albino corydora swimming sideways

[aquarium3]

I bought some albino corydoras from petco and I have had them for about two days in quarantine now one is swimming sideways in a circle, is there any way I can save him. The ammonia is zero and nitrites are zero.

 

[Colin_T]

can you post a short 20 second video of it swimming weirdly?

the most common causes or fish swimming in circles is a bacterial or protozoan infection in the brain. Sometimes you can treat it but most times the fish dies.

If you do want to try a medication, get a broad spectrum fish medication that treats, fungus, bacteria and protozoan infections in fish. Make sure the medication is safe for scaleless fish (catfish, loaches, eels). If it isn't then only use it at half strength.

To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.
When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "How To Tips" at the top of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

Remove carbon from the filter before treating or it will absorb the medication and stop it working.

Wipe the inside of the glass down, do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean. And clean the filter before treating. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

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

 

[aquarium3]

I tried to get a video of him but it seems like is doing better now he is sitting up snow and not on his side but I also noticed his eyes are really red compared to the others.

 

[aquarium3]

here is a picture so you can see how red his eyes are.

 

[Colin_T]

The red eyes and area in the skull between the eyes is an infection, either bacterial or protozoan. If the fish is getting better without medication, then just keep the water clean and hope for the best.

 

[aquarium3]

The red eyes and area in the skull between the eyes is an infection, either bacterial or protozoan. If the fish is getting better without medication, then just keep the water clean and hope for the best.

sadly it died, are the other corydoras safe from getting infected?

 

[Colin_T]

If the fish was in a tank with other fish, then they could also develop the same problem. The best way to reduce the chance of it spreading is to do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate each day for at least one week (preferable two weeks). This will dilute any disease organisms and make the environment better for the remaining fish so their own immune system can deal with it. After a week or two of daily water changes you can do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate once a week.
*NB* 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. If you use a power filter, wash the filter materials in a bucket of tank water.

Wipe the inside of the glass down each time you do a water change. Use a clean "Fish Only" sponge for this.

If the fish are fed a variety of food and kept in a clean environment, they should recover without any issues. However, if any more fish look unwell or die during the next few weeks, check the water quality and post pictures ASAP, and we can look into medications. But the water changes should help prevent it from spreading.

 

[sazure]

If the fish was in a tank with other fish, then they could also develop the same problem. The best way to reduce the chance of it spreading is to do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate each day for at least one week (preferable two weeks). This will dilute any disease organisms and make the environment better for the remaining fish so their own immune system can deal with it. After a week or two of daily water changes you can do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate once a week.

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"Larger water changes seem like they would be better, however, you can bring on a lot of stress to fish and plants with drastic water changes."

When I did fish rescue with really end of life fish - I never subjected them to the additional stress of such vast water changes. Fish are Osmotic and it causes a great deal of stress in them. I did very small off the bottom (where the gunk is) water drains and slowly over hours dribbled (with air line tubing) heated, filtered PH and all else correct water back in. EVEN slower with sick fish already highly stressed.

And one needn't "clean" the gravel substrate. Either one has healthy plants which take care of many issues or needs only a thin layer of gravel for the biological organisms (bio bugs) which assist the total environment. Stirring this up can create havoc. This is not a kitchen where "scubbing" away helps - it is a delicately balanced bio system where tipping one thing can create a disaster.

IF there is a major infestation (with a parasite for example) then all fish may need to be gently removed to a properly set up aquarium and the tank taken down and started over. The water from the original tank can be filtered (there are many types of filtration material that can take out almost anything) with at least partial old water and slowly add the new water.

Some living plants may be able to be treated but many do not survive the medications - toss and start over.

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So sorry but just asking. Where did you get the advice of 75% water changes (and believe me I go back 55 plus years). Not judging, but fish being osmotic and even minor shifts in water parametours can cause great stress. UNLESS, the water ph, temp, RO and many other factors are exactly the same, and one does it ever so slowly. There is great research that even a .25 shift can cause adrenal/cortisosal stress which means more disease.

Does it "dilute" fish disease organisms? And over doing gravel "washes" just disturbs what hopefully is the bio cultures well establishe in them.

The problem is that many diseases (especially gram negative bacteria) fungus and even parasites are evident in most water systems today (reason why I obtained NYC municipality water reports and aged my water in huge garbage tubs with many filtration systems to remove this and that).

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My knowledge comes from vast research over decades (and in collage as well studying pre oceanography), yet here is a simple search and link to show the dangers of such huge water changes. (my books were either given away or are stored when I moved).

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/how-to-change-aquarium-water-correctly

Larger water changes seem like they would be better, however, you can bring on a lot of stress to fish and plants with drastic water changes. The goal of changing water is to keep the fish healthy. If doing a large water change causes stress and illness, then it's not completing our goal. You might be thinking, but I don't want to change water every week. Don't worry, you can tune an aquarium to fit your needs.

You can help combat the need for water changes by feeding less, or simply keeping less fish. There is also the option of getting a larger aquarium. When you add more water volume to the same amount of fish, you'll spread the waste out over more water, resulting in fewer parts per million. My last recommendation for combating water changes is to add live plants to your aquarium. As they grow they eat nitrates. Be careful not to fool yourself, most tanks will still need water changes even if you use all these techniques. It's only a matter of how long between the water changes.

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In all of my many aquarium fish raising/ breeding years I never did that sort of rapid and voluminous water change. I always quaranteed all fish for months if need be (many parasites show up only after that time line) and then take out sick fish in a " hospital tank" (the old Dr. Innes books from the 40's are superb.

The best way is to quaranteen any fish in the tank in a "sick tank" set up IF there are notable symptoms. It was most likely a gram negative bacteria (it eventually goes to the arteries and causes inflamation and bleeding along these walls)...

 

[Colin_T]

Hi Sazure, any chance you can separate our comments in the above post #8?
It is easier for people to follow if you have your information separate to mine.