Cory barbell erosion

[MDB_fish_newbie]

I picked up 8 green corys this past meeting. 3 of them are missing their barbells (whiskers). I have them in QT but have not treated them with anything. I was planning to try melafix but wanted to get some suggestions. Is this common for corys? Especially ones what were shipped. The affected fish also seem too have some fungal stuff on their sides, some type of rot. Not sure how much effort I should put into healing them. The other 5 seem fine. But I've never kept corys so I don't know their behaviors well.

 

[mchambers]

It's not common, but it does occur. Some people think it occurs when you have Corydoras on a rough, or sharp-edged substrate. Other people think it occurs when you have a dirty substrate.

Either way, it's not a good thing. You might want to try vacuuming the substrate and doing bigger water changes.

 

[thedavidzoo]

Take it from Matt. I also would ask about your substrate on the barbel erosion.

 

[MDB_fish_newbie]

When I received the fish these 3 already had their barbells missing. They are on a sand substrate, and I do 75% wc biweekly.

 

[Becca]

Do you know who sold the fish? I had this happen with two groups of black cories I bought at auction a few months ago. I couldn't save a single fish. Just like yours, they came that way.

 

[MDB_fish_newbie]

Do you know who sold the fish? I had this happen with two groups of black cories I bought at auction a few months ago. I couldn't save a single fish. Just like yours, they came that way.

I got them from Josh pre order. That was my first time preordering anything. Everything I got from his stock so far is great, but thsee Corys were a little rough.

 

[Becca]

I got them from Josh pre order. That was my first time preordering anything. Everything I got from his stock so far is great, but thsee Corys were a little rough.

Ok, that's definitely not who mine came from.

Yeah, usually the stuff I get from him is top-notch.

If you think it's fungal, I'd try an anti-fungal treatment, or maybe even ask Josh what he'd recommend. He's helped me find solutions for fish before. The ones I got at auction had barbel erosion, fin erosion, and developed what looked like fungal patches where the other stuff was already attacking. I tried for weeks, but couldn't get rid of it. I can't use a lot of the harsher meds right now, though, whereas it's probably not an issue for you.

 

[MDB_fish_newbie]

Ok, that's definitely not who mine came from.

Yeah, usually the stuff I get from him is top-notch.

If you think it's fungal, I'd try an anti-fungal treatment, or maybe even ask Josh what he'd recommend. He's helped me find solutions for fish before. The ones I got at auction had barbel erosion, fin erosion, and developed what looked like fungal patches where the other stuff was already attacking. I tried for weeks, but couldn't get rid of it. I can't use a lot of the harsher meds right now, though, whereas it's probably not an issue for you.

I will ask him. Also I don't want to spend so much money on meds that I don't have when I paid so little for them. It makes me sad to want to give up on them so fast but, it dosent seem worth it to spend so much effort. I will try the teatree Melafix and more wc for now.

 

[Becca]

I will ask him. Also I don't want to spend so much money on meds that I don't have when I paid so little for them. It makes me sad to want to give up on them so fast but, it dosent seem worth it to spend so much effort. I will try the teatree Melafix and more wc for now.

Combine it with Pimafix for the fungus.

 

[mchambers]

Obviously, I did not read your original message carefully enough and didn't realize that the fish came this way. I would definitely ask Josh, because he is so knowledgeable and because he knows the source of your fish. I agree that trying Melafix and Pimafix makes sense. I don't know about other possible treatments.

 

[JLW]

It's not too uncommon on fish that have gotten shipped, and these guys were in Southeast Asia two weeks ago. Loss of barbels usually is a sign that they were exposed to bad water conditions somewhere along the line, though it can also be caused by rough substrate (in this case, that's unlikely: they were likely bare bottom until I got them, and then they were in sand).

The good news is that it isn't life threatening, unless it's getting worse or has become infected. Indeed, just moving them into fresh, clean water will usually halt any degradation.

Once the barbels are damaged, they'll usually heal and regrow in a few months, at best. It doesn't really effect the fish much in an aquarium (I imagine that they'd have trouble finding food in the wild, but that's a nonissue in the fish tank). If they are still being damaged, the first thing to do is check your water quality -- provide its clean, not too acid, then it is likely infected (which is rare). Pimafix (not Melafix) is appropriate for this, and relatively mild. Nitrofurazone will work if its pretty severe.

Let me know if these guys make it or not, Mason! Pretty unusual for them to have come in rough, but it was after a pretty rough couple of weeks for me, and a few things definitely slipped by me.

 

[MDB_fish_newbie]

Thanks josh and everyone, I will start trying to do extra water changes on this tank and keep an eye on them for the next month. Being that corys are a first for me I'm just a bit more hesitant and not sure what to expect but good to know

 

[JLW]

It's definitely disheartening to see fish that are... imperfect (and worse that they came from me, I'm sorry mate!). But, this is something that they can rebound from, and will!

 

[MDB_fish_newbie]

another thing i forgot to ask. should i be worried about them being in the same tank as the other 5 healthier ones? i don't have anymore tank space, at least until something gets moved from QT.

and its no biggie, its all learning experiences for me, so learning the hard way seems to be the only way in this hobby. its nice to have good advice along the way!

 

[JLW]

No -- the erosion on the barbels is usually not pathogenic. It can get infected, and if the infection becomes severe, that can spread to other fish (but it rarely gets infected anyhow). Keep an eye on them, make sure other barbels aren't vanishing, and otherwise, you're in good shape.

 

[MDB_fish_newbie]

First one looks not infected but missing barbells

Second one is worse.. missing barbels, eye is poped out dark coloration

Third is the worst, missing barbels dark color, red fins and side, also cotton tuft where his barbels were

to see what I'm working with, just treated tank with Pima and melafix, also did another wc and gravel vac

 

[MDB_fish_newbie]

2 of them were dead when i got up this morning.

 

[MDB_fish_newbie]

i also switched to doing 50% wc daily on this tank as well as gravel vac to keep it pristine. and i have a little plant to help with the water quality. but its just a 10 gal with a sponge filter and 6 corys so it stays pretty clean.

Also none of the fish died untill the day after i treated with pimafix. Is that normal for fish to die after one treatment. Maby at their already weak state made tolerating meds more difficult.

 

[JLW]

Probably the two in the last two pictures, if I had to guess?

And, sometimes if you have a fish that is on its way out, dosing with medication will push it over. It's nothing to feel guilty about: if you did nothing, it would have died anyhow.

 

[Termato]

I'm sorry about your loss man that sucks. These little guys are troopers, too. I hope the rest of them pull through.

I've had this happen to some and they've grown back. I've had a colony of them for about 3 years now. I had 30 at one point. I lost some to a heater malfunction (10 died on that) and the rest I've sold. Down to the last 7. If you are interested we could work something out. That 40G is going to be the new acara breeding center. I'm just going to keep the 33 Long in the room as a grow out fish unless I get more females. I got one today.

I have them all in the 40G with the only surviving healthy acara and the new female I got today from Walter. He had two of then pair off and I got lucky enough to grab the remaining three. You can see my water change hose filling the tank :

There is one of them that is just insanely huge though. I've never seen a cory as big as him. But yea, if you want them let me know.