sick corries - Aquarium Advice

Da Squid · 09-08-2009, 07:03 PM

I have a 55g low light planted tank with 10 neons, 3 mollies, 2 SAE's and 8 corries. The corries were added about ten days ago and all seemed very healthy. They eat the wafers I drop in there and are mostly active. Every now and then they sort of just freeze where they are and dont move for a few minutes. I assumed that was normal?

Today I came home and one of them has gone completely white where they used to be a dirty dishwater grey color. I'm guessing he's dead and I'm gonna get him with the net in a minute. Another corry is awkwardly placing himself vertical along the plants like a plecco would. He'll then start to float upside down and then right himself. His gills seem to be going in overdrive like he's struggling to breath.

My ammonia is zero, nitrite zero, nitrates are between 5 and 10. These conditions have been this way since I introduced the fish. Temp is about 78 and PH has been a steady 7.2 any advice?

Da Squid · 09-08-2009, 07:43 PM

Bah. Not dead yet. Bumped him with the net and he took off. That's even worse though, he's not eating so I get to watch him starve to death probably.

DizzCat · 09-08-2009, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Every now and then they sort of just freeze where they are and dont move for a few minutes. I assumed that was normal?

I can't tell you what is wrong, but I can tell you that this behavior is normal. I have one Cory that will hang out in my big Aamzon plant, vertical like a pleco at times. He does not float tho. Fish can change color with mood. Maybe the one that turned white was jsut showing off to a female?

cwt · 09-08-2009, 11:25 PM

Does the sick one still have its barbels (whiskers)? They stop eating if they lose the barbels.

Da Squid · 09-09-2009, 07:55 AM

Yep. It still has them. At least it did yesterday.

I didn't think about it shifting color for a different reason. Still, he genuinely looks like he's on his way out.

FishEggs · 09-09-2009, 10:43 AM

usually when they lose their color like that something is stressing them out. i've had fish look real pale when i got them and after a day or 2 the color comes back.

Da Squid · 09-09-2009, 11:18 AM

He's noticably smaller than the other 7 corries I have. I'm sort of thinking he could be the sickly runt of the litter and never had much of a chance to begin with. His gils never move at all on the bottom which makes me always think he's dead. The other problem corry (the one that seems to be gasping) keeps resting on plants or thread algae and is almost upside down and is still pumping his gils like crazy. The other 6 corries all seem healthy and active along with all my other fish.
Could it just be that my tank is set up fine and the two corries have just come to their time? None of the fish bother them in the slightest bit.

Da Squid · 09-09-2009, 06:32 PM

Yup, came home and the two corries were dead. The other ones still seem fine so I'll keep my fingers crossed. If anyone knows of something I should be watching out for, please let me know!

cwt · 09-09-2009, 08:03 PM

sorry to hear it. Keep an eye on the other ones. You only added these less than 2 weeks ago, so they're new fish, and some new fish aren't in the shape you might think they are. An occasional pause is totally normal; I suppose they earn it after working the gravel for most of the day. Make sure those barbels are looking good.

just curious, what variety of cory do you have in there? Not like one kind is hardier than another, I just like to see what other people have.

Da Squid · 09-09-2009, 09:05 PM

My fav LFS is very trustworthy and clean but also very expensive

. All the specific kinds of corries there were around 8 bucks each. They had some 3 dollar ones that were just labeled as 'tank bred'. They are all slightly different, but basically a dull grayish purple color with a thick tan vertical stripe down the middle. Or a tan color with a thick purple stripe. I'm guessing different corries mated and these are the ugly children? hee hee.