Cory in Trouble! Help please.

alli13zeal

alli13zeal

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Sep 27, 2007
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MPLS, MN
:help: Hi this is sort of a continuation of another post (pH dropping w/fishy cycle) but this seemed like it should have a new thread since it is more urgent.... When I got home from work one of my cory cats was lying upside down behind one of the decorations. When I moved the decoration he started swimming away in a disoriented manner, kind of on his side doing a sort of barrel roll. Now he's lying sort of propped up against a decoration, he's definitely still alive but I have no idea what is wrong although I'm assuming it has to do w/the water somehow (I have been doing a fishy cycle).

I tested the water and then I did a 50% water change. Before the change: ammonia=0, maybe slightly above
nitrites=0
nitrates=5
pH=6.0 (has been fluctuating, was as high as 7 a week or two ago, was 6.2 yesterday).
Also, the tap water I left out over night had a pH of 6.6 initially but today it had dropped to 6.4. After the water change the tank was back up to 6.4 (pH) or so..

Anyway I have no clue what to do. I'm guessing it is either damage from pH fluctuations or an infection, etc that was able to take hold because the fish had a weakened immune system from the changing water parameters. Can anyone offer me any help???? Is there anything I can do or does it seem like I should euthanise? The other 2 cory cats seem a little distressed by this guy... ACK and now I have to go have dinner w/my boyfriend
& his parents but I don't know what to do; I guess I will just leave him there for now. And I don't have a quarantine tank since I only got this tank a month ago... Please help, thanks.
 
Anyone? I have been trying to search for possibilities on the internet and so far I've come up with whirling disease or possibly swim bladder disease, but the whirling disease seems more likely unfortunately... Does anyone know of any other symptoms for WD besides the irregular swimming? He seemed fine just a day or two ago, but from what I've read about WD that's not uncommon. If it were WD it seems like I should just go ahead and euthanise but I guess I would like some input
 
I have also seen some corys like that at petco and other lfs. They swim around on their sides. Then they just lay on the gravel and do nothing until disturbed. I would wait it out awhile longer and see if it is just the water changes but if you feel you need to put him down do it. Only you can make the right call in this situation. Good luck.
 
Well I put him down at like 4 in the morning... am I correct in thinking that my other two cories are at risk if it was in fact Whirling Disease? And would it be dumb to add new fish to the tank unless I break it down and disinfect everything (and restart cycling again)... ugh, please any advice would be great.. I'm feeling a little disheartened. I'm going to be pretty bummed out if my other two corys start spinning around. Even if they don't I'm kind of worried about them since they are the only 2 fish in the tank now..
 
HI Allison,
I sincerely doubt the cories had whirling disease. It's not a very common disease. The behaviour of your cory is exactly how they act when they are dying. How long have you had the cories and what kind, where did they come from?
 
with whirling disease there are usually deformities

how did you cycle the tank? what test method do you use(strips ot drops)?

fluctuationg pH could be an issue. are you runing CO2? do you know what the kH/gH is?
 
Yeah I was just kind of guessing with the whirling disease... I just saw a couple of video clips of fish that were supposedly sufferering from the disease and it looked pretty much the same. I'd be perfectly happy if that's not what was killing him though because it sounds like dealing with it could be a big issue.

I had that cory for about 3 weeks (the other two I've had for a month). They are the 3-lined kind (Corydoras trilineatus), the sort that is often confused with the corydora julii. I bought them from a LFS (non-chain). He was swimming around and being very active and was eating normally pretty much the whole time I had him. As far as I can tell the only sign of possible problems was that he was not quite as active the day before he started spinning. I euthanised him using the freezing method (with ice water, not by just tossing him in the freezer in regular water) and I was able to take a good look at him and there didn't appear to be any external symptoms of anything.The other 2 corys look ok overall right now, except they are not really spending much time together at all and one of them is looking a little pale.

Star rider-I cycled the tank (er well actually I think it's still cycling although ammonia, nitrite, nitrate are low or zero from water changes) with the corys because the LFS gave me bad advice (derrrr, not surprising i now know, heh). The cory that died had not been in the tank for as long as the other 2 (about a week difference). I'm using the API freshwater liquid/drop test. I don't use CO2 and I don't have the KH/GH test yet, but I'm thinking I should get it... The pH tends to rise slightly upon a water change and then drops before the next one. I'm currently still doing daily water changes, but should I decrease the frequency (if the ammonia, etc doesnt get too high) so as to reduce pH fluctuations? Thanks!
 
Two things are pretty certain.....1) If you're still showing ammonia readings in the tank, you have to continue to do the daily water changes to keep that ammonia level down. Ammonia in any amounts is stressful/deadly to fish. 2) Your ph does not sound stable and fluctuating ph is stressful/deadly to fish. Have you tested your ph out of the tap and then put some in a container and let it sit for 24 hours to test the ph again? I don't have this problem, my ph is stable tap to tank, never changes. But if you ph is dropping, I believe you're going to have to consider a water storage barrel for tank water changes so that what goes in to the tank (ph-wise) is the same ph as what the fish are used in the tank. A lot of people do this keeping their stored water in a rubbermaid container or something similar,heating and aerating it. I'm thinking that now that you're doing daily large water changes to keep the ammonia levels down, your cories are being exposed to a fluctuating ph on a daily basis. It sounds like the cories were healthy when you got them since they did well for the first couple of weeks. A swing in ph from tap of 6.4 then to 7.0 one week and 6.2 the next week is odd.
 
Does your tap come from a reverse osmosis water softener? If your water is all RO water then that would explain large pH swings
 
Debbi-When I left my tap water sit out for 24 hours it showed a pH drop from 6.6 initially to 6.4. So when people use water storage tanks do they buy a filter for them or when you said "aerating" did you simply mean surface air exchange? And are aquarium heaters safe for rubbermaid containers?

Chunkoblue-I guess i do not know for sure, I don't think so.. but I live in an apartment complex. Would it be obvious to me if this were the case or would it have to do with the main water supply in the building that I might not see.
 
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