Bronze Cory not feeling so well

Celine

New Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2020
Messages
33
Reaction score
4
Location
Kent
Good morning,
I have noticed one of my bronze Cory coming on top of the water quite frequently over the last couple of months. I have checked my water and done regular water change however, this morning, he started to swim randomly upside down. I have had this Cory for 5 years. When I look at him, his colors seem faded compared to my other bronze corydoras as he is a pale grey now.
All my other fish, including bronze, Julio corydoras, neon tetra and platt seem to be doing fine.
I have just done another water change and he seems a bit better. I have managed to take a picture of him at the bottom of my tank.
can someone advise me? Is five years old for a corydoras?
Thank you!
Celine
 

Attachments

  • 1B9B835A-C750-4333-8C2C-D5F453E86A62.jpeg
    1B9B835A-C750-4333-8C2C-D5F453E86A62.jpeg
    276.7 KB · Views: 83
5 years is a long life that i'm sure has been lived very well. That is around how old corys get so this one coul be stressed in some sort of way. I'm no expert though. Somebody elsee will be able to help who is more experienced than me.
 
I would consider the possibility of internal parasites, some areas look a little sunken in.
Id locate a dewormer and dose that as a precaution.


That said... 5 years is a good age for some, but there is records of a cory making it 40 years by Ian Fuller, apparently. Most however go 5-10 years.
 
need more pictures that are in focus, and a video of the fish swimming odd.

does the fish have a cream/ white patch on the rear half of its body, or is that the picture?
 
Thank you for your message. It looks like my fish does not have much strength in him this morning. I managed to take a video as he was swimming up but I am not sure how to upload it.
He does not have any patch. He just looks a pale grey compared to my other fish.
Thank you!
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    248.4 KB · Views: 72
  • 0D42976C-F64D-4A74-8FB8-321F0CA382CC.jpeg
    0D42976C-F64D-4A74-8FB8-321F0CA382CC.jpeg
    233.2 KB · Views: 78
  • D5CBA187-5D5A-4BBE-9CD3-68BBA01A3573.jpeg
    D5CBA187-5D5A-4BBE-9CD3-68BBA01A3573.jpeg
    238.7 KB · Views: 80
  • CFEDF7AC-606C-4B8C-BE9F-54B914E447A3.jpeg
    CFEDF7AC-606C-4B8C-BE9F-54B914E447A3.jpeg
    290.7 KB · Views: 85
Last edited:
You can upload the video to YouTube and then copy & paste the link here. We can view it at YouTube.

-------------------
Do you gravel clean the substrate?
If it's gone black (anaerobic) under the sand it could be contributing to the problem.

-------------------
The grey on the face is probably excess mucous. You can try doing daily water changes and adding a bit of salt but it may not help.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using salt or medications because they reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Add salt, (see directions below).

-------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate (4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will affect some plants and some snails. The lower dose rate (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will not affect fish, plants, shrimp or snails.
After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.
 
Thank you for your message. I do water changes weekly and vacuum some of the sand but only superficially. I thought the corydoras moving the sand would be sufficient to avoid anaerobic. Also, I used to have gravel in this tank for years and I changed it to sand a couple of months ago only. Is it enough time for anaerobic to appear? I haven’t changed the filter only changed one of the white sponge and the poly-carb fluval sponge last week and cleaned the other side (which is due to be changed next week). I have never changed the poreous stones inside as I think they promote good bacteria.
I will make a larger water change as you suggested.
Regarding the salt, I thought it best not to expose corys to it so I have never used it in my tank.
I am enclosing the link to the videos I just posted:
Thank you for all your advice and help!
Céline
 
Anaerobic conditions can occur in a few hours. It just takes some rotting food stuck under the substrate and it can go black in a matter of days.

Corydoras should not be exposed to salt on a regular basis but they will tolerate salt for a few weeks. In cases where we don't know what is causing the problem, salt is a safer alternative to chemicals, which also do damage to the fish.

When using salt with Corydoras, start with 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres (5 gallons) of water and if there's no improvement after 24-48 hours, add another heaped tablespoon so there is a total of 2 heaped tablespoons of salt for every 20 litres of tank water. Keep the salt in the tank for at least 2 weeks and see what happens.
 

Most reactions

Back
Top