New Arrivals from the Amazon Basin - recommended treatments?

[Tankster]

Hi All,

I have recently received 100 Corydoras Leucomelas - False spotted cory, from a friend who just returned from a collection trip to the Amazon.

I have them in a 40b QT, set up in a separate room from my discus. All equipment is room/tank specific to prevent any potential cross contamination. They have settled in and I have had no losses to date (4 days). They are recovered from their travels and ready to start treatments.

I plan on at least a month in QT before introducing them to the display tank.

My question: What are the recommended treatments/products and in what order should they be administered.

[brewmaster15]

Hi Greg,
With a wild fish like that...I would suggest making that a minimum of 8 weeks QT... Initially I would do nothing but observe. If you are planning on mixing these with discus, then you need to take all the precautions you would with discus or you risk the discus. 8 weeks should be long enough to assess if they have any protozoans.

Corys can be sensitive to medications though and treatments so its can be difficult... Since you have 100, I would set up a 10 gal tank and use one or two as guinea pigs to be sure they can tolerate any medications..

At the very least, I would deworm them with Praziquantel and levamisole.

al

[jmf3460]

oooh nice, what a good friend you have...I bet they are beautiful!

[Tankster]

Hi Greg,
With a wild fish like that...I would suggest making that a minimum of 8 weeks QT... Initially I would do nothing but observe. If you are planning on mixing these with discus, then you need to take all the precautions you would with discus or you risk the discus. 8 weeks should be long enough to assess if they have any protozoans.

Corys can be sensitive to medications though and treatments so its can be difficult... Since you have 100, I would set up a 10 gal tank and use one or two as guinea pigs to be sure they can tolerate any medications..

At the very least, I would deworm them with Praziquantel and levamisole.

al

Thanks Al - I will up the QT to 8 weeks. I will also set up my 10g for testing on treatments in a a few weeks, before treating the entire shoal.

Appreciate the advice!


Best,
Greg

[Tankster]

oooh nice, what a good friend you have...I bet they are beautiful!

Indeed, he is Jacklyn!

He heads out in August on another trip - going for Red Spotted Greens! I am working with domestics so I won't be picking anything up from that trip... maybe in a year or two

[DonMD]

Hi, Greg,

The only thing I would add is that after quarantine, or perhaps even during it, choose a couple discus you have that you could live without, and add them to the Cory's, instead of adding all the Cory's to your display tank. This way you only risk the two discus. If they don't get sick, then you're good to go. Just an idea. -Don

[Tankster]

Hi, Greg,

The only thing I would add is that after quarantine, or perhaps even during it, choose a couple discus you have that you could live without, and add them to the Cory's, instead of adding all the Cory's to your display tank. This way you only risk the two discus. If they don't get sick, then you're good to go. Just an idea. -Don

Thanks Don - I already have the two picked out. I was talking with my wife last night, explaining to her how the QT process works and made the mistake of telling her that her favorite fish, my little runt, that is 1/10th the size of the others, is going to be one of the sacrificial lamb. She has other thoughts. I wouldn't be surprised if that little fish went missing before I get the chance to let him be a hero

[discuspaul]

Interesting, Greg. It appears you may have some heavy-duty decision-making to do.

[Len]

If you decide to medicate at all, the one thing I'd be leary of is levimisole. I used it based on the dosing instructions when the wild discus in the tank needed deworming, and my cories started dropping off like flies and I lost most of them Had I done a proper quarantine, it wouldn't have happened but it was just one of my many stupid moves along the way lol.

[Tankster]

Interesting, Greg. It appears you may have some heavy-duty decision-making to do.

The decision is made. I will have some heavy duty emotion management ahead. If all goes well, I might survive... and the fish too.

If you decide to medicate at all, the one thing I'd be leary of is levimisole. I used it based on the dosing instructions when the wild discus in the tank needed deworming, and my cories started dropping off like flies and I lost most of them Had I done a proper quarantine, it wouldn't have happened but it was just one of my many stupid moves along the way lol.

Thanks Len - That is one of the many reasons I love and appreciate SD and it's members, so much. We all make mistakes, it is when we share them and educate others that they become learning and teaching experiences.


Thanks for the advice.

Greg