My Little Cory!help!

[KevinM]

my little cory is floating upside down ond just going with the water flow.....i noticed that he was acting weird this morning, i have a 126 litre tank, 27.5 UK gallons. When i touch him he just swims down and floats up again? whats wrong

 

[timmystood]

Do you know your water stats?

 

[KevinM]

Do you know your water stats?

NO

 

[timmystood]

Try doing a big 50% water change, give the tank stress coat (if you have some) and then see whats happening.

 

[KevinM]

OK, but when you say stress coat, i have something called TETRA AQUASAFE which says reduces stress, its a dechlorinator which ill have to use, but will that work as a stress coat?

 

[timmystood]

That should be fine for now.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi KevinM

There is probably not much you can do at this point that will save your cory.

His behavior is most likely due to one of two things. He was either injured or has a bacterial infection of some kind. If he was injured, perhaps by being hit by a net or by water hitting him too hard when you did a water change he has a chance of recovery. It might take some time but he will either die or snap out of it on his own.

If it's a bacterial infection, it's probably to late to help him, but you need to think about the other fish in your tank too, because whatever is effecting him could make them sick as well.

How often and how large are your water changes? When was the last time you did one? Did you do a gravel vacuuming too? What is the temperature of your tank? What kind of cory is he and how many more do you have? What other fish are in the tank? Are any of them showing any kind of symptoms?

If you put your location in your profile, we can suggest possible brands of medicine if necessary.

 

[KevinM]

just took a close look at him, and found some cuts all over his sides, but what could of caused it? if it was a fish hed have chunks missing? could he of scraped himself on gravel?
i got him isolated in a breeding net, or should i let him loose....as corys need alot of room to swim, hes black with browns spots, now with red marks.....

 

[WILDER]

Sounds in a bad way and i don't think he will make it sorry, the red marks sounds like septicemia.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi KevinM

Please answer the other questions too. You didn't give me enough information to be able to diagnosis his problem.

It's possible that the red you see on your cory is from injury or an attack by another fish, but it could also be from septicemia which often seen in the end stages of bacterial infections. If this is the case, your other fish are definately at risk.

 

[KevinM]

well i set up my new tank a few weeks back, so i havent done a water change yet, but in the previous tank id use the gravel cleaner and do water changes about once every 2 weeks. my temperature is 32c like it was in the previous tank. I have 1 pepered cory, 1 albino cory and 1 panda cory, and the one that is in a bad way is black with brown spots (he also had 1 eye missing from when he was purchased.

today i purchsed a golden gourami and male betta, but my cory was sick before getting them

my fish are

3 clown loach
anglefish
kissing gourami
dwarf gourami
opaline gourami
golden gourami
4 corys
swordtail
redtail shark
albino redtail shark
2 balloon mollys
pleco
male betta

 

[WILDER]

Right that tank is massively overstocked and you need to take some back to the lfs, this is why you are having problems, you start a tank off with just a few hardy fish, the clown loaches need a 90gal tank, the redtailed black shark needs a 40gal, shouldn't really keep a betta with a gouramis, i would do a water change as your stats will probably be high.
I would ask the lfs to see if they would take the clown loaches back, plus the red tailed black shark.

Plus this fish too, albino redtail shark
as it needs the same requirements as the red tailed black shark

 

[KevinM]

but the clown loaches were my first fish, they are also still small, my redtail shark....are they aggressive? because all i see him do is nibble at plants....but you are right because i saw him chase 1 of my corys before....ill do my water chane now....

all these fish out grew my other tank.....

 

[WILDER]

That tank is way to small for them, they will get stressed, the redtailed and the other shark are both agresssive fish as they get older, they will pick the other fish off in that size tank.

http/species.fishindex.com/species_2938e...lack_shark.html

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=34953

 

[Inchworm]

Hi KevinM

I'm glad I bugged you for the answers because as it turns out, you have some major problem going on there. But at least now that we know what caused the problem, we can help you resolve it. I believe your cory has a bacterial infection caused by the a variety of stressful things that are going on in your tank.

First, did you mean to say your water is 32 degrees C.? That's almost 90 degrees F., which is way way to hot! This alone is a major stress to the fish. Please start bringing it down slowly to 75 degrees F. or 24 degrees C. This temperature will slow the growth of the harmful bacteria living in there now and is in a safer range than what you have. You can adjust it to the optimum temperature for your specific fish once this problem has passed.

Second, if there is aggression going on, either from the sharks or the gouramis, or even if your corys sense that they are around aggressive fish, it will effect them. This is another thing that might have made your cory ill.

Third, there is a good chance that your tank is not completely cycled, or that the additional fish you put in was just too much for your beneficial bacteria to handle. Without regular water changes and cleaning, harmful bacteria will grow as well as beneficial bacteria. There is a good possibility that you have ammonia or nitrites in the water.

Please test your water or have it tested at the lfs immediately. You will need to get medicine, so get your test kits or your water test done while you are at it. This will help us determine if you will need to get rid of some fish immediately or if you have some time to figure out what you will do for the long run. Perhaps you will be able to set up another tank before your fish get too much bigger.

How big is your current tank, BTW?

One thing for sure is that you will need to start doing some big water changes very soon, but how much will depend on your test readings.