Cory Dying! Please help!

[Bettafanatic]

One of my cory cats seems to be unwell. I found him lying on his side on the bottom of the tank. His gills are still moving though. All the other fish seem perfectly fine. Even the platy fry that were only born a few days ago appear to be completely healthy. I'll get the water parameters in a second. Can anyone help?

 

[stingrays4]

Hi firstly are there any other symptoms? Have you got the tests done? Also has this been sudden or gradual? If only one fish is affected it could be simply old age or having a bad day?

 

[Bettafanatic]

Water parameters are 0 for ammonia and 0 for nitrite. He does seem to be inching his way to the back of the tank, and I've observed him shivering or twitching, but it could just be the current from the filter output. And this has been very sudden. He seemed perfectly fine this morning.

 

[stingrays4]

Hi does the cory have any visible marks? Clamped fins,looking pale,bloated? Have you done anything different in the last day or two on the tank? Larger than normal water change? Added anything?

 

[Bettafanatic]

Haven't added anything and I still have to do the water change for this week. In fact, everything has been the same. I did leave to NYC for a night but I just put the light on a timer so nothing was different there.

He is still twitching, especially around the mouth area. He looks much paler than usual. Usually he's brown with black spots but today he's mostly white with black spots. Also the area around his gills is red.

 

[stingrays4]

Hi it doesn't sound good I would still do your water change as usual and feed a little less. Do you have an aquarium salt? If so you could add a little.

 

[Bettafanatic]

I don't think I have any aquarium salt but I remember buying some a few years ago for a betta problem but i have no idea where it went. I'll go along with the usual schedule and feed less than usual. I was going to try giving my cories some algae wafers today but should I try it another day in case they don't take them and they end up sitting there?

 

[Bettafanatic]

Oh and do you think whatever he has is contagious? Would it spread to the other fish? Should I put him in a quarantine tank or something?

 

[stingrays4]

Hi I have just seen another thread of yours regarding cories not feeding? I am guessing this is one of those cories? If so this could be part of the problem? New fish still not settled in,not been feeding and could've been poor stock? How are the others doing and are they feeding?

 

[Bettafanatic]

Yeah this is one of the cories that haven't been eating so far. I feel like it isn't part of the problem because they seem to know that food is present and forage around searching for stuff to eat. They just can't identify it. Or maybe I'm just observing wrong and it is part of the problem. The others are perfectly fine, not eating yet. I was going to try out some different things.

 

[Bettafanatic]

By the way, he's looking even worse now. His spots are disappearing and I can see these lines on his sides, kind of like a fish bone. It's hard to describe. There's also now a black line running down his side from his head to his tail, and the area around it is completely white. Should I separate him?

 

[stingrays4]

Hi OK, this maybe part of the problem from before you bought them? My cories seem to find it hard finding food but do eat very well,so they maybe eating but you are not noticing? Feed frozen bloodworm,mine love it most of the time??? If the belly region seems to be still full then they are eating? I am singing off now,good luck
My plan would be = do several small water changes, try and add some aquarium salt if possible and see if you can find out from the store what they fed the cories on before you bought them?

 

[Bettafanatic]

Okay I'll try thank you for your help

 

[ktomminello]

QT

Sorry about your cories!! Please quarantine at least the one in trouble, though I honestly would qt the rest in a separate qt tank from the very sick one, I have seen this before, I don't know why it happens, but use a small container for the one, use distilled water and start off using half dose melafix and pimafix- if this doesn't work try quick cure (usually won't work for most most issues, but appears to work in this situation SOMETIMES) just make sure your water is pristine and never overdose, if anything use half dose. Seachem prime and stability are good for this, stay away from anything that takes away from oxygen in the water (amquel+, Startzyme, stresszyme+). Remember less is more and nutrafin cycle, seachem stability, quick start and anything with electrolytes and bb are helpful too, but in moderation.... And please do your water change asap, it's never good to let your fish become used to degraded water.....

 

[Bettafanatic]

I'll separate the sick fish right away. I don't have any medicines on me right now. I think my petco has pimafix and melafix but I've also heard that those medicines are useless.

 

[Bettafanatic]

Until I can get a QT tank ready, I've used one of those fish containers to section him off from the other fish but he's still in the main tank. it seems like he's pretty much lost any will to live. He just sat there while I scooped him up into the net and had no desire to leave the net while I was trying to shake him out into the container. I wondered whether he was dead or not but his gills are still moving. I'll get those medicines tomorrow and will do the water change.

 

[ktomminello]

It's true...

Like I said, the treatments mentioned normally don't work, but in certain situations such as this one, you may have some success, but you have to be incredibly diligent on a very small scale (think 1g holder tank) and use completely pristine water AT LEAST 2X a day- in the morning to get rid of medicine and waste and at night to remove food and waste and to make sure your water parameters are perfect before dosing. I know it's weird, but yes, I have done this and it has a success rate of about 65% from my experience... I'm retired and my hobby is aquaculture/ aquaponics, me and my hubby have a working farm. I'm more than happy to share my experiences. Private message me if you have questions you think I might be able to answer, I am not consistently on forums, but do get notification of private messages. Petco does have mela and pima fix and all others that I mentioned in most locations. Glad to help thanks for listening

 

[Bettafanatic]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I'll do everything I can. As soon as I get him into a QT tank I'll start on the twice daily water changes. What would be better for this situation, a 2.5 gallon or a 10 gallon?

 

[Bettafanatic]

The cory died. I went out to dinner with the QT set up and everything but when I got back he was dead. Thanks for your help everyone. I'm going to keep a close eye on the other fish from now on.

 

[ktomminello]

Awe, poor darling. By the way- Do you have a gravel substrate?