sick cory, had 5 now down to last 2. 1 is ok the other :(

[SLACkra]

OK I should have come to you all for advice sooner. my cories have slowly died off. I have 2 left. they have slowly died off over a couple months. I am down to my last 2. one seems fine the other is in what I consider intesive care. he rarely moves, he sits in his plastic diy holder thingy I made just for him all day. I directly feed him via pippette once a day(bloodworms). I am not sure if he eats and if he dose how much (the other fish can sneak into his holder through the holes I made for water circulation). recently his tail end has become redish. not on the scales but inside. I am not sure whether this is a side affect of only eating blood worms. the other cory has also been being hand fed as I want to keep his strength up.

my nitrates were undetectable when I tested them and my pH 7.5. I haven't yet purchased a replacement ammonia or nitrite test kit.

my tank is a 32gallon tall tank, with a 2" gravel bed(was 2-4 inches several days ago but I reduced it using gravel vac). tank temp kept around 24-26'C. tank has an aquaclear 200 and a powerhead. I do either tapwater water changes or half tap water half R/O filtered water water changes.

the other fish I have are; 9 rasboras, 5 neon tetras(one with a tumorous growth), 2"+ bristle nosed pleco and 2 zebra daninos. I think I saw the bristle nosed pleco sucking on the sick cory a couple days ago before I moved him to his holder but I am not sure.

I have some plants and 1 peice of mangrove root. I only have a filter sponge in the aquaclear. also I put my prism skimmer on my freshwater tank to increase the amount of oxygen in the water however the sick cory dose not seem to have breathing dificulties.

all fish have been living in the tank for at least 2-3 months, the daninos around 1 and a half years and the tetras probably 1 year maybe 8-10 months.

I do not expect the currently really sick cory to survive and i am unsure whether ending his life now would be the humane thing to do or to prolong his life of possible suffering.

andrew

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

Was there anything else you can tell us about their progreesion from health to doing the permanent backstroke? Redness can be a sign of internal bleeding which can be caused by internal infections or high ammonia.

 

[mattrox]

What do they physiclly look like? Do they get all skinny and emaciated? I have had Corys do that and I could only suspect intestinal flaggellates. All other medication did not work.

Do a search for "stringy white poo" and there are several threads which deal with the treatment.

 

[SLACkra]

the sick one definatlhy looks thin the other healthy one is fat as.

intestinal flaggellates? i will look into that though i fear the sick cory is to far gone and will not last long.

cheers

andrew

 

[Zagz]

How often do you do your water changes and if using tap water are you adding a declorinator?

 

[SLACkra]

i usually do a 3gallon water change with either tap water with dechlorinator or half tapwater half reverse osmosis filtered water once a week or 6 gallons every 2 weeks.

the sick cory has now died the remaining one is looking fantastic. hes eating looks fat and its active. (swimming along at the front of the tank, going up for a gulp of air etc)

andrew