10+ year old corydora showing signs of illness

[coryneonsnail]

I have 5 corys in my 20 gallon tank, two of whom are at least 10 years old (they were adults when I bought them 9 years ago). The male is still going strong and mating frequently with his younger tank mates, but the female has been showing signs of decline over the last six months. She's stopped mating and laying eggs, and her barbels are wearing down to nubs. Over the last week she's taken a turn for the worse. Her tail fin is clamped and I saw her "flashing" against the gravel yesterday. She's not eating much and the way she moves around the tank seems a bit weird and off -- not sure how else to describe it. Other tank makes include 8 green neon tetras and a mystery snail, and they all seem healthy. I'm worried that her immune system is weakened by old age and she's got an infection or a disease that could potentially spread to the other fish. So my question is: Do I quarantine her? I don't have a quarantine tank and I'm not sure how quickly I would be able to set one up. Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks!


I do 20% water changes and gravel vacs weekly. I have a fairly new Aqueon Quiet Flow 10 filter. The tank has been set up for 9 years. I recently added the mystery snail to the tank, but it came from a reliable and well-run LFS. I didn't quarantine it, though. The corys get 2 kinds of bottom feeder pellets and the neons get flakes and granules. I put some blanched kale in the tank a couple days ago, which was a new addition to their diet (meant for the snail, but only the corys ate it).


EDIT: There's nothing visibly wrong with her besides the worn down barbels and clamped tail fin. No redness or spots or injury.

 

[Andy Sager]

I have 5 corys in my 20 gallon tank, two of whom are at least 10 years old (they were adults when I bought them 9 years ago). The male is still going strong and mating frequently with his younger tank mates, but the female has been showing signs of decline over the last six months. She's stopped mating and laying eggs, and her barbels are wearing down to nubs. Over the last week she's taken a turn for the worse. Her tail fin is clamped and I saw her "flashing" against the gravel yesterday. She's not eating much and the way she moves around the tank seems a bit weird and off -- not sure how else to describe it. Other tank makes include 8 green neon tetras and a mystery snail, and they all seem healthy. I'm worried that her immune system is weakened by old age and she's got an infection or a disease that could potentially spread to the other fish. So my question is: Do I quarantine her? I don't have a quarantine tank and I'm not sure how quickly I would be able to set one up. Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks!


I do 20% water changes and gravel vacs weekly. I have a fairly new Aqueon Quiet Flow 10 filter. The tank has been set up for 12 years. I recently added the mystery snail to the tank, but it came from a reliable and well-run LFS. I didn't quarantine it, though. The corys get 2 kinds of bottom feeder pellets and the neons get flakes and granules. I put some blanched kale in the tank a couple days ago, which was a new addition to their diet (meant for the snail, but only the corys ate it).

Here's the issue: She sounds like she's at or near end of life stage since most Cories live on average 10-15 years. Her age may be the reason for the decline or she may have picked something up from the snail since snails are known to carry parasites and since you didn't quarantine the snail, even tho it came from a reputable store, you can't rule that out.
A couple of things to consider: Isolating the fish will help prevent other fish from picking at her. Medicating her could be too much for her to handle and cause her to die prematurely. Putting her into a hospital tank with almond leaves or other botanicals could help naturally address any bacterial issue that may be causing this in a less stressful way. I'm not having a lot of hope tho. It sounds like with your other fish not showing any signs of illness, it may be time for you to accept that the best thing to do is nothing except put a divider in the tank so that she can live out what's left of her life.
Wish the news could have been better.

 

[coryneonsnail]

Thanks so much for the quick reply, Andy. I'm prepared for the fact that this is probably the end for her -- I know corys don't typically live a lot longer than this. I just don't want to endanger the other fish. If leaving her in the tank separated from the other fish is a good option, then that's what I'll probably do. I may also look into the idea of the hospital tank. Thank you!!

 

[Andy Sager]

Thanks so much for the quick reply, Andy. I'm prepared for the fact that this is probably the end for her -- I know corys don't typically live a lot longer than this. I just don't want to endanger the other fish. If leaving her in the tank separated from the other fish is a good option, then that's what I'll probably do. I may also look into the idea of the hospital tank. Thank you!!

It's not always easy with the elderly pets. I had a similar situation with my Monkey. (https://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/members/41382-albums14447-picture69400.html) I had him 21 years which made him roughly 23 1/2 years old when he died and they normally live in captivity about 20-25 years. On his last day, I took him to vet to address a persistent hiccup only to be told that it was a sign and there was nothing to do. So you just do what you can to make the transition as easy as possible.

 

[coryneonsnail]

It's not always easy with the elderly pets. I had a similar situation with my Monkey. (https://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/members/41382-albums14447-picture69400.html) I had him 21 years which made him roughly 23 1/2 years old when he died and they normally live in captivity about 20-25 years. On his last day, I took him to vet to address a persistent hiccup only to be told that it was a sign and there was nothing to do. So you just do what you can to make the transition as easy as possible.

What an adorable monkey! That must have been such a fun pet. I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[Andy Sager]

What an adorable monkey! That must have been such a fun pet. I'm sorry for your loss.

Thank you. It was many years ago ( I was in my early 20s in that pic and I'm not even close to that anymore. LOL ) And yes, he was the best pet to prepare me for parenthood as they can get every disease known to man and beast.. That I had him 21 years was itself amazing. His Vet was very sad to have to let him go to big forest in the sky.