# Cory cat problems & Velvet :(



## LukeSib (Jan 16, 2015)

Hello people, so I bought a aqueon 16 gallon bowfront tank for my 1 silver molly (smaller) 4 male guppies, and 2 female guppies and 3 cory cats. So when first seting up tank and stuff somewhere there was a velvet outbreak.. I immediately lost 1 cory cat due to a guppy severly bullying it out of no where.. even bit his eye out. I then moved that guppy to a quarantine tank and he has never been moved back to the big tank. I then thought maybe the aggressiveness was due to sickness? not sure? I go copper treatment and warmed the tanks both to a 80-86 to help shorten the life of the parasite or whatever velvet is. I knew it was velvet because the goldish color and rubbing themselves. I also added aquarium salt as I was supposed to in order to help fight the velvet as well. I have been keeping almost only 30 min of light a day while feeding in order to kill the velvet too. Sorry for my rant, All in all after a week or so the copper safe green treatment mixed with the high temp and salt and darkness has seemed to help a lot. Less decoloration, more eating, higher movement, and no more fin calmping or rubbing themselves all over everything..... 

Then this morning I wake up and peek to check my Panda cory and his tail is seen just sticking out of some rocks... how he managed to dig under there I have no clue. He is very small, the same size as my guppies if not smaller. Is this an accident? Is it normal for this to happen? and could this be any signs of the velvet? also about how long should I continue the Salt, heat, and darkness treatment? I heard 3 weeks? Thank you for any help and replies!!


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Cories can be sensitive to any med.So tough call on that.
Do you have a copper test kit?
Although copper is a real med(I'm all for real meds)it is a real diffacult med to dose properly.It is a very fine line between necessary amount and too much.
With out a test kit I wouldn't use copper.
I'm also leary of mixing meds(salt,high temp,and copper).
I use one at a time(I don't even raise temp for ich if I am using meds).
I think 3 weeks is a safe guess,as velvet lives a little longer then ich.
It has several stages in its cycle very close to ich.
Flagellates: Oodinium | The Skeptical Aquarist
This is good reading.
Sounds like you are doing things right,but I might use kordon rid ich plus instead of copper as it contains the recommend active ingredients(M. green and formalin).


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

Feel free to rant, oodinium will do that to a person. Velvet is a tough one, in my mind, the worst parasite you can get into a tank. It is hard to eradicate, and even harder with the fish you have.
I have never used heat against velvet. I have used salt, or copper, never both. And I always use darkness.
It's an issue for me because I have very soft water. I have to watch like a hawk for it, as that's what it likes. If I overffed fry, which I sometimes do, then it blossoms. My read is that it maintains a presence and is fought off in those tanks, although, touch wood, it may finally have been eradicated here.
It took three years for that, if I am right, with four outbreaks in my multi-tank setup.
Copper is a dangerous med, but it is the best for this parasite. It will work. It may sterilize your male livebearers, and it can become toxic in overdose, but if you are using a commercial version, you will have the dosages to follow. I hate using it, but I hate using salt more.
It's the Cory problem - they hate salt worse than copper. They also hate the heat. 
You can't make changes though. While the fish are sick, you have to stay the course. I would not have used both salt and copper, or heat, but there is no going back now. I never got anywhere using Malachite green/formalin mixes on it. Methelyne blue, yes, but I think that had more to do with it darkening the water.
After it is done, review your feeding, and check your water hardness. It tends to come with slight overfeeding and decomposing food.
I don't know what happened to your Cory. Sometimes the parasite gets into the gills. That's the big danger/fear with Ich and Oodinium.


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## LukeSib (Jan 16, 2015)

Thank you both, I have seem to do very well with the last cat left and the guppies and molly seem muuuch better as well. now the panda cory that died look almost fully sumbmerged in rocks and I don't think he got into the the position (stock under rocks with tail barely visible) without some ype off accident? my tank has some section with larger rock and the very fine rock where the corys usualy will stay near and did, however my last dead one was so deep in the bigger rock I had to dig him out. not sure if that's natural? and if I should restrain on adding any type of cory to the enviorment? for at least 3-5 weks due to the velvet? 



Also navigator black, I have separate tank for fry and quarantine tank as well, so if the cory cats aren't a good choice for the guppy / molly mates what is that wont over grow and still sort of pick up after them ?? 

Again thank you for all the help


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

I have seen Cory cats dig half their bodies into sand, and come up happy. I don't want to paint a horror picture here, but if the velvet got into the eye area or itchily deep into his/her gills, what you found may have been a last desperate attempt to scrape off the irritant.

You don't need a bottom feeder - both mollies and guppies forage everywhere, especially on the bottom. I've watched mollies in Mexico, and they work patches of rock, gravel and wood in huge groups, digging and feeding. 

Now, you've had velvet and may be coming though it. Maybe it was all, or one of the treatments, or maybe it was a different species of Oodinium you encountered. We'll never know (but what works with one may not with another...).

It's a soft water parasite group, and you have hard water choices - guppies and mollies. In soft water, their skin slime production doesn't work - a gift for parasites. So if your pH is stable, you may have buffered water (mine is from the tap at pH 6.6, and very low in minerals - but the pH doesn't drop. It is 'buffered'). I add a tablespoon of Costco, pure epsom salts (Magnesium salts) with every water change to my 40 gallon tanks, and less for my 20s. I breed a lot of wild type livebearers.

You need to establish what you are getting from the tap though. Where you are can give you radically different water. harder water will be your first line of defence for the future, most likely. Or, you may have just had bad luck.
You need more info.


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## Farm (Nov 17, 2014)

Off topic... just a quick note. Once you get through this terrible situation you may want to check out male to female ratio on your Molly and are you aware that your Molly and Guppy can breed? Just trying to help you avoid a few future problem. This is not a headache and you are not alone. During your tank healing process you can do some research.


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