Cory skin problem

[sarcare]

I rarely see my corys, as they are kept with lots of hiding places. Well as I shifted them to bags to reaclimate it to the tanks, I saw that three of them were very red on their bottom. It looks like an irritation--perhaps from the gravel? I'm not sure what to do about it. They'd been in the hospital tank, which doesn't have a substrate--but I needed to take them out because the nitrite had spiked and I needed to get them into a more stable environment. They were very nervous in the qt tank, because it shakes more when I move around, and there is a lot less cover.

What can I do for my corys? The tank they are going into has a flourite/eco-complete substrate and is heavily planted--their old tank before the qt had gravel. I don't want to stress them anymore then they already are--they have a lot of energy still, but it could be panic.

 

[blackwolfXKAV]

best advice i can give is to keep them away from gravel. other than that, keep in mind that there might be open areas on there bellies that might get infected, so just use general caution. Good luck, i love my cories so i hope you can have the good experiences that i had.
:thm:

 

[sarcare]

After more then an hour of aclimating, I released the corys into the tank, and after a half an hour they seem to have settled in better then ever. They are not just hiding in the back of the tank, but scurry under the plants and even to the front of the tank. I've only had one dart to the surface for extra air, so I think they are good that way. I do hope that the redness clears up, but they seem to be acting like they feel well.