Corydora At Surface

[mylifeasben]

Hey guys,

I have a three foot tank that is still cycling. It's been going for about 2 weeks now. I've been doing 15/20% water changes every couple of days, and cleaned the filter sponges in tank water.

Since the first day it's had 12 Albino Corydoras in it since they came with the tank and I didn't want to get rid of them.

After about a week one of them laid a whole bunch of eggs which the others proceeded to eat.

I noticed tonight that one of them has started sitting at the top of the tank with air bubbles coming out of its gills like it's sucking in air. But I have 2 air stones in the tank, and the others are happy and lively as ever.

Could this fish be sick? Or could it be a spawning thing? It's one of the biggest one and has been really healthy until now..the people before me had it in the tank for several years.

I did a larger water change yesterday, and sucked up the mess with a gravel siphon. But I added the water ager stuff.

What should I do?

Ben

 

[Brookster123]

Ate you testing your water?

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[mylifeasben]

I don't have anything other than a pH Test kit until I can get to the shop tomorrow. But the pH is more or less neutral, maybe slightly alkaline.

 

[Brookster123]

Yah, what most likely is happening is that since you are cycling there are elevated levels of ammonia and nitrite, both of which are toxic to fish, you'll want to get a test kit, preferably api liquid master kit, and test daily and change water accordingly. If ammonia is at 1 ppm, do 2 50% wc to get it to tolerable levels. You don't want anything higher than .25 ppm. Read the fish in cycling thread on here, it will help.. for now I recommend doing a 50% wc using prime conditioner.

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[mylifeasben]

Awesome.
I'll do that tomorrow.

Is there a reason it's only affecting one fish?

 

[mylifeasben]

Hi there!

Just tested everything with my new kit, which is totally awesome and have results! The only problem is, I'm not sure that they all mean.

Ammonia is 0.5 ppm
Nitrite is 0 ppm
Nitrate is about 4 ppm
And pH is at 7.4.

What do I need to do to my tank? I'm about to do a 30/40% water change.

Anything else?

Ben

 

[mattcham]

Your water parameters are fine. There is some other toxin in your tank that is irritating your fish's gills.

A water change will dilute this toxin. Change 50% then change 50% again after 6 hours. Remember to use correct dose of dechlorinator. Better to overdose dechlorinator than to underdose.

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[mattcham]

Disregard my prior post. I just realized that only one is gasping and not all of them. It is most likely that the gasper was the fish that laid eggs. Birthing is very stressful and it may just need more oxygen. It can benefit from a water change. Just follow your usual routine, but change the water ASAP.

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[mylifeasben]

Hey Matt,
Since then my ammonia levels have spiked really high (like 6 ppm). I'm using the API Ammo-Lock to protect the fish because it's the only thing the local pet shops had, and doing 50% water changes every 2 days. But the ammonia is still really high! What can I do to fix this?
Ben


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[loachy dance]

I agree with others, but wanted to add that cories in some tanks will also naturally do a sudden burst of speed and check the surface of the water every so often.

 

[mylifeasben]

Haha,
Mine do that as well! They all seem super happy swimming around and foraging at the bottom for food. They all do the speed swim to the top, but one of them still sits at the top sucking air in and letting it out it's gills.


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[mattcham]

Hey Matt,
Since then my ammonia levels have spiked really high (like 6 ppm). I'm using the API Ammo-Lock to protect the fish because it's the only thing the local pet shops had, and doing 50% water changes every 2 days. But the ammonia is still really high! What can I do to fix this?
Ben


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Ammo-Lock is only temporary and lasts 12 hours or something like that. If ammonia is over 1.0, I would do a 40% water change every 6 hours until its down to less than 1.0.

I would determine why ammonia is too high. Is it due to lack of cycled tank water? Or due to sudden overcrowding/overfeeding. Regardless of the cause, I would completely stop feeding the fish until ammonia is under 1.0. Fish can survive and even remain healthy with no food for 4 days.

If ammonia is too high due to new tank syndrome (lack of cycled tank) I would pour an ENTIRE bottle of Tetra Safe Start bacteria into the filter chamber. The idea is that you want as much of the product to get trapped on your filter medium.

If you have high ammonia but zero nitrite and zero nitrate, then you have new tank syndrome.


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[mylifeasben]

Is Tetra Safe Start the same as API Stress Zyme+?


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[mattcham]

Yes. Similar products. Use generously. If instruction label says use entire bottle, do not skimp.

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[mylifeasben]

Label does not say use entire bottle. Will use entire bottle.


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[mattcham]

Label does not say use entire bottle. Will use entire bottle.


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Just make sure it's safe. Tetra says to use entire bottle while seachem says to use a smaller amount but dose daily. Different products...

The tetra product says it's good for up to 200 gallons per bottle, so I tried adding only 1/10 of the bottle for my 20 gallon and it failed to cycle after a day. I then poured the entire bottle as instructed and tank cycled quickly as within a couple of hours. Remember to shake the bottle if instructed on label (the solid ingredients tend to settle on the bottom of the bottle).




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