WHITE spot on old cory cat

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I think the photo will be really helpful. If you have any problems getting it to post, you can PM me. I'm not really great with computers, but I've posted quite a few photos on MFK, so I could be of some help.

Also, please provide the actual numbers on your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings. If you don't own tests, your LFS will probably test them for you. Most do it for free. However, be sure and ask them for exact numbers so you can relay them here. Don't let them say, "It's good" or "Nitrite is a little high," because those are subjective descriptions, and we want objective data.

The reason I ask for this is that if your fish got a bump or a scratch, in good water quality, he should have healed fairly quickly. Fish are incredibly resilient. However, you've added a lot of fish, so we want to make sure that the biological filter has been keeping up with bioload -- converting ammonia to nitrite, and then to nitrate, and that your water changes are frequent and large enough to reduce nitrate to a safe level. So, these numbers are very important.

If you don't test now, I would highly advise that you begin. Clear water can be deceiving, and most of the "illnesses" that fish experience are due to water quality. So, if you're testing, and you know paramaters are optimal, you're decreasing the chance for a whole lot of fish illness.
 
sorry about the blurry photos, he would not stand still nor would he stick around for a photo... so if you can see anything from these pics let me know :)
 
It does look to me like some sort of infection. Is this area raised at all -- I know you said it wasn't fuzzy, but is it swollen? It looks sort of raised in the photos.

Your water parameters are key here. I think it's important to find out why he didn't heal, and why he's continuing to not heal. His immune system is obviously weakened; those numbers (ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate) will help us determine whether or not he might be able to heal on his own.

I hate to advise medicating him at this point, because we still don't know whether or not conditions are optimal for his improvement without medication in the main tank. They may have been bad at the time he got scraped up, but have now resolved themselves. Without regular testing, there's no way to know.

Antibiotics are stressful. Also, you'd have to catch and move him, which would be stressful, as well. So this may not be the best step to take, right now.

I'm sure Lupin will come weigh in on what the best course would be.

Personally, in this situation, I'd leave him in the tank for now and test my water parameters. If they're off, you know you need to fix that or he's never going to get better.
 
i did a dip stick test and my nitrates and nitrite were in the 0 range with maybe slight pink, but certainly under 20ppm by a lot. my hardness was soft. alkalinity was 180, ph is high at 7.2. ammonia is <.25

I know you wanted eact numbers but thats the best i can do thus far. My tank was just setup thur. (the new one) the patch was the there before the move though.... its been about 2 weeks. It has gotten larger so maybe the move made it worse but we took every precaution to make sure that we put them under as little stress as possible.

and no its not raised, it anything, to me, it looks more like a indent which originally made me think scratch. do you think the other cory whos about the same size and age is picking on him?

thanks for all the help!!
 
I have 12 Cories, and they're even different kinds, and I've never seen any aggression between them. I did have one thought, which was that the Pleco might have gotten mad at him and gone after him, but I don't think that's very likely. Really, there is a chance that pretty much anyone could have tried to take a nip, but Cories are pretty tough, and the Pleco is the only one who seems like he could have done any damage.

If it's not red, puffy, fuzzy, or raised, I think there's a pretty good chance that it's not infected.

I'm still not sure what the best course of action would be; I was hoping Lupin would stop in so you could get a definitive answer. I'm sure he will, though.

If he's acting okay, and it doesn't appear to be infected, it would seem that he's healing. But then, you say it's actually getting larger! It sounds like he's beating this one all by himself, but the symptoms say otherwise... I'm stumped!

Also, obviously, it would be better if you had definite numbers, but everything's lookign pretty good. I'd like to think that less than .25 Ammonia is zero Ammonia, and it's probably pretty close. But I'd keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't get any higher.
 
justonemoretank;3603870; said:
ocean, why do you believe it is a parasite? I think it's really helpful to give reasons for your answers so that the OP can determine if their fish fits the profile of having a parasite. Not only that, but I am curious, as well, because nothing about the description sounds like parasite to me, and every experience is a learning experience!
Click to expand...


I was guessing...

~ocean
 
its also a slight possiblity it scrapped its skin against some type of decor- not just being sick pictures would be worth a thousand words. priceless :)
 
Proteus;3608740; said:
its also a slight possiblity it scrapped its skin against some type of decor- not just being sick pictures would be worth a thousand words. priceless :)
Click to expand...

There are photos.
 
~ocean;3608738; said:
I was guessing...

~ocean
Click to expand...

Wouldn't you feel horrible if someone didn't know that and so they went and bought a bunch of anti-parasite treatment and then, because you haven't instructed them properly, used it the wrong way and killed their fish? Or, if the problem is something else entirely, and they're dosing with the Prazi-Pro, or whatever, and their fish actually has a bacterial infection and dies because they're using the wrong medication? Don't guess. If you are going to offer a response, at least be educated about it. You didn't just say it once, you said it twice. Sounded pretty sure about yourself to me.

You shouldn't make your posts something that has to be "fixed" by someone else... i.e., offering misinformation and then someone else has to clean up your mess when the OP is confused and worried about some off-the-wall diagnosis. It's like if you walked into a doctor's office with a cold and he said to you, "Okay, it's time to start the chemo."

Sorry, but that just upsets me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom