# Does anyone have experience treating corydoras for ick?



## klaus07

I have had some success with cories when the temp was raised to 84-86 and quick cure was dosed at half strength. I would do this in a hospital tank as malachite green and formalin arent good for your plants and is lethal to invertebrates.


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## BBradbury

*Corydoras & "Ich" Treatment*



tlyons01 said:


> I have just added lots of newly acquired fish and plants. There have been a number of changes to my tank over the last 2 months. Today I saw one of my corys flashing and rubbing the top of her cave. I have cories and otos, as well as cardinals, neons and rasboras and just added some ghost shrimp yesterday. My tank is moderately planted. What sort of treatment is recommended for the catfish? I am currently searching the net, thought I would ask here also. I can visibly see that 2 of my cories have one dot on their dorsal fins. The tank has been running for a year, and I just tested my water yesterday and here are my results:
> 
> Water temp kept at 78
> ammonia-0
> nitrite-0
> nitrate-5-10 ppm
> ph-7.6
> 
> The filter media was changed about 4 days ago in my smaller unit. I was checking my params to see if it affected my bio colony increasing the number of fish and things seem fine. I have had issues with the last purchases of fish, took 8 back to the store and replaced them and have lost 3 more of the newbie fishes since then. My tank is 46 gallons.... Any advice would be appreciated


Hello t...

If your tank has the "Ich" parasites and you've caught the problem in time, then heat, a little standard aquarium salt and a lot of pure, warm, treated water and darkness for a couple of weeks will help.

Over the next 48 hours, gradually raise the tank temperature to 86 degrees, add a teaspoon of standard aquarium salt to every five gallons of your water change water, remove and replace half the water in the tank every two to three days with water that's a little warmer than normal, vacuum the gravel if possible, and keep the lights off in the tank. Do this for a couple of weeks and monitor your fish.

Here's why you do it. 86 degrees speeds the life cycle of the parasite. Most fish pathogens can't tolerate even a trace of salt in the water, salt is a natual boost to the fishes' immune system, and your Corys won't mind this trace of salt. Flushing a lot pure, warmed, treated tap water through your tank will calm the fish and the salt will ease the irritation the parasite causes to the fishes' gill area. The "Ich" parasite locates a host by site, with the tank lights out, the parasite is essentially blind.

Go to www.kokosgoldfish.com/IchPrevention and read the article on "Ich" treatment, it's very good. It starts with the symptoms and goes from there.

B


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## tlyons01

Great advice, so I am not to worry about the salt and the corys. Check. 

But what about the plants and the salt? I thought that was a total no no for plants?

Also, what about the plants being in the dark for that long? I haven't established my plant care regime yet, as I am still getting the things I need like the dry ferts and such. If I have to darken the tank, wouldn't that harm them?


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## m00se

Kordon Ich Attack is a patented organic naphthoquinone based Ich treatment that works well. I've used it in my planted tank with snails and corys. No salt, no heat..it smells herbal. Dark brown color. Will not stain silicone seals. It also works well for fungus-based problems. Do not confuse this with Kordon Rid Ich+, which is a malachite green/formalin based treatment that is deadly to inverts and snails. 

You can also get it at Petco/Petsmart which helps when you're working against time.

Kordon is a well respected company with a long track record of quality products. If you have trouble with your animals you can call them and talk to a PhD in marine biology if necessary. Can you tell I like this stuff? I do, because it works. :icon_smil


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## tlyons01

m00se said:


> Kordon Ich Attack is a patented organic naphthoquinone based Ich treatment that works well. I've used it in my planted tank with snails and corys. No salt, no heat..it smells herbal. Dark brown color. Will not stain silicone seals. It also works well for fungus-based problems. Do not confuse this with Kordon Rid Ich+, which is a malachite green/formalin based treatment that is deadly to inverts and snails.
> 
> You can also get it at Petco/Petsmart which helps when you're working against time.
> 
> Kordon is a well respected company with a long track record of quality products. If you have trouble with your animals you can call them and talk to a PhD in marine biology if necessary. Can you tell I like this stuff? I do, because it works. :icon_smil


m00se, thank you for your input. I will be looking for that today. This is exactly what I was looking to do, be able to safely treat the entire tank. I also have the rid ich + though I have only used it once before and haven't used it for ich so I wasn't sure of the desired results. I will posts my experience with treatment here for my fellow newbs or anyone else experiencing this for the first time in planted tanks....


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## junko

I had ich recently in a tank with cories- I was concerned about the salt bothering them, and the key is to add salt gradually, and raise temps gradually. But not TOO gradually! You want to complete the treatment as quickly as possible so you can get the fish back to a normal situation.

I followed the advice in this link, in a planted aquarium and it was very successful. I lost no plants and no fish.

Scroll down to post #15:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forum...nd-tetras-treat-with-salt-and-cory-cats/page2


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## tlyons01

Ok here is my update: I still have fish that have ich. I tried using the Ich Attack for about 5 days and I was losing fish every day. I then did a full 3 day treatment using Qu_ICK_ Cure and I still have fish with Ich. I have lost over half of my fish in that tank. Somehow though, the shrimp have survived the Quick Cure treatment, which I found to be unusual since it's malachite green active ingredient. So, I have not lost any oto's or cories, which was my main concern. Though I can still see some ich spots on them. I think I am going to have to try the salt treatment. Will start that tomorrow, since I am low on AS and need to pick up some more. On the upside, I haven't seen any plants dying off, just that I have BBA getting a little out of hand. (Waiting for my dry ferts to arrive from GLA...)


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## m00se

By the time you see the cysts, ich has already done damage to the fish. It's not unusual to lose them during this stage. I would keep up with the Ich Attack myself. As you observed, the Quick Cure didn't show results either. That's because ich is not vulnerable to the treatment unless it's in the free-swimming stage. Once it's attached to the animal, it's protected by the cyst itself. So the trick is to dose the Ich Attack at intervals that correspond to the free swimming stage of the its life cycle. This can vary quite a bit. That's why the directions tell you to dose 1X, 2X, or even 3X a day until you get it under control. When you turn the heat up on the water, the ich increases it's activity and will quicken the time between those stages when they're vulnerable to the treatment. There are many subspecies of ich. Some ich can take up to 30 days to complete one life cycle! Switching out treatments will inevitably stress the animals out more than they are already. I would be very wary of doing any other treatment(s) at this point. I would stay the course with the Ich Attack. 

I'm sure you are but....you're shaking the bottle before you dose? No carbon in the filter? No water changes during Ich Attack treatment?

Good luck and report back!!


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## msjinkzd

i use regular salt, i don't buy aquarium salt. You can get the non-iodized kind at the grocery store for .49 a canister. I have use iodized as well, the amount of idione is neglible. Much cheaper to treat wtih those.


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## tlyons01

m00se said:


> .
> 
> I'm sure you are but....you're shaking the bottle before you dose? No carbon in the filter? No water changes during Ich Attack treatment?
> 
> Good luck and report back!!


Yes, I am but maybe not every time I used it did I remember. I will try and stay the course with the Ich Attack. I am worried about stressing them out. All of the ones that are hanging by a thread are those that I just put in there when this all began. Poor little guys fins are all ragged, and I am getting some with white fungus covered bodies too. I am pretty frustrated, as this has almost wiped out my rasboras that I have had for a few months. I expected there to be some loss, I just never expected it to be so severe. I probably had 30 or more little guys, not including the corys or otos.. Now I am down to at least 10, I think..GRRRR

I will report back for sure. Thanks for your words of encouragement about staying on one treatment. I will need to up the dosing I suppose. 

msjinkzd: Thanks for your salt advice. I would have been too scared to try anything outside of the recommended by websites I find..I think I may even have a box of rock salt I used with goldfish long time ago, will have to check around the house. For now though, I will stick with one and give it more time.. Did you by chance, notice any damage to your plants using the salt treatments?


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## msjinkzd

i don't keep high tech plants, just hardier low to mid light stuff and haven't had issues in the duration of treatment.


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## m00se

tlyons01 said:


> All of the ones that are hanging by a thread are those that I just put in there when this all began.


And they are probably the ones who brought it into the tank, infecting everyone else.



tlyons01 said:


> Poor little guys fins are all ragged, and I am getting some with white fungus covered bodies too.


This is "secondary infection" which is often the result of weakened immune systems from the ich infestation. It can be bacterial or fungal. The Ich Attack will kill any fungus in the tank - Kordon makes RID-FUNGUS which is the same thing as Ich Attack, according to the PhD they have on staff there. I know because I called and talked to him at length about their products. So my guess is that it's bacterial. The 60 dollar question is: Is it gram negative or gram positive.... Many sites recommend you dose both Maracyn and Maracyn II together when these symptoms occur. I can't give first hand advice here. It makes sense to hit the tank with gram positive and gram negative antibiotics, to ensure than you get whatever it is that's attacking your fish. Without a microscope and bacteria samples it's impossible to say...


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## tlyons01

Hmm that sounds like its going to be expensive, since I have a 46 gallon tank to treat. I think I have 1 packet of the Maracyn II but that is only good for 10 gallons. I shall spend some time considering this today


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## junko

tlyons01 said:


> Did you by chance, notice any damage to your plants using the salt treatments?


I'll butt in here and say that with 2 teaspoons salt per gallon, I saw no damage to various types of swords and crypts, ambulia sessiliflora, bolbitus or hygro. pinnafitida.


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## tlyons01

junko said:


> I'll butt in here and say that with 2 teaspoons salt per gallon, I saw no damage to various types of swords and crypts, ambulia sessiliflora, bolbitus or hygro. pinnafitida.


It's good to get all perspectives on the salt treatment, thank you for sharing your experience with me as well... sounds like its definitely not as bad to use it for treatment as I had originally thought


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## bdresser

I recently went through my first ick outbreak with a secondary infection of fin rott as well! What worked: High temp (around 86), aquarium salt, Kordons "Ick attack", and then Maracyn II for the fin rott. Also, daily gravel vacuuming (I think I read somewhere that the ick settles on the gravel at some point in the life cycle). The Maracyn II really helped with the Fin Rott and quick! But the ick was a persistent little bugger and stayed around longer...I feel your pain, I lost about 1/2 of my tank occupants as well. It took about a week for the ick to finally subside so keep at it!!

To get to the original intent of this reply....I also read that scaleless fish (cat fish I think are scaleless) were sensitive to salt in the water so to use a half does of salt if you had these types of fish....I think that the 2tsp of salt per gallon may be hard on your corys so you may want to keep an eye on how much salt. I used the recommended dose (1tsp per gallon) and my Ottos were fine, but I would be careful about too much salt. 

Good luck!


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## tlyons01

bdresser said:


> I recently went through my first ick outbreak with a secondary infection of fin rott as well! What worked: High temp (around 86), aquarium salt, Kordons "Ick attack", and then Maracyn II for the fin rott. Also, daily gravel vacuuming (I think I read somewhere that the ick settles on the gravel at some point in the life cycle). The Maracyn II really helped with the Fin Rott and quick! But the ick was a persistent little bugger and stayed around longer...I feel your pain, I lost about 1/2 of my tank occupants as well. It took about a week for the ick to finally subside so keep at it!!
> 
> To get to the original intent of this reply....I also read that scaleless fish (cat fish I think are scaleless) were sensitive to salt in the water so to use a half does of salt if you had these types of fish....I think that the 2tsp of salt per gallon may be hard on your corys so you may want to keep an eye on how much salt. I used the recommended dose (1tsp per gallon) and my Ottos were fine, but I would be careful about too much salt.
> 
> Good luck!


Sorry you had to go through that, it is such a PITA. I am glad you are sharing your experience with me. I am looking for any help and all advice is welcomed. So tell me, did you do all of that at one time? I have pool filter sand so I really haven't been sweeping the bottom of the tank since before this has started, do you recommend that I start doing that as well? I knew they settled down there, just haven't done that much detail since I have been treating..

I looked at the Maracyn and Maracyn II, I would need more than 1 box each for the recommended treatment, we are talking some serious cash for that. I haven't the funds, not to mention it would be cheaper on me to just replace those that are gone. That sounds awful, and I don't mean for it to, but it is my reality...

Thanks again


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## junko

I really think you should go the salt route. It's safe, cheap, effective and readily available. I posted a link earlier in this thread detailing the method of salting your tank when you have corydoras. It really did do the job splendidly for my tank without hurting the cories, the biofilter or the plants.


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## tlyons01

Yes I am getting ready to start that. I figure I should sweep over the sand and remove at least 25% prior to adding it in...


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## bdresser

To answer your question...yes...I did do all those treatments at once (may not be recommended by those more experienced though). I think the salt treatment and raising the temp would be enough to take care of the ick. Don't forget water changes to keep that water sparkly clean though!! The problem I had was with the fin rott...it progressed SO quick!! It seemed like half their tails were gone overnight! Luckly I only have a 28gallon and was able to treat it with the Maracyn II, but that stuff is definitely not cheap. If the fin rott hasn't progressed too much then you may be able to use the Melifix successfully which is cheaper. Also, there is conflicting information out there, but a lot of websites say that fin rott is usually a gram negative bacteria, so you could try using Maracyn II first...then move to Maracyn (if money permits) if that doesn't work after a few days. Maracyn II REALLY helped clear up the fin rott and fast! Good luck!! But first things first...raise that temp and add a bit of aquarium salt! Then figure out additional treatment from there if necessary.


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## tlyons01

Hey, thanks for coming back and giving your input. I am currently adding the salt slowly, I started last night and am adding every 3 hours per another posters link-instructions. I should be up to 2 tsp per gallon by tomorrow. I am slowly cranking up the heat too, I have an open top so it might not get as warm as what others may be able to get done. I was wondering mostly about the ick attack too. Wondering if I should be doing both? what do you think? I did a 50% WC last night before starting the salt. There had been ich attack added prior to that. I am down to only 1 neon. I had 7 cardinal tetras and 19 neons when this started. Haven't lost an oto or cory so I can't complain...


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## fresh.salty

msjinkzd said:


> i don't keep high tech plants, just hardier low to mid light stuff and haven't had issues in the duration of treatment.


Do you think that sort of treatment is killing off all the disease or just slowing it down to a point the immune system can deal with it?

I've always felt that ich was present in most systems and it's not until the fish are stressed that it becomes a problem.


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## tlyons01

fresh.salty said:


> I've always felt that ich was present in most systems and it's not until the fish are stressed that it becomes a problem.


I agree, I have read and re read articles pertaining to that specifically. I know that ich is always there. What I don't know, is if that is the case, how does all of the treatments and such we do actually work? Maybe you are asking the same thing. I bought these fish, did not QT them and now they brough it into the tank, the infestation, that is. My stock prior to that had never been ill. I was even able to raise corydora fry. Have never had any issues with the tank. With that said, once I get them to where they are not showing signs of ich and fungus, is it really gone or just no longer attacking them? I don't believe that my stock were stressed before the new fish. Maybe the additions stressed them out and that allowed the ich to attach to even the healthy ones.. I don't know for sure all of the details, I just know I want it GONE!! I am getting so worn out cause I am stressing over this so much.. 

did I mention I have 2 tanks that are affected?.. oy vay


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## Psionic

You didn't mention 2 tanks. Did you buy your recent fish and put them in both tanks? If not, that seems like a stumper. 

Also, on the plant and salt question. I have some non sword plants (nothing rare though), and they've been ok in the tank during salt treatments. I supposed I was going heavy on wc though. I also have Japanese Trapdoors in my tank. Are your inverts still alive? 

Have you thought of dipping your fish? The non cory's that is. But I've only ever done that as first stage treatment on my fish. Anyone else know if OP can do it at this stage?


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=29.515008,-98.564844


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## tlyons01

Yes, I added 2 otos to the second tank. The day I brought them home, in the same bag were 5 black rasboras, 7 cardinal tetras, 2 ADF, and 2 ottos. The frogs tank hasn't been giving me any troubles, my second tank I am just treating the same as my large tank. So far the plants seem to be ok, no outward signs are showing since the salt addition, though, it hasn't been very long- less than 24 hours since I started adding it. 

If I could dip them, I would give that a try. They would be hard to catch, I'm sure!! The only thought I had with dipping them was using Clear Water, which is what I dip my new plants in. Active ingredient is Potassium Pomenganate. What were you referring to for dipping?


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## Psionic

A salt water dip. You dip your fish in there for a few minutes in a bucket/tub/whatever and then put them back into your tank for other treatments. I'm sure you could find lots of info with a google search. I've only ever done it as a first step treatment though. I don't know if it would do anything later on or after you've been treating them with other chemicals. I was a broke college student and couldn't put too much money into things that came up in a rush. In the long run, I don't know if dips helped too much. But my fish didn't get ick. 

When I had a saltwater tank I used to dip all new fish before I put them in any tanks. But that's with freshwater. It's so weird like that. 


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=29.515110,-98.564726


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## KaylNeko

Heat alone has worked for my big tank. Black Neon Tetras, Sterba's Corys, Panda Corys, snails, shrimp, and plants. The only hiccup I had is that the Pandas reacted very badly to the increased heat--their top comfort is 77, where the sterba's and the tetras both top out low 80's, so I wound up pulling them and putting them in an iso tank with Ich Attack. The tank is cured. The pandas were looking ich free then a couple spots popped up, so their treatment just started. We'll see how it goes. I actually paired it with their Fish Protector, which is labeled for maintenance but is supposed to help with minor issues like fin rot brought on by stress, which one of my guys has. It also has echinacea in it, which, providing it's in a form available to the fish, should help with a major immune boost to fight the parasite.


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## tlyons01

I looked mine over many times yesterday, and I haven't seen any dots on them or the otos. There are still ich spots on 2 guppies and a guppy fry, as of last night. I have one neon left who looked like he might pull through.. 

Can anyone tell me how long I need to leave the salt in the tank? Is it 2 weeks? After the last spots are seen, I mean?


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## KaylNeko

Everything I've read says continue to treat for 3 to 4 days after the very last spot has vanished. This makes sense as in the mid to high 70's, the ich is supposed to complete it's life-cycle in 3 days, so you will have gone through two vulnurable periods at this point. I'm overly cautious--I went a week.


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## tlyons01

Well, I am happy to report that it looks like the ich has left the building. I hope, anyway. It's been nearly 10 days and I have not seen any signs of ich on my fish. I also have not lost any more fish. How happy I am over here. Everything looks good, the plants, the fish and I have only seen 3 shrimp. I figure the others must not have made it but were relished by their peers as I never saw any bodies.

In the end, I believe it was the salt that did the best job. I ended up not even adding as much as I intended, and started a water change before planned due to my cories were looking a bit stressed. I am still watching them closely, I think I either have aggressive cory ladies, or one of them may be scratching. I t was hard to tell and they were fighting over food. We shall see

Thanks to all who participated in the advise giving, it was all extremely helpful and I am grateful that you took time to help out.


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## bdresser

Great news!!! It is always a relief when it is over! High temps and salt I think helped the most for me as well...along with daily gravel vacuuming/water changes. Great job!


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