Cory can't stay upright - swim bladder maybe?? Need advice.

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rainbowcharmer

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Jul 30, 2007
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I've got one Julii cory in the 75 gal tank that cannot rest upright anymore. It swims around and then lays on its side when it's resting on the bottom of the tank. Seems ok otherwise. And it's been like this for a good week now. I thought at first that it was dying and figured I'd be scooping it out soon to a burial at sea. The fish were adults when I got them and I've had them for nearly 2 years, so I was sort of figuring on age related degeneration. But it's still active, still breathing normally, but cannot stay upright. Is there anything I can do for it??

All parameters in the tank are normal (0/0/<10), temp 78, just did a 60% w/c Monday. All other fish acting normally. No sign of disease of any sort. Just the balance issue.

Thanks...
 

rainbowcharmer

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Thanks. I'm really still stuck on the possibility of it being age related, but the fact that it only lays on its side (and this is both sides, not just one side) makes me think swim bladder. Plus the fact that it's gone on much longer than I expected. I'm tempted to try a salt bath, but I know cories are not great with salt, and I don't want to torture the poor thing. It doesn't seem to be terribly uncomfortable. I'm just not sure what else to do. Nobody is picking on him, which I've seen happen plenty of times when fish are actually ill. So that also makes me think that he's not necessarily sick? Just not sure... And like I said it's been over a week now since I first noticed him laying like that. It takes me a while to find him each day as he still continues to swim around the tank and lands somewhere new each time. All the cories rest on the bottom constantly, so that is not unusual, it's just that the rest of them are on their bellies...
 

rainbowcharmer

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Look, I'll even take bad advice at this point. At least it will give me an alternative thought process. Please - really need some input. I know there has to be someone on this forum who's dealt with something like this...
 

tolawdjk

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I've dealt with it, and honestly, I've had zero positive outcomes. Once those symptoms were exhibited, death was within a week. medication, increased water changes, salt/no salt, med food...nothing seemed to effect it.

WCs seemed to be the best.
 

rainbowcharmer

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Well they just got a 60% w/c a couple days ago. No change in behavior. And it's been over a week since the symptoms were first noticed. He's not breathing hard or differently than the other cories. He's not displaying any erratic swimming or anything that I would normally associate with swim bladder. When he swims it's in a straight line, and he lands on his belly and then falls over onto his side and stays there. He's not scrambling to right himself. He seems perfectly at ease to keep on his side. I'm just not sure what to try. Mostly at this point I just don't want to make things worse. does it sound like a swim bladder malfunction? Or something age related? Or something else?
 

BettaFishMommy

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i just recently treated my big paratilapia polleni for swim bladder disorder. i used API's General Cure, which is a mix of metro and prazi. worked like a charm! metro is an anti-parasite med primarily, but works against bacterial infections too, which i believe is what i was dealing with. i isolated in a rubbermaid (20 gal) and treated on day one, did a huge water change (75-80%), then dosed again on day two. Chuck is still in the rubbermaid with daily water changes, but is perfectly back to normal.
 

KarlTh

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Really doesn't sound like a swim bladder issue. People jump on "swim bladder" as if it were a disease itself rather than an internal organ, and blame it for any swimming disorders. In reality, swim bladder conditions affect specifically bouyancy. Either the fish will hang at the surface and visibly struggle to dive, instantly popping up the moment it stops making the effort, or else sit on the bottom and struggle to rise, dropping back again when effort isn't maintained. Swimming disorders outside of this do not point to a swim bladder issue.
 
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