cory unwell :(

[mikedurrant]

my cory is just lying on the bottom of the tank on his side breathing fairly quickly. He was fine yesterday, he was eating and everything, can't see anything visually wrong with him and he can swim a little if necessary but he keeps just lying on the bottom, nitrate and nitrite 0, pH 6.6-6.8 (don't have a kit for testing ammonia).
My two other cory's are perfectly fine and so are all his other tankmates, anybody got any ideas????

Thanks

Mike

 

[webmoose]

what type of cory? what is your water temp? Are the other two pairing off and leaving the other one out?

I've witness at lot of pairing off with cory's I think that is why they recommend them in schools of 5 or 6 + (even thought they are looose schoolers).

I've also had some cories that are super senstitive (pandas) and some that seem bulletproof (bronze)

Is there alot of light in your tank? They sometimes act a bit stressed in high light / traffic / noisy areas..... Does it act different with the lights out?
How often is he surfacing for air at the top of you tank? Are the other two really active?

Does your tank have lots of hiding places for the cories?

 

[ferret]

I can not stress this enough: Get an ammonia kit. Its good to see you have all the other kits, but the ammonia kit is probably the single most important one. Ammonia kills faster than Nitrite, and you'll never even know its there until long after the fish die and the nitrites begin to rise.

 

[mikedurrant]

what type of cory? what is your water temp? Are the other two pairing off and leaving the other one out?

He is a Julii (spelling??) Cory, water temp is 77F, the first 2 that were put in are peppered cory's and they get along fine, the Julii has been in for about a week and he's never really joined in with the other 2.

Is there alot of light in your tank? They sometimes act a bit stressed in high light / traffic / noisy areas..... Does it act different with the lights out?
How often is he surfacing for air at the top of you tank? Are the other two really active?
Does your tank have lots of hiding places for the cories?

The tank has plenty of hiding places, he loves to sit in a little cave in the tank. He was quite active up until today and would be seen out and about more than the other 2. Haven't seen him surfacing for air really, or haven't noticed it.



Doesn't really look like he's gonna make it, he's still lying in the same place on his side and I can see that his gills are moving pretty rapidly, I've tried tipping him back onto his front but he swims off and then falls onto his side again.
I've put him into my small 3G tank with 6 baby cardinal tetra so that the tiger barbs will stop attacking him as he lays on the bottom without moving.

One other point is, he has VERY short whiskers, i.e. hardly any whiskers at all and hasn't had since I bought him, is this because he's still young because I've heard it can be sign of him having been in bad water quailty???


Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Many Thanks

Mike

 

[mikedurrant]

what type of cory? what is your water temp? Are the other two pairing off and leaving the other one out?

He is a Julii (spelling??) Cory, water temp is 77F, the first 2 that were put in are peppered cory's and they get along fine, the Julii has been in for about a week and he's never really joined in with the other 2.

Is there alot of light in your tank? They sometimes act a bit stressed in high light / traffic / noisy areas..... Does it act different with the lights out?
How often is he surfacing for air at the top of you tank? Are the other two really active?
Does your tank have lots of hiding places for the cories?

The tank has plenty of hiding places, he loves to sit in a little cave in the tank. He was quite active up until today and would be seen out and about more than the other 2. Haven't seen him surfacing for air really, or haven't noticed it.



Doesn't really look like he's gonna make it, he's still lying in the same place on his side and I can see that his gills are moving pretty rapidly, I've tried tipping him back onto his front but he swims off and then falls onto his side again.
I've put him into my small 3G tank with 6 baby cardinal tetra so that the tiger barbs will stop attacking him as he lays on the bottom without moving.

One other point is, he has VERY short whiskers, i.e. hardly any whiskers at all and hasn't had since I bought him, is this because he's still young because I've heard it can be sign of him having been in bad water quailty???


Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Many Thanks

Mike

 

[webmoose]

I know I am not much help but take a minute to read this thread:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=8379&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

My panda didn't mix with my bronze and my pair I have now are sooo tight they wouldn't let a 3rd join in.... since my posting in that thread it one of the corys has grown larger than the other. I think I have a male female pair.

They are social fish and need to be kept in groups. I am still new to this hobby so if anyone is thinking of diseases or anything jump on in.....

I hope he is ok.

 

[Tigerlily]

I can not stress this enough: Get an ammonia kit. Its good to see you have all the other kits, but the ammonia kit is probably the single most important one. Ammonia kills faster than Nitrite, and you'll never even know its there until long after the fish die and the nitrites begin to rise.

I agree with Ferret on this one.

I am wondering whether this is ammonia poisoning. Is this a new tank? Since there are no nitrate readings, I wonder if it has cycled yet. If the sick cory is smaller or weaker than the other fish, it could show signs of ammonia poisoning first...

 

[mikedurrant]

I can not stress this enough: Get an ammonia kit. Its good to see you have all the other kits, but the ammonia kit is probably the single most important one. Ammonia kills faster than Nitrite, and you'll never even know its there until long after the fish die and the nitrites begin to rise.

I agree with Ferret on this one.

I am wondering whether this is ammonia poisoning. Is this a new tank? Since there are no nitrate readings, I wonder if it has cycled yet. If the sick cory is smaller or weaker than the other fish, it could show signs of ammonia poisoning first...

This tank is about 2 months old, I'm pretty sure the cory is by no means the weakest fish in there, he's been active, eating well and generally well settled in, he's a reasonable size too.

I will buy an ammonia testing kit for the future but i think it may be a bit too late for this one, he's not looking any better.

Thanks fro all your replys, if anyone's got any more ideas, they'd be greatly appreciated.


Thanks again, Mike

 

[Allivymar]

Its quite possible he came from the lfs sick. I'm guessing you did not QT him; other wise you'd have had him longer then a week (most of the folks here QT for a minimum of 2 weeks to ensure the new fish are healthy and will not infect the rest of the established fish). Generally, more is better, but 2 weeks QT is usually enough to notice if something is wrong.

At 2 months a tank *should* be cycled. Obviously there are no guarantees tho; hence everyone's suggestion to get that water tested. I would do a number of things:

Water change. Even if you don't have ammonia levels, a water change with fresh treated water at the same temps is always a good thing. Even better, isolate him. He may have something contagious; no point in chancing the health of the rest of the fish. Plus, if we can figure out whats wrong and you medicate, it won't mess up the cycle in the main tank.

My guess is its a bacterial infection. Thats generally the main cause of corys losing their barbels. Rough/sharp substrate can also be a cause, but your other guys would likely show the same problem as they've been in the tank longer. Poor water parameters too can contribute. Its usually seen when there is a lot of bacteria in the substrate (how often do you gravel vac?) although my guess is he came from the lfs with the infection. You can try a broad spectrum antibiotic, but I have a feeling it may be too late