cory cat got stuck :(

N

naturelady

AC Members
Jan 29, 2010
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1
WI
I just was watching my tank, and realized that I could only find 4 of my 6 cories. I finally found one imitating a piece of gravel. I don't know why he's so quiet. But the other one took me even longer, he was stuck in a corner, wedged between the glass and some air tubing. I don't know how long he was stuck.

Obviously he's stressed, and now just laying on the bottom of the tank. But is there anything special I should do for him? I know they need to gulp air- is he going to be in trouble because he couldn't do that?

How important is the air gulping, anyways? The two littlest (and of course, the one who was stuck was one of the tinies!) seem like they have trouble getting all the way to the top of the water to gulp air. These are habrosus cories in a 20g tall tank. They will start from the bottom of the tank, swim as high as they can, but they always seem to stop just a half inch short of the top of the water, then dive all the way back down, and try again. Of course, maybe that's just them being goofy cories... Its just that I only see the tiny ones doing that.
 
If he's not badly wounded, clean water should bring him back to normal. I've had a cory get stuck in a clay pot, and it's alive today (though scarred).

As for the tank tallness, for such a tiny cory it IS a long way to swim. Although, my peppered, sterbai and bronze in my 75g do tend to swim up and down multiple times, sometimes breaching the surface, sometimes not. Good luck :)
 
There aren't any injuries that I can see so I will just keep an eye on him.

The funny thing about the tall tank is I have driftwood and large rocks in there. They COULD start from one of those to get to the surface, giving them anywhere from a 1 to 8 inch height advantage. But no. Always from the bottom. Preferably the corner of the tank where substrate is the lowest. Gah!
 
I'm really worried about my little cory... He is much more pale than the other cories, no visible pink color at all, even around the gills. He just lays in the tank, although occasionally will go for a real brief swim, then back to just laying there. He looks like he's continually moving his mouth... chewing, swallowing, something else, I am not sure. Today he even curls his tail around when he lays there, like he's too weak to even try and sit straight, he just flops over.

Anything I can do for him?
 
I don't... is this something I could manufacture?

I do have a little plastic cup that has suction cups on it. It won't get great water circulation, but a little bit... Maybe try that? I'm really worried about him!
 
Perhaps lowering the water level or just transferring him to a smaller tank or a breeder net (as msjinkzd mentioned) may help him
 
I'm so sorry for the loss of your little guy.
 
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