My cory accidentally exposed to salt water

[lilpig63121]

I classify myself as a beginning enthusiast. My 3 year old cory is VERY upset with my 3rd attempt on his life. This last round, he was getting eaten alive by an evil red tailed shark (tank mate) so I bought a breed thingy to separate him from the community. Then the stupid girl from petsmart (anger intended) when I bought the thing said don't forget the aquarium salt so your fish will heal from his wounds faster. When I salted the tank he went wild. I was able to find a little info on the web to learn my cory can't handle the high salt content. I have totally removed him from my community tank and set back up my old aquarium for him. SALT FREE I'm using a little gravel from com. tank ... I'm worried about ammonia and new tank syndrome now as well as everything else...TAKE PITY and advise!

:axechase: :axechase: :questionmarks: He's a survivor!!!

[Lady Hobbs]

If you were to taste the amount of salt that goes into the water for treatment, you would not even detect a salt taste. It is very concentrated even using the therapeutic doses........1 T. per 5 gallons.

It is used for the treatment of Ick and I've never heard of corys not being able to handle it. Also beneficial in the treatment of wounds. The "idiot girl" from PetSmart was right.

[SunSchein89]

I've salted my tank a good few times and have had cories in it each and every time. Never noticed any different behavior from them or anything. Once you figure out where your stocking should be, I would get your cory a few buddies since they like to stay in groups.

[Aeonflame]

How much salt did you add? What size tank is it? Just do large regular water changes in your main tank for the next few days. It should be fine to put him back after that. I wouldnt advise keeping a cory in a breeder box for any reason. Also, they do a lot better in schools.

[FishGirl-Seattle]

If I was forced to put a wounded fish in an uncycled tank I would be changing the water several times a day. What you should do is a massive water change on your cycled tank, then put him back in there. Corys need to be able to go the surface for air, so if you have him in a suspended breeder you need to make sure it is at the top of the tank so he can break the surface. You didn't mention your tank size or any other info - Corys need to school so you should have at least 4 or 5 , otherwise they will be miserable, stressed and afraid. And the shark will get to be 6 inches so I hope your tank is good sized. Also, the shark is an aggressive fish and not suitable for a community tank of docile fish like Corys. It does ok in a tank with larger fish, so I hope the other fish in the tank are going to be larger than 6 inches and your tank is at least 75 gallons! I suspect you have a smaller tank and the usual assortment of community fish, which means your best bet for peace and your community's best bet for long term well being is to re-home the shark. If your Corry survives he will want some other Corys, maybe you could replace the shark with some friends for him? Best of luck to you and I hope your little survives ok!:ssmile:

[lilpig63121]

addendum: perhaps it was the injury (about the size of a dime), fresh open wound that was making him so reactive to the salt. But I directly observed the complete change in behavior upon the addition of the aquarium salt. within 2 minutes of the gallon saltwater add.

[Lady Hobbs]

I'll tell you of an incident that happened once to an angelfish I had. This angel had this lump hanging out of it's gill for some time. It looked like a bubble, really, but he had it nearly 3 months. I dosed him a couple times with medications but since I didn't know what the lump was, didn't really know what medications to buy for him.

I decided to try salt as a last ditch effort. Honest to pete, the lump was gone in 3 days!! I still don't know what that lump was but salt is very common in many fish injuries and has been used for years.

What you added all at once may have been a bit on him. I sometimes will dose half at once time and perhaps in a few hours add the rest. He may have just been frightened by the addition of a gallon of water being dumped on him, too.

But good luck and hope he heals up for you.

[Lady Hobbs]

lilpig........you have started two threads on the same subject. Only one thread is needed so I merged the two threads together. I also moved them to the "other catfish" forum, not the loach forum since the subject is corys.

[lilpig63121]

You have been so helpful in my plight of my poor picked on catfish. I have done enough digging for information that I have learned a lot. His scientific name is Platydoras Costatus or Raphael Catfish. Everything else is the same...36 gallon tank, he was being eaten (would about the size of a dime) tried to separate him, salted the tank w/ aquarium salt...he went wild, took him out and keeping him barely alive changing half the water every day in a 5 gallon salt free tank. still not completely sure what else to do.

[Wild Turkey]

Cories dont appreciate salt IME.

Its okay to treat them with it, but I have and do see it kill corys over long periods. For wounds I would try stress coat, melafix, or simply stay on your water changes long before salt, its not worth it but thats just my 2 cents.

I used to use salt to treat ich for them, but again they do show more stress than other, less sensitive fish.

[CassieLEO]

I also use aquarium salt. Ill be pouring it into the tank and everyone swims through the brine im pouring in (I melt the salt before adding it). Ive yet to have any bad side effects, and the fish are all beautiful...