Cory cat, damaged mouth missing barbels + crooked tail!

Onikun

Onikun

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Jun 25, 2005
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One of my cories that i've had since june half his barbels are missing it looks like another fish bit it off or he somehow hurt himself. Hes always all crazy and stuff and swims the most and has always liked to splash the water at the surface. He still seems really happy even though his mouth is damaged. I've been treating him with Jungle Fungus Clear for past few days and now his lip doesn't look so red.

One thing i noticed was near the end of his tail (if you look from ontop) its slightly curved to one side. He still swims quite normally. I suspect it might have always been like that because when he dives really fast he has always swimed in a spiral. Does he have fish TB? he doesn't show any other signs of it. His tummy isn't sunken and he doesn't have any weird abrasians on his body. Maybe its just a birth defect?
 
there is nothing wrong with my water, If there was there is NOTHING I can do about it because you know what? I did 80% water change today and if theres somethign wrong with the water coming out of my tap what am i supposed to do? go buy an RO machine?
 
I had it tested at the LFS several times its is cycled. Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0.

Regardless of if its cycled or not if its understocked and i'm changing 50% of the water practically everyday I don't think enough ammonia or nitrite can really build up.
 
Well, what you have might not be from water-quality. But what I would say, having owned cory cats, is that you might have is sharp substrate. Because they root around so much they can easily get hurt by jagged rocks. My corys would bury half their head to look around for some food. Some had worn barbels when I got them, but they were all ~1/2" when I traded 'em in.

As for the kinked tail....I bought a kinked tail cory feeling sorry for it and it was just plain cool looking. It lived for around 3 months. I suspect it died from the kink. On the flip side of this my friend had a guppy with a back kinked like this >-^v-D and the cursed thing lived fine for months, even had babies! It was a feeder casualty...couldn't avoid its destiny, even with pity-points. :devil:

Also, you should post what you have in the tank with the cats so we can determine if it might be aggression. A barbel isn't likely where you'd think another fish would attack. The fins are usually where mine got bitten, or on the back. I wouldn't treat for disease yet! I don't know about TB, but having seen both these problems, albeit at different times I'd say it isn't disease.
 
Well after being bugged by roan art in several threads to "test my water" i wasted over 20dollars buying Hagen ammonia and nitrite testing kits. Guess what the results were. Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0. I guess thats not really helpful is it?

I thought it might be the subtrate but it doesn't seem likely because all the other cories are fine.

He's in a 30gallon long with 4 other cories, 7 harlequin rasboras, 4 bolivian rams. The rams don't seem to bug them much sometimes it seems they are after the same piece of food but i've never seen them peck at each other. I used to have a male betta in there but now hes in the breeder box cuz i suspect he kiled one of the rasboras though hes a bit of a wuss because one time I put him in the guppy tank and he was scared of them and when he was in this tank he was always hiding.
 
Onikun said:
Well after being bugged by roan art in several threads to "test my water" i wasted over 20dollars buying Hagen ammonia and nitrite testing kits. Guess what the results were. Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0. I guess thats not really helpful is it?
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What are your nitRATES?

You've posted several times with different problems with your fish -- fungus, "injuries" and so forth -- in a tank that was cycling. All of us asked you several times to post your ammonia, nitrites and nitrates so that we could help you. You wouldn't or couldn't do so.

Now you have yet another problem with a cory and barbel damage and when you are asked for your water parameters you get your jock strap in a bunch.

If you want help, we'll give you help, but you HAVE to meet us halfway and give us the information we need to help you.

I'm glad you finally tested the water, even if it was only for ammonia and nitrites. It's a start.

Roan
 
Roan Art said:
What are your nitRATES?
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Look. I don't see how nitrates would really play a part if i'm doing 50% change every 2 days. What amount of fish waste could possibly produce that much nitrate that the water change would not get rid of. You've replied to some of my threads with nothing useful except test your water. which I've said I've gotten tested at the fish store and now at home. I was just hoping someone ELSE would respond with something more useful other than "test your water". Especially with that thread asking about Jungle Fungus Clear. I dont see how "has anyone used this before" should be answered with "test your water". Thanks for trying to help me but I don't find your zealous bombardment of "test your water" is helping at all. Unless theres high nitrates in my tap water I don't think its possible that nitrates can be the problem if i'm changing 50% every other day. THanks.
 
One thing I'd like to say is that Cory cats are an awesome indicator of aquarium conditions. If your WQ is low, they will be the first to show signs or die. Look at their behaviour, always a good indication of sickness or general non-well-being.


I think what the other forum-goer might be getting at is this(a little long winded, but read my friend...):

<<Hello Chris. A couple of things to consider. First, the LFS is wrong, plants will NOT leave your nitrates LOW TO NIL. What a load of horse hockey. The fact that your bio-load is low is the ONLY thing keeping your nitrates low. That is, IF they are indeed low. Chances are, they are not quite as low as you think they are. Buy yourself a NITRATE TEST KIT! The trick is in the balance between tank size and stocking rates. A large tank, say 75g, fully planted, with a dozen Neons, for example, may not have any trouble with nitrates. Yours will, if you don't already. Test your water! Another thing is, just how long has this tank been set-up? How often are you vacuuming the gravel? Try to do it at least twice a month, more often if possible, and be as thorough as you can. This is never easy in planted tanks. You might want to do a web search and read up on "anoxic substrate" problems. Cory cats can be quite sensitive to build-ups in planted tank anoxic substrates, normally they develop barbel disintegration problems, but worse things CAN happen... In which case, no, your Neons will not be the first to show a problem, the Corys will. I suspect your Corys are going to need a bit of intervention if you hope to keep any new additions alive. Always make sure you are buying healthy fish (I begin to doubt the quality of the LFS you are using...) Perhaps a quarantine tank will help. You can add a bit of salt which may cure any gill fluke problems. Yes, Corys CAN tolerate salt for short term medicinal purposes. Second, acclimate them properly: you don't mention your pH, is it vastly different from your LFS pH? And thirdly, if your tank is older than a few months, you may want to reconsider keeping Corys in this tank unless you can verify that the substrate isn't the problem. -Gwen>>
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Google is your friend search for: cory cat barbel problem

http://www.google.ca/search?hs=4zo&...l&q=cory+cat+barbel+problem&btnG=Search&meta=
 
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