvet. 4F up and you could cause something like columnaris to bloom.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/BODY_FA006



Last edited by Cory_Di at 04-Feb-2005 17:03

Malachite green is also cancerous? I did not know that. Some of the cories seem to have whiteish spots which i am not sure what they are. Ill try to get a pic. I have used salt on the cories before. But i did not add it to the tank and I took them out and put them into a bucket and used less than a tablespoon of salt and left them in for half an hour. This seemed to work on them a while ago. Should i try doing the same?

EDIT: I am also seeing spots that are kinda the same colour as the cories but it has a kinda whitish outline around it and the spot is a bit darker i think. Is this a cyst?
Last edited by ericm at 04-Feb-2005 13:18

Last edited by ericm at 04-Feb-2005 14:48

Here is an explanation of the ich lifecycle and it should explain the cyst. Meds don't remove the cyst and are only effective when the parasite is in the free swimming stage so do read it. Maintain your current direction and see where it leads.

http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/profiles/disease/freshwater/ich.html

Formalin is a key component in Rid Ich Plus, one of the best ich and parasite meds on the market. It has a safer form of malachite green so is tolerated a little better by sensitive fish, even at more normal doses from what I understand. But I'd still go half strength if you ever go that route.