View Full Version : Air Bladder and Catfish
slipgate
07-20-2010, 12:10 PM
Bought a spotted cory 2 days ago. Almost as soon as he got in the tank you could tell something was wrong with his air bladder. He'd swim like crazy to the bottom but as soon as he stopped, he'd pop up like a cork. Then lay on his side on the surface looking like he was dead. Well this morning he was dead so we took him back.
Is this a common ailment in Catfish??
Chrisk-K
07-20-2010, 12:14 PM
Cories often swim down and dart to the surface. How did you acclimate?
Was it a pepper Cory by any chance? Very common genetic problem with pepper cories.
slipgate
07-23-2010, 6:53 AM
Was it a pepper Cory by any chance? Very common genetic problem with pepper cories.
It was a pepper Cory. They gave us a refund. The other two look fine.
I acclimate by floating the bag for 10 minutes or so. Then if I'm feeling lazy, just dump the whole bag, if not, I'll dump the bag in the sink over a net and just put the dish in the tank.
It was a pepper Cory. They gave us a refund. The other two look fine.
I acclimate by floating the bag for 10 minutes or so. Then if I'm feeling lazy, just dump the whole bag, if not, I'll dump the bag in the sink over a net and just put the dish in the tank.
This could be a little bit of a problem for them actually. Matching temperatures is great- but that's not going to be the only difference between their waters... chemistry, solids, ph... a quick change from one water to another can be very hard on the fish.
I usually float my newcomers in a little bit of water in a container above the tank... once they've been sitting 15 mins I take a syringe and start adding 5ml of water from my aquarium every 5 mins to 10 mins until the water in their container is 3/4 from my aquarium. This takes much longer than 15 mins but makes me feel better about the transfer.
Others more sophisticated than me use a drip system where water slowly drips from the tank via a drip line too their holding container.
You don't want to mix water from the bag INTO your aquarium... quarantine is always recommended for new fish- although, I don't think most people do- still... water from the bag will typically be dirty and could also have parasites, diseases, etc (although likely the fish would too if this was the case).
Nonetheless, it is usually recommended to move the fish to your tank but not the water they came in.