What's up with my Cory?

[Icthyological Person]

I have an Emerald Green Cory who has been all weird. first he's lying on his side, looking dead, then he's fine. then hes attached to my quietflow 20's intake tube, then he's floating upside down, and now he's normal. I may want to note that last week i lost an otocinclus, a spotted cory, and a three-lined cory due to a filter cartridge clog .Has any body seen a Cory act like this before?

 

[dkpate]

Is your tank cycled? What's the temp? How often do you do a water change, and how much? What do you feed him? How long have you had the fish?
My corys never lay on their sides. The weirdest thing I have ever seen them do is bury themselves in the sand.

 

[Icthyological Person]

my tank was set up 8 weeks ago, so believe it is cycled. I've had him for 2 and a half weeks and i feed him and my other cories Hikari sinking wafers. My6 tank temp is about 72 degrees Fahrenheit and I perform weekly 25% water changes or biweekly 50% water changes. This is my first community tank, so I'm pretty new at this.

 

[bluerose]

It's quite possible that your tank is not cycled.

Do you have a test kit? What are your readings for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH?

 

[dkpate]

Have you changed out the filter media in those 8 weeks?

 

[Icthyological Person]

yes, i changed the filter cartridge last week

 

[dkpate]

Ok, don't do that, it's where your good bacteria lives for the most part. If it gets gunky, just rinse it in old tank water. The only time you need to put a new one in, is if the old one is falling apart or you need the new carbon to remove meds. You might have caused a mini cycle by putting the new media in.

 

[i3k]

Your cory is definitely sick. You'll need a test kit to find out what's going on in your tank.

 

[CuriousWoRm]

I had my albino do this. He would just lay on his side looking dead, soon as I go to get him out with the net he would swim off. Then a few days later he I would see him attached to the filter intake. After about a 10 days of lodging himself in random spots like behind the heater, in thick plants, and what ever else he could find. I"m sorry to say in the end he died. Externally it seemed he was just getting old, and that's the conclusion I came to at the end. I had him for about 3 years. I hope you find out something I wasn't able to, and keep yours alive. The best of luck.

 

[dkpate]

My emerald is 8 years old, so I doubt his is at the end of it's life cycle.

 

[Icthyological Person]

Thanks for your help everybody, I've learned a lot, but my cory died earlier today R.I.P

 

[dkpate]

Awww. It might have been some internal parasites and you wouldn't have known. I lost a fish because of dormant parasites after a year.

 

[Icthyological Person]

i still have 3 cories left alive (i've lost 3) and i hope elevated ammonia from recent fatalities doesn't get them. as soon as i have time I'm going to vacuum my sand, do a 50% water change, etc. to keep them alive. a contributing factor may be that when I saw the cory laying on his side i performed an emergency 25% water change with cold water, so the temp was lower than usual.

 

[i3k]

25% of cold water wouldn't change your temp. in the tank all that much. It might have put more stress on the already sick fish. You need to get a test kit asap.

 

[Icthyological Person]

The main pet store i go to is petco and the only liquid test kit they have is for ammonia, the rest I have strips for. I'm hoping to get a full liquid test kit at another LFS I have heard of. i seem to have stabilized my tank wth a thorough cleaning and 50% water change last night. All three of my remaining cories are very active now and seem much happier.