Injured Cory

[DBFish]

Hi,
We finally got our tank cycled, and we bought 6 Von Rio Tetras and 3 peppered corydoras. They all seemed great going in on Saturday. Sunday morning I get up and find a Cory stick to the filter intake. I get him off with a net and he starts to swim, but looks red and bruised all over his back and underside. I moved home to a quarantine tank, added some aquarium salt and let him rest. Today he started swimming around in brief spirits and then went back to sitting still on the bottom for long hours of the day. All of the red and bruising look gone, his shape is good and he ate some of a sinking wafer after it fell apart. I did a partial water change in the hospital tank kept the salt in, and he continues to swim around for a out two minutes then go back to resting. I haven't had him long enough to know his behavior and the other two corys are hiding constantly. How do I know when he is healthy? Also, I bought an intake sponge and reduced the flow on the filter to avoid more issues.

 

[Andy Sager]

When the fish is eating eagerly, the discoloration is all gone and is swimming around " normally", it would be considered healed. Cory cats do better in larger numbers and like to be in the current so don't expect him to be actively swimming in the hospital tank. It should be excited however when food arrives.

 

[DBFish]

Thanks, that helps. Although he eats, he doesn't seem very excited when food enters the tank, he goes to it later. His color and shape are normal now though. I'll give him another day or two and see how it goes. He still seems lethargic to me.

 

[Andy Sager]

Thanks, that helps. Although he eats, he doesn't seem very excited when food enters the tank, he goes to it later. His color and shape are normal now though. I'll give him another day or two and see how it goes. He still seems lethargic to me.

From what you described, that sounds like it was a severe bacterial infection ( which is common in Cory cats) so he's going to need to some to heal from it so don't rush him. If the fish is eating, it's healing and that's fine. Let him heal at his pace. All you'll need to do is keep the water clean and keep feeding him until he is back to " normal" before moving him back into the main tank. The sad reality of fish keeping is people want a sick fish to heal overnight. That just isn't going to happen. It takes time for fish to heal from infections. The worse the infection, the longer it takes to heal. Dying fish don't eat so since your fish is eating, that's the best you can hope for at this time.