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ok these are the basics...
About a month ago I added two new corydoras aeneus( one albino, one emerald) to my 10 gallon tank. There were already two other corydoras aeneus(one albino, one emerald) in the tank. they had lived there for over a year. the cories immediately hit it off, schooling together and such. then, a few days later my weakest fish(the old albino named ice, who had had a bad bout of finrot 5 months earlier) developed fin rot and a weird case of popeye. i say its weird because the eye itself is bulging out of the socket, it doesn't have a film over it or anything. i treated with melafix, fin rot went away, popeye didn't. then that fish began gasping at the top. I thought an old faded rock could be the problem, so i removed it. gasping continued. added airstone. gasping continued.wondered if gill flukes could be the cause. currently treating with kordon's rid ich plus and have done so for a week. the gasping is still happening. i think im losing the fish, she still has the popeye, is still gasping, has finrot again, and is swimming rather lethargically. she is still eating though. the other fish are all showing signs of finrot, and my newest albino(fin) is also showing signs of popeye. my older emerald(tad)is showing signs of velvet on his fins, and black dots along his lateral line. they are all still eating. i cant figure out wats wrong!! im going to kill my LFS... please help my fish, I don't want them to die!!.
o ya, my most recent perameters are from a few days ago, they are: nitrIte=0, nitrAte=5, ammonia=0, and ph=7.6.temp is usually around 70 degrees farenheit. it fluctuates slightly because I'm having a heater problem. i am doing daily water changes to try to help the fish. The tank is a ten gal unplanted with only 4 cories in it. I was also wondering, should i switch back to treating to melafix? the fish with finrot have it bad...

Melafix is for fishies, not for people. Trust me, I know from personal experience.

ok today they are all still alive... i really need help with this, like what could i use to treat it?(any of these problems) please help! im listening

Melafix is for fishies, not for people. Trust me, I know from personal experience.

oh no the really sick albino is sitting upside down under some plastic plants!! ok after i moved them she swam away a bit later... PLEASE HELP ME!!

Melafix is for fishies, not for people. Trust me, I know from personal experience.

Well, I'm far from an expert on diagnosing fish maladies, but I'll try to help as best I can. I know that popeye is often brought on by problems with water quality, and the same goes for fin rot. I can't explain the other symptoms, as there are multiple potential causes. I'm puzzled by the reason that your fish got sick, especially if your water parameters are as posted. How often did you do water changes before the fish became ill? Did you test the tank water before you started the daily changes or afterwards? How have the fish responded to the daily water changes? And lastly, how long has the heater not been working? A fluctuating temperature surely won't help the fish, and could stress them out enough to bring on illness in the first place.

At this point I can't say exactly what would help your fish, as water changes are usually my standard response to disease. I should point out that switching medications around will likely stress the fish more and can hurt more than help, especially if they treat for something the fish does not have. I think it would be best to try and get to the root of the problem before anyone recommends another treatment. Water changes are usually great, but they reduce the effectiveness of medications, much like activated carbon in a filter.

I'm sorry that your first post here has to be so dire, and that no one has responded as of yet. Hopefully things will brighten up for you. Welcome to the boards.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

the perameters were from when i was doing changes every 2 or three days, when the problems were first beginning. The heater only started malfunctioning a day or two ago. I am replacing it today with another I have. The daily water changes seem to make the fish happier, they get really active and start zooming around the tank. before anything was wrong i did water changes and gravel vacs every week. I think the fish got fin rot because of stress, i had to do an immediate move to a QT tank because I needed to treat with rid ich ASAP, and there was still Melafix in the tank.

Thanks for responding, sirbooks

Melafix is for fishies, not for people. Trust me, I know from personal experience.

Cory,

When people ask, "Why is my fish sick?", I can generally point to a number of problems. These are:

o Poor water quality and maintenance. The tank has measurable ammonia or nitrites, or very high nitrates. I define high nitrates as more than 20 ppm.

o The water temperature is fluctuating more than 2 deg F/day. A problem that occurs if you have a poor heater is that there may be an electrical charge in the tank. Fish are very sensitive to that weak current. Toss the heater and you may buy fewer fish.

o Too many fish in the tank for the size of the tank and filtration.

Now the bad news, the conditions that you describe for your fish are related to water quality and maintenance issues.

Corneybacteriosis is another term for the bulging eyes symptom. Corneybacteria causes swelling in the head which will push the eyes outward. It is caused by overcrowding and water of poor quality, having an excess of ammonia and / or nitrites. There are a few commercially available products which treat corneybacteriosis. Penicillin and tetracycline are among them.

If your fish is gasping at the surface and it has fin rot, you have bad water. Immediately check for ammonia and nitrites while you are doing a 50% water change. If your test kit reads 0, test for nitrates. If your test kit says that nitrates are below 20 ppm. Take a water sample to your LFS and have them test your water as your test kit chemicals may be old. If you are using test strips, you DO NOT have an effective test for ammonia, nitrites or nitrates.

C. aeneus is a nice fish. They tolerate acidic to alkaline water with temps from 72 to 79F. Lifespan is about 5 years.

My suggestions are:

o Improve your tank maintenance. You saw how well your fish responded to the water changes. Continue the water changes with substrate vacuuming and be sure to maintain your filters.

o Feed your fish less. Let them fast every other day. Feed them lightly on the other days. Give them an occassional treat of bloodworms.

o Buy that new heater and boost the tank temperature to 76 or 78F. My experience is that the fish will do better at the higher temp.



__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Id follow bobs advice on this, and use esha exit for the meds. A lot of rid ich cures are not as effective as esha when it comes to shifting velvet.

I will also agree with Bob, more water changes can only help. If you (slowly) raise the tank's temperature as he also mentioned, that should boost the fishes' bodily functions, and hopefully allow them to heal more quickly. These problems sound like they can be beaten.

"Lifespan is about 5 years."

I do want to note that Corydoras aeneus can live far longer than five years. I've heard a report of over twenty, and the average for healthy fish should be at least ten. Cory catfish are not short-lived fish, so it's difficult to attribute any aquarium deaths or illnesses to old age.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

ok for my most recent parameters (note, this is within 24 hours of a tank change, so my declorinator might have caused some levels of ammonia) ok nitrite=0, nitrate= under 5, ammonia= .5(again, i think this is because of declorinator) and a ph of 7.5-7.6( my test kit isn't that exact) ok my test kit is a Freshwater Master Test Kit and it is liquid tests.it is only 1 month old.i think adding the two new fish might have caused a mini cycle(uh oh). i replaced the old heater with a new one that is now at a steady 76 degrees F. The progress of the finrot has stopped, but my question is, why is only one fish gasping? she has been doing so for about 3 weeks, and the water is pristine!! could it be a side effect of the cornybacteriosis? i will try to get the meds ASAP. I will also continue with the daily WC. Thank you so much for all your help. i will keep you posted.*Note, the gasping got worse when i stopped using Rid Ich for a day, so i put it back in and the gasping lessened. I don't know why or how it helps, but it seems to
ps, does corneybacteriosis make their heads look slightly puffy? like kind of swollen? just noticed that

Melafix is for fishies, not for people. Trust me, I know from personal experience.

Yay they are all still alive today!! i can get the meds tomorrow from Petsmart. im going to move the emeralds to another tank because they both have the velvet, and the albinos stay in the original tank to be treated for corneybacteriosis. wish me luck

Melafix is for fishies, not for people. Trust me, I know from personal experience.

Okay got the meds today, they are compatible!! yay! so i dont have to move any fish. i got Maracyn - TC( active ingredient tetracycline hydrochloride) for the fin rot and the pop eye, and Maracide (active ingredients Malachite green and Chitosan) for the velvet. sorry longhairedgit, they didn't have any esha exit. i picked maracide instead of copper safe because i thought the copper might be a bit harsh on my poor fish. I did a big water change and added one dose of each med. ice is still gasping, but is more active( the maracyn TC also treats diseases of the gills, just in case thats what she has) they all seem happy. ok once again i'll ask, what could be causing ice to gasp? the water is perfect!! and why does her head look slightly swollen? and why are there black dots on my older emerald tad? are these velvet too? thanks for the meds help, but i still need a few more ?s answered.

Melafix is for fishies, not for people. Trust me, I know from personal experience.

okay, they're all still alive today, but the water looks like i poured soap in it!! there is so much foam!! and ice is eating the bubbles and blowing them out her gills... could someone please explain?

Melafix is for fishies, not for people. Trust me, I know from personal experience.

Its not unusual for meds to make the water foamy. The fish is acting a bit odd though. Sometimes the meds find so much bacteria and fungus to combat that the reaction is visible in the water and protiens may be released from the dying organisms, and this can produce foam. The reagents in many meds use oxygen for their activation process , and this too may cause bubbles and gaseous exchange. If youre worried about the water quality and the availability of oxygen to the fish during this time , you can perform water changes, but make sure you re-add the meds in the correct proportions of the water lost from the change. Make sure you dont overdose, and sometimes adding more aerators and oxygenators will help although obviously there will be a temporary increase in foam. Sometimes just skimming the water surface with a paper towel can help.

i checked the water yesterday and the parameters are as follows: nitrItes=0, ammonia=0, nitrAtes=under 5 ppm, almost 0, ph= 7.6. I upped the temp to 78 degrees. i skimmed most of the nasy tetracycline dust off the top of the tank. i have noticed little improvement in poor ice, and now im noticing even MORE problems. Firstly, she appears to have something clear protruding from her anal area. it is rounded, and the same color as her body. it has a greyish line in it. it may be just fecal matter and i will see if it is still there in the morning. i did feed them freeze dried bloodworms recently, could that cause it.also, the plates behind her pectoral fins look odd. they are somewhat translucent and almost look indented. behind them there is a reddish brownish color. there is a small part of the plate that looks normal right near the fin, but thats it. o god, what is wrong with her!? please help me.

Melafix is for fishies, not for people. Trust me, I know from personal experience.

okay, today they are all still alive. yay!! i'd still like to know what the translucent plate is, and the clear circle by the anus is still there. please tell me what these symptoms could be caused by.the fish is still eating and pooping, but spends most of her time hovering near the top.

Melafix is for fishies, not for people. Trust me, I know from personal experience.

All right, nothing much to report, fish are all still alive, ice seems to be gasping less. Doing a water change and then repeating meds for now. Anyone have any advice for my fishes many problems?

Melafix is for fishies, not for people. Trust me, I know from personal experience.

Okay, the fish with velvet are better , but the two with pop eye are still sick, and Ice is becoming sort of lethargic... could someone please help!?

Melafix is for fishies, not for people. Trust me, I know from personal experience.

If she still has the lump near the anus she might have constipation,maybe even a prolapse, she might even be trying to pass eggs. Try some blanched peas mashed up, and see if it gets things going. You can try melafix again, but the pop-eye may need a proper antibiotic.

I thought it might be constipation at first too, but I saw her pass feces around it, so I know that isn't the problem. Also, I still don't understand these clear, semi indented spots behind her fins... I will try switching back to melafix as soon as I finish treating with maracide... thanks for all your help, longhairedgit.

Melafix is for fishies, not for people. Trust me, I know from personal experience.

oksy, ice is still alive today... she spends most of her time resting on the bottom now, and swims only in spurts... The indents on her side are deeper red, and she looks like a wreck. I'll be done medicating tomorrow, and will switch back to melafix the day after that. Hope she's alive tommorrow.

Melafix is for fishies, not for people. Trust me, I know from personal experience.