erratic swimming... pygmy cory

[jparnell]

Tank Stats
-------------------
Size of Tank (Gallons / Litres): 10gallon
Running for how long: 1 year

Water Params
-------------------
Temp: 78
pH: 7.5
Ammonia (ppm): 0
NitrIte (ppm): 0
NitrAte (ppm): 40
Water-change Schedule: weekly
Water-change Amount: 30%
Any Water Additives: none

What fish are in the tank, length, age, etc.
-------------------
1 albino cory - 1 year
5 pygmy cories - 5 weeks
2 otos - 5 months
3 yamato shrimp - 5 months

===================================


One of my pygmies has been swimming very erratically since yesterday morning - at one point it looked like he was doing backflips in the current from the filter - since they like the current, at first I thought he was just having fun... apparently not. I don't think he's stopped to rest at all - the other pygmies are all resting on their cave, he's trying to swim. flips on his side occasionally, does tail spins, does his best to stay horizontal, but the only time he can is when he's in the filter current.

Any suggestions? If it's swim bladder (which is all I can figure), is there anything I can do for him? Research I've found has indicated no.... but i'm hoping I'm wrong in the diagnosis.

 

[WinterWind]

It does sound like swim bladder problem. One can't do much about swim bladder. You could try a commercial medication for swim bladder problems, though I doubt it will help much. You could also try feeding your fish peas. Boil some peas, then peal off the harder outer coating and feed it the soft mushy green part inside. That's usually reccomended though I'm not sure how it would help.

 

[Harlock]

Internal parasites can cause odd problems in cories too. You might try feeding your fish food soaked in Metronidazole. It's a medicine from Seachem and can be ordered from Big Al's or found at LFSs.