Sick Cory

[Rocco Moretti]

Recently I've noticed that one of my panda cories looked very emaciated
and thin, with sunken eyes and a pale color in the body and fins. There
are no noticeable fuzzy spots or parasites on the fish. He's still
slightly active, but noticeably sluggish compared to the others, and
more retiring - he tends to hide by himself rather than playing with the
others. He forages and eats a little, but not as enthusiastically as the
others - it's like he's picking at the food. I'm thinking it might be
contagious since I've noticed another panda cory which is starting to
look sluggish with slightly sunken eyes.

Currently the only fish in the 30 gallon tank are the 8 panda cories.
The tank was recently set up about 1 month ago, with the cories being
new. They looked healthy at the time of purchase. Ammonia and Nitrite
are undetectable (started with filter media from an established tank).

LFS guy seemed reasonably certain that it was internal parasites, which
matches what I was leaning towards from the little reading I've done on
the web. I purchased some Hikari PraziPro (praziquantel), and I dosed
the tank at the recommended rate.

Does anyone have any further suggestions? For a while I thought it might
be hole-in-the-head disease, as there appears to be a depression behind
the eyes where the head meats the body, but from my reading it doesn't
look like cories get HITH, so the hole might just be from the emaciation.

[MarAzul]

"Rocco Moretti" > wrote in message
...
>
> Recently I've noticed that one of my panda cories looked very emaciated
> and thin, with sunken eyes and a pale color in the body and fins. There
> are no noticeable fuzzy spots or parasites on the fish. He's still
> slightly active, but noticeably sluggish compared to the others, and more
> retiring - he tends to hide by himself rather than playing with the
> others. He forages and eats a little, but not as enthusiastically as the
> others - it's like he's picking at the food. I'm thinking it might be
> contagious since I've noticed another panda cory which is starting to look
> sluggish with slightly sunken eyes.
>
> Currently the only fish in the 30 gallon tank are the 8 panda cories. The
> tank was recently set up about 1 month ago, with the cories being new.
> They looked healthy at the time of purchase. Ammonia and Nitrite are
> undetectable (started with filter media from an established tank).
>
> LFS guy seemed reasonably certain that it was internal parasites, which
> matches what I was leaning towards from the little reading I've done on
> the web. I purchased some Hikari PraziPro (praziquantel), and I dosed the
> tank at the recommended rate.
>

What are you feeding them? Are you adding anything to the water, other than
conditioners?

A few things to note: Of all the commonly available species of cories,
Panda's seem to be the most fragile, and quickest to sicken and die in the
home tank. I know several *very* experienced fish keepers, one who even
specializes in cories, who can't keep them alive. Also, be careful with
adding meds to the tank. Cories in general can be more sensative to them and
react badly to a full 'normal fish' dose.

A very good resource, if you haven't discovered it already:
http://www.corydorasworld.com/

--
Mar
---------
VTIT

[Rocco Moretti]

MarAzul wrote:

> What are you feeding them? Are you adding anything to the water, other than
> conditioners?

I've been feeding them sinking pellet food. (Sorry, don't know the brand
off-hand). Since I noticed that he wasn't eating, I've started to add in
flake foods and some crushed up algae wafers. I have also given them
live blackworms as a treat prior to noticing the wasting. I'm a little
concerned that this might have been the source of parasites, but if so,
the cory must have declined quite rapidly to get to the state he's in
now. At any rate, I'm holding off on the blackworms, and have treated
the remaining ones with prazi just to be safe.

Aside from the potassium metabisulfite (from a wine shop) I use to
dechlor the tank, and the PraziPro I just added, the water is straight
municipal tap water (GH >25, KH >20, pH 8.0, fluorinated).

> Also, be careful with
> adding meds to the tank. Cories in general can be more sensative to them and
> react badly to a full 'normal fish' dose.

I picked the PraiPro because it seemed like the gentlest treatment
available. At about 24 hours in they were looking fine. Some of the
healthy ones look a little more active than usual. The sick cory looks
to be a bit more active, and might be eating a bit more, but it is hard
to tell right now.

I'm going to start using water changes to reduce the level of med in the
system.

> A very good resource, if you haven't discovered it already:
> http://www.corydorasworld.com/

I've seen it before, but I lost the link. Thanks. <bookmarks site>

[MarAzul]

Well it sounds like your set up is good. I personally would modify their
diet a bit though. Algae wafers are okay as a very occasional snack, but
cories aren't algae eaters. They're bottom feeders, and there are wafers you
can buy that are specially formulated for them. I give a few of those once
or twice a week and the cories love 'em. I also feed mine frozen bloodworms
and they can't get enough. Occasionally they'll get frozen brine shrimp, but
they're not as fond of those.

--
Mar
---------
VTIT

"Rocco Moretti" > wrote in message
...
> MarAzul wrote:
>
>> What are you feeding them? Are you adding anything to the water, other
>> than conditioners?
>
> I've been feeding them sinking pellet food. (Sorry, don't know the brand
> off-hand). Since I noticed that he wasn't eating, I've started to add in
> flake foods and some crushed up algae wafers. I have also given them live
> blackworms as a treat prior to noticing the wasting. I'm a little
> concerned that this might have been the source of parasites, but if so,
> the cory must have declined quite rapidly to get to the state he's in now.
> At any rate, I'm holding off on the blackworms, and have treated the
> remaining ones with prazi just to be safe.
>
> Aside from the potassium metabisulfite (from a wine shop) I use to dechlor
> the tank, and the PraziPro I just added, the water is straight municipal
> tap water (GH >25, KH >20, pH 8.0, fluorinated).
>
>> Also, be careful with adding meds to the tank. Cories in general can be
>> more sensative to them and react badly to a full 'normal fish' dose.
>
> I picked the PraiPro because it seemed like the gentlest treatment
> available. At about 24 hours in they were looking fine. Some of the
> healthy ones look a little more active than usual. The sick cory looks to
> be a bit more active, and might be eating a bit more, but it is hard to
> tell right now.
>
> I'm going to start using water changes to reduce the level of med in the
> system.
>
>> A very good resource, if you haven't discovered it already:
>> http://www.corydorasworld.com/
>
> I've seen it before, but I lost the link. Thanks. <bookmarks site>
>