Spot on Cory.

[panboy]

my cory has a little white spot right next to his top fin, its right where the front of his top fin attaches to him, and its only 1 spot , looks kind of like a blister maybe, he looks completely normal and acts normal. there is always white around the blister/spot. like a lighter shade but the skin is normal, except for the color of course. anyone have ideas?!

secondly, my other cory lieks to swim to the top of the tank, swim upside down and kind of eat like my platies, lol its really wierd, but im kinda worried if its anything bad. it doesnt seem like he is out of breath, he breathes normal just likes to swim to the top alot and upside down. kind of looks like he is gapping for air, but i know he is not cause he is moving his mouth like he is finding something to eat. and i know corys like to stay at the bottom so i dunno why he would be doing this, my other cory doesnt do this at all.

thansk for the help

 

[Inchworm]

Hi panboy

It would help if you could tell me the water parameters, when you last vacuumed the gravel, how often and how much water you change. Is your tank overstocked?

Cory cats sometimes swim up and grab a gulp of air from the surface, or take a mouthful of food, but they do not usually spend much time swimming upside down.

Oh, how big is the gravel in your tank?

 

[living_dead]

I think one of your cories if having an identity crisis.

 

[panboy]

ammonia is 0, so is nitrite, nitrate i havent measured in a while cause i ran out of the drops for it.

i just vacuumed it 2 days ago and i ususally vacuum every week or every 2 weeks.

i change about 20-25% of the water, which i last changed 2 days ago

my cory isnt up there for a long time, but longer than usual, maybe 5 sec max, but he does it alot.

i have small pebbles in my tank, not tiny, but about 1cm cubed

actually my tank is overstocked, i have 4 adult platies and 2 corys, and 5 1/2inch platies and 3 fry, that survived somehow. i got a tank about a month ago, and its cycling right now, but im having trouble with the cycling. i want to keep the small platies until my 46g is ready, but they keep having babies, lol. and the cycling is just taking forever.
the water is fine though, im making sure the ammonia and nitrite stay down since i have so many fish.

that white bump though is wierd, and the shade of white of skin around it seems to be getting larger.

thanks

 

[panboy]

anyhting else..... it seems to be getting worse, and i cant identify it from the disease descriptions on a website that i was just looking at

 

[Inchworm]

Hi panboy

Could it be an abrasion? How are his barbels?

Your gravel is large and could be a problem. But the location of the spot is strange for it to be that.

The cory that goes to the top is probably OK if he doesn't stay too long. But do make sure that the bottom is clean. Since you are overstocked, this is especially important. If you can, do larger and more frequent water changes and cleaning to compensate for this.

If the spot is being caused by bacteria, the water changes are a necessity to let it heal. But double check to make sure that there is no place that he can squeeze into that could be rough on the edges.

I'll see what else I can find out and post again if I get any more information,

 

[panboy]

about cleaning the gravel very well, i believe u were right on with that.
after cleaning that one day very well, making sure i got every corner, i noticed he doesnt even go up anymorel. it was probably all the waste from so many fish that he disliked the bottom.

however, im almost sure theres nothing he could scrape himself so bad. it might be bacteria, but my water ammonia, nitrite, etc are doing really well, so that confuses me. ill keep an eye on it and on the water, cleaning it more often to make sure. thanks for the help

 

[Sea_Monster87]

Some corys just swim around the top, but I've never heard of one being up-side down. When I got my albino cory he hung out with the guppies, then he discovered my other corys and started schooling with them. The spot could be a tumor if it's getting bigger, but I don't know. If possible, it would be helpful if you posted a pic.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi panboy

Please check out this link and see if the description of the spot on your cory matches what is described here:

http/freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/.../columnaris.htm

If so, it is perhaps the most common ailment that corys seem to have and is a basic bacterial infection. Your tank cleaning might have saved his life, however, he might still need treatment.