7Enigma
Aquarium Advice Addict
1~What type of fish is afflicted?
Cory catfish, he is breathing all right, but does not move unless prodded. I found him on his side and thought he was dead originally. I do not think he has eaten since I got him on Sunday.
2~What are your tank parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp, pH)?
0, 0, (10-20), 78.5, 7.5, all from the AP master test kit
3~ How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up?
20 gallon high, fish in since sunday, tank was fishless cycled
4~What type of filtration are you using? Please give the name and number
aquaclear 50, (rated at 200gph)
5~How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes?
6 tiger barbs (v. small, maybe 3/4inch?), 7 cherry barbs (also very small but range in size), 3 cory cats (1 1/2" or so), 3 Oto's (v. small, maybe 1/2")
6~When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel?
Had not done a PWC or gravel vacuum. Fish were in since this past saturday. Everyone looked great and still do except for this cory cat, whom I have never seen eat, or do much of anything.
7~How long have you had the fish? If the fish is new, how did you acclimate it/them?
the cory's since sunday. I'm about 15min from the LFS. I brought them home and used the recommended method (let sit in tank for 15min, added cup of tank water, let sit another 15min, added another cup of tank water, let sit 15 min, drain water, and add fish to tank).
8~Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.?
Only thing new added to tank was the cherry barbs on monday, a small java fern, and some hair algae (at least that is the current concensus so far)
9A~What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently?
Only food has been tropical flake food from big al's. And I have a cucumber in, but like I mentioned this specific cory has NEVER gone after food, or done the thing the other 2 have done (filter feed all over the tank).
Here's my original post in the getting started forum:
UPDATE: 4pm
One of my cory cats has seemed very stationary since I got him. He would move around every once in a while, but never seemed to hunt for food. I found him today under my pot, and he is on his side. I can't tell if he is stuck to the side of it, or lying on his side. I got a flashlight out since its difficult to see in there and he does seem to be breathing. I really think he might be a goner. I'm going to keep an eye on him tonight, and if no change, I might try to nudge him or something. Unfortunately he's in a VERY inaccessable place to get to, so I'll have to disturb the whole tank to get to him. It was actually the guy that Weldon reposted the pic of. He would just sit on the top of my clay pot, I had just hoped he was finding food when I wasn't around.
UPDATE: 4:45pm
I just took him out of the tank. When I went to get him with the net, he started to move, but clearly had a problem. He couldn't orient himself, just seemed to do a downward spiral. I have him in about 3 1/2 gallons of tank water right now, and will keep an eye on him for a 1/2 hour. If nothing has changed I think I'm going to have to put him down. Anything I can try?
UPDATE: 6pm
I put him back in the main tank, but in an area where I can easily get him out if I need to. The bucket he was in I needed to add water back to the main tank. He is definitely still breathing fine, but doesn't do anything at all. I feel bad that I've probably stressed him worse than if I had just left him alone, but I really thought he was dead. I submerged a piece of flake food, and got him directly on it, but he did nothing. I have no idea what else to do.
UPDATE: 6:20pm
I just went back in to see how he was doing and he was gone. He had somehow moved to the back of the tank, but was upright. I noticed his one fin on his top (dorsal fin?) seemed to be a bit ragged, and sure enough about 2 minutes later I found one of my tiger barbs nipping him. I have never seen this before and his fins were fine before I put him back in the tank.
UPDATE: 6:30pm
I couldn't watch the tiger eat this guy's fin anymore. I put my upsidedown ceramic pot, and put it over the cory. The tiger has not tried to go inside. Can these fish realize when another is wounded/dying? I've never seen this happen before and they have been fed a good amount.
Thanks for your help.
justin
Cory catfish, he is breathing all right, but does not move unless prodded. I found him on his side and thought he was dead originally. I do not think he has eaten since I got him on Sunday.
2~What are your tank parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp, pH)?
0, 0, (10-20), 78.5, 7.5, all from the AP master test kit
3~ How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up?
20 gallon high, fish in since sunday, tank was fishless cycled
4~What type of filtration are you using? Please give the name and number
aquaclear 50, (rated at 200gph)
5~How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes?
6 tiger barbs (v. small, maybe 3/4inch?), 7 cherry barbs (also very small but range in size), 3 cory cats (1 1/2" or so), 3 Oto's (v. small, maybe 1/2")
6~When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel?
Had not done a PWC or gravel vacuum. Fish were in since this past saturday. Everyone looked great and still do except for this cory cat, whom I have never seen eat, or do much of anything.
7~How long have you had the fish? If the fish is new, how did you acclimate it/them?
the cory's since sunday. I'm about 15min from the LFS. I brought them home and used the recommended method (let sit in tank for 15min, added cup of tank water, let sit another 15min, added another cup of tank water, let sit 15 min, drain water, and add fish to tank).
8~Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.?
Only thing new added to tank was the cherry barbs on monday, a small java fern, and some hair algae (at least that is the current concensus so far)
9A~What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently?
Only food has been tropical flake food from big al's. And I have a cucumber in, but like I mentioned this specific cory has NEVER gone after food, or done the thing the other 2 have done (filter feed all over the tank).
Here's my original post in the getting started forum:
UPDATE: 4pm
One of my cory cats has seemed very stationary since I got him. He would move around every once in a while, but never seemed to hunt for food. I found him today under my pot, and he is on his side. I can't tell if he is stuck to the side of it, or lying on his side. I got a flashlight out since its difficult to see in there and he does seem to be breathing. I really think he might be a goner. I'm going to keep an eye on him tonight, and if no change, I might try to nudge him or something. Unfortunately he's in a VERY inaccessable place to get to, so I'll have to disturb the whole tank to get to him. It was actually the guy that Weldon reposted the pic of. He would just sit on the top of my clay pot, I had just hoped he was finding food when I wasn't around.
UPDATE: 4:45pm
I just took him out of the tank. When I went to get him with the net, he started to move, but clearly had a problem. He couldn't orient himself, just seemed to do a downward spiral. I have him in about 3 1/2 gallons of tank water right now, and will keep an eye on him for a 1/2 hour. If nothing has changed I think I'm going to have to put him down. Anything I can try?
UPDATE: 6pm
I put him back in the main tank, but in an area where I can easily get him out if I need to. The bucket he was in I needed to add water back to the main tank. He is definitely still breathing fine, but doesn't do anything at all. I feel bad that I've probably stressed him worse than if I had just left him alone, but I really thought he was dead. I submerged a piece of flake food, and got him directly on it, but he did nothing. I have no idea what else to do.
UPDATE: 6:20pm
I just went back in to see how he was doing and he was gone. He had somehow moved to the back of the tank, but was upright. I noticed his one fin on his top (dorsal fin?) seemed to be a bit ragged, and sure enough about 2 minutes later I found one of my tiger barbs nipping him. I have never seen this before and his fins were fine before I put him back in the tank.
UPDATE: 6:30pm
I couldn't watch the tiger eat this guy's fin anymore. I put my upsidedown ceramic pot, and put it over the cory. The tiger has not tried to go inside. Can these fish realize when another is wounded/dying? I've never seen this happen before and they have been fed a good amount.
Thanks for your help.
justin