Edwardsiella septicemia in Corydoras paleatus

Question
Dear Renee,

My name is William and I'm from Indonesia. I have a Corydoras paleatus who recently got sick with Edwardsiella septicemia. She has gas filled lesions on several parts of her body, and she passes gas quite often. I have put her in a quarantine tank now, but when she was still in the main tank, she floats up on the surface and couldn't swim down. So for now I keep the water level in the quarantine tank to a minimum (only about 2 inches high). She's been sick for more than 2 weeks now. Here's a picture of her: http://i51.tinypic.com/dpv482.jpg

So far, I've been treating her with 0.1 ml Terramycin (Oxytetracycline) through injection to her mouth (because she doesnt want to eat anything) but it doesn't seem to have any effects and she hasn't improved at all. I would really appreciate if you can give me any advice or other treatment options.

I'm looking forward to hearing back from you soon. Thank you.

Regards,
William

Answer
Hi William,

Please understand, I do not want to disagree with you on your fish's diagnosis, but I think you have diagnosed her incorrectly.

That is indeed not Edwarsiella Septicemia, which is normally red, spotted, and bleeding in spots, or looks like bleeding.  That appears to be FLUKES, a parasite which attach to the body of the fish.

I do not believe she has a bacterial infection.

I believe she is infected with parasites.

Her swim bladder disorder (the reason she can't balance) had developed from different reasons.  One reason could be from the infection which is both, internal and external (so the medication you gave her will not harm her, and is beneficial) and water conditions as well.

She will require immediate attention to her surrounds in order to survive.

I would advise the following:

Get a water test strip.  Test for Nitrate, Nitrite and Ammonia.  I suspect that the Nitrites are VERY high in the place she's been staying, hence why she cannot swim.

It will take some time for her to improve once the conditions are changed.  She will require heavy filtration of her area and her tank water changed frequently while she's recovering.

I would improve water conditions, but I would also keep her at 2 inches of water, and I would heat it to 78F.  The heated water will help her recouperate much better.

I would change her treatment a bit.  I'd add one teaspoon of marine salt per gallon of water to her water.  This will kill the fungus without killing the fish.  If you don't see improvement within a week, increase to 2 teaspoons of salt per gallon and treat one week that way, changing water out every 3 days or so to keep the filtration good for the fish.

These are my recommendations for you.

I hope this is helpful.

Happy fish-keeping,
Renee