Corys losing their fins

[Juannie]

Help, I've got a few corys in my mixed tank and 2 of them seem to have finrot, one has totally lost anything on top. I've medicated the tank with Melafix & Pimafix, & tried finrot stuff too, nothing has worked. This tank has a lot of trouble with the PH dropping too low, can anyone suggest anything or will I more than likely loose them? They are still totally active and eating really well, though the one that has lost his fins off top is having a little trouble with staying on the bottom. Ive been doing water changes, but not sure what else I can do.

[minabird]

Try either Maracyn http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=84552444177 6779&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302030064&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023693&bmUID=1175091087638&itemNo=4&In=Fish&N=2030064&Ne=2
or Maracyn 2 http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=84552444177 6775&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302030064&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023693&bmUID=1175091087855&itemNo=9&In=Fish&N=2030064&Ne=2
from Mardel.

I used Melafix and Pimafix for fungus on one of my emeral green cories, without any sucess. Tried the maracyn and it cured it in a few days.

If your cories aren't in a hospital tank already, you may want to move them into one during the treatment so the anitbiotics don't damage your biological filter.

Here's more info on fin rot http://fish.mongabay.com/diseases.htm

Hope your cories pull thru.

[Chrona]

Do you have soft water or are you using RO water? If you aren't adding any pH effecting buffers/chemicals, then it's likely your kH is too low and the water has lost it's buffering ability. Try adding about 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda per 10 gallons (this will raise kH by 2 degrees) and see if the pH stabilizes then. If not, then add another 1/2 teaspoon per 10g. And how fast does the pH drop?

[Juannie]

Do you have soft water or are you using RO water? If you aren't adding any pH effecting buffers/chemicals, then it's likely your kH is too low and the water has lost it's buffering ability. Try adding about 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda per 10 gallons (this will raise kH by 2 degrees) and see if the pH stabilizes then. If not, then add another 1/2 teaspoon per 10g. And how fast does the pH drop?

Sorry to sound dumb but what is RO water? I'm adding Easy LIfe Fluid Conditioner which is normally pretty good. It usually drops within the week so I'll try the baking soda trick tonight to see how we go. Thanks for the help, I appreciate it.

[Chrona]

Sorry to sound dumb but what is RO water? I'm adding Easy LIfe Fluid Conditioner which is normally pretty good. It usually drops within the week so I'll try the baking soda trick tonight to see how we go. Thanks for the help, I appreciate it.

RO water is water process through reverse osmosis, ie pure water with nothing in it. Soft water has very little general hardness and usually low alkalinity, which means poor buffering ability. It sounds like that is the problem in your case, as pH should stay constant over the course of a week. How often do you do water changes and how much?

[Juannie]

Thanks for that. I usually do water changes at about 25% once a week (sometimes every 2nd week) just depends on how busy I've been. I take the water straight from the tap and use water conditioner. Although I certainly don't drink the water we have a water filter as it tastes like dirt. (I"m not originally from Australia so notice the difference).