Sovereigntea
Aquarium Advice Newbie
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2013
- Messages
- 2
I run a 20 gallon high tank with a pleco, an upside down cat, mollies, albino corys, and silvertip tetras, and a kuhli loach who likes to hide for months on end
Parameters are as follows:
Nitrates are around 60-70 ppm. Far from ideal, but I keep them in check with regular water changes.
Nitrites are nonexistent thanks to weekly water changes
Water is hard and on the acidic side, and has been so for years. I know ammonia isn't the issue because acidic tanks only develop ammonium, which is harmless to fish.
I have albino corys and have had them for over a year now. I used to have 4, now I had 3. The 4th one died after it looked like his jaw was ripped off, I suspect by the upside down catfish who was the biggest thing in the tank at the time.
Today one of my cory cats is very ill. He is stark white in comparison to the others. I have a breeder net in my tank for the mollies, and, Upon waking up, I found him yesterday and today wedged in between the glass and the breeder net. He swims very poorly, his fins aren't clenched but his dorsal fin is about halfway up, and he regularly goes to the surface and sinks back down in a rather pathetic fashion. He is very off kilter. Half of the time he just swims into plants and gets stuck and decides to stay there.
His mouth/cheeks appear swollen and red, especially towards the bottom. I almost thought he was missing his jaw like the last one that died, but it just looks like his mouth got bashed in. his barbels and jaws appear to be in tact. It may just be that his face is very swollen. His breathing is laboured. The skin on his left cheek appears to be fuzzy (I suspect a fungus), but it may just be an irritation of some sort (he seems adamant about keeping his left side hidden from view and is great at finding something to hide behind, he probably just doesn't want me to worry).
I really have no idea what is going on with him. Is it a fungal infection? Did he get in a fight with another fish? Did he hurt himself in some way? I'll feed them in a few more hours and see how he responds, but I think I remember him eating yesterday. I went on a small vacation this past weekend and had my parents look after my fish and, of course, they forgot to put on the air conditioner when they went out, so the tank was 89 for at least 8 hours. Is it possible this caused any problems?
I think time may be of the essence so a prompt response would be appreciated
Parameters are as follows:
Nitrates are around 60-70 ppm. Far from ideal, but I keep them in check with regular water changes.
Nitrites are nonexistent thanks to weekly water changes
Water is hard and on the acidic side, and has been so for years. I know ammonia isn't the issue because acidic tanks only develop ammonium, which is harmless to fish.
I have albino corys and have had them for over a year now. I used to have 4, now I had 3. The 4th one died after it looked like his jaw was ripped off, I suspect by the upside down catfish who was the biggest thing in the tank at the time.
Today one of my cory cats is very ill. He is stark white in comparison to the others. I have a breeder net in my tank for the mollies, and, Upon waking up, I found him yesterday and today wedged in between the glass and the breeder net. He swims very poorly, his fins aren't clenched but his dorsal fin is about halfway up, and he regularly goes to the surface and sinks back down in a rather pathetic fashion. He is very off kilter. Half of the time he just swims into plants and gets stuck and decides to stay there.
His mouth/cheeks appear swollen and red, especially towards the bottom. I almost thought he was missing his jaw like the last one that died, but it just looks like his mouth got bashed in. his barbels and jaws appear to be in tact. It may just be that his face is very swollen. His breathing is laboured. The skin on his left cheek appears to be fuzzy (I suspect a fungus), but it may just be an irritation of some sort (he seems adamant about keeping his left side hidden from view and is great at finding something to hide behind, he probably just doesn't want me to worry).
I really have no idea what is going on with him. Is it a fungal infection? Did he get in a fight with another fish? Did he hurt himself in some way? I'll feed them in a few more hours and see how he responds, but I think I remember him eating yesterday. I went on a small vacation this past weekend and had my parents look after my fish and, of course, they forgot to put on the air conditioner when they went out, so the tank was 89 for at least 8 hours. Is it possible this caused any problems?
I think time may be of the essence so a prompt response would be appreciated
