Suggestions For Handling Floating Peppered Cory

[Gvilleguy]

[sorry for the long history - but I think it helps you help me!!] I have a cycled 10 gallon tank that has a small colony of cherry shrimp (about 8 shrimp). Let me ammend the word "cycled" slightly - the filter itself was fishless cycled and then ran for five months on a 5 gallon tank, the first 3 months with Neon Tetras borrowed from my main tank. Then I moved the Neons out and added the shrimp colony for 2 months, and then I moved the cycled filter, water, and shrimp to this new 10 gallon tank last week to make room for fish.

Yesterday I added a shoal of 6 peppered cory, and 2 red fire dwarf gourami. I anticipate entering some sort of mini-fish-in-cycle situation, as the filter has been accustomed to the small shrimp bio-load from the 5 gallon tank. However, the tank has not shown any signs of increased stats after 18 hours (it's still early).

Tank stats as of this morning:
Temp 77.4F
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 0-5
KH=4
pH = 7.4

I added the corys and gouramis yesterday at dinner time using a 2 hour drip method. I filled a bucket with water from the tank, put a heater in it, and then started the slow drip into the fish bags as they floated in the 10 gallon tank. Then netted them into the tank.

This morning one of the corys was floating, vertically, nose up, at the surface. I thought it was dead - but upon wiggling my fingers at the surface, it would swim back down to the bottom for a minute or so before floating back up to the top.

Here is a picture snapped a few minutes ago:

I am guessing this might be:
1. Stress from the tank transition, although it was very gradual.
2. Swim bladder disease?? For which I would like suggestions for treatment that would not kill my cherry shrimp.
3. Swallowed air bubbles while feeding?

Would it help lower its stress if I place it in a floating breeding insert tank covered floating plants and aeration? Suggestions for feeding it? I read on some forum posts that blanched peas might help.

Thanks for reading my long winded questions...

 

[KittyKat]

I would leave it, it doesn't look, nor sound, like there is anything seriously wrong with it. It probably did just eat some more air than it should have done.

But do keep in mind that cherry shrimp are normally insignificant bioload compared to fish so you may be in for a rough few weeks.

 

[Gvilleguy]

Thanks, Kat. I will keep monitoring the little guy for trouble, and the tank stats. Will probaby test in the mornings and evenings for elevated ammonia/nitrite.

 

[anon02]

I would also test for nitrate, a rising concentration would indicate that both sets of bacteria are present

 

[Gvilleguy]

Three day later update - the floating cory died after about a day and half. For its last 12 hours I tried putting it in a breeding insert with airline and blanched peas, but no help. I woke up today and two more cory's were dead (they were all still swimming together before I went to bed), and a fourth is on its last legs - barely moving at all. The two other corys and the two fire dwarf gourami still seem fine. I've tested the tank twice per day, and stats remain:

ammonia = 0
nitrite = 0
nitrate = 0-5 (very low)
pH = 7.4
temp = 77F

So something is wrong in the tank - I doubt all of the corydora would come with inherited problems like that. This was a used tank which I sprayed out and cleaned with water and cleaning brushes - no chemicals - but the tank still had a funky smell before I loaded it up. Not sure what is off with it.

This afternoon I have bagged all of the remaining fish and am currently doing a 2 hour drip acclimation to add them to my main tank - a year old 26 gallon community. I hope I can save the last 4 fish - I don't think the 4th cory will recover.

 

[KittyKat]

Did you do any extra large water changes right before adding Corys or since adding them?

 

[Gvilleguy]

No water changes right before or during (since water stats seemed fine). It had been about a week since the last water change when I added the fish, and they have only been in there four days.

 

[KittyKat]

Are there any shrimp still in the tank and if yes, are they doing well? (Shrimp are normally more sensitive to water quality.)

 

[Gvilleguy]

No - more than half the shrimp have died - I'm going to put them back into the 5 gallon tank and see if I can salvage any of them. This was pretty much a disaster.

 

[Gvilleguy]

So, to give a final update on this used tank problem - when I went to drain out some water from the tank, there was an unusual bubbly froth that formed on the surface of the water as it poured into the bucket. I never get this when draining water from my other tank. I believe there is some foreign substance in the tank (maybe some old cleaning chemicals??). I never used chemicals in it, but perhaps the prior owner did.

I lost 5 of 6 corys, and 1 of 2 dwarf gouramis. But the 2 survivors seem to be thriving in my 26 gallon community. Plus I added 3 more corys to keep the other one company. Getting a 2nd gourami tomorrow. The used tank will be sterilized at some point and thoroughly rinsed. I may only use it for growing plants and testing fishless cycling.