Hello everyone! This is my first post here, and I'm sorry to have that first impression being one of begging for advice, but I'm in a tiny pickle that somehow turned into three paragraphs of words. Sorry.
I've had a 55g with three Orandas for almost two years now, and it's getting a little lonely. So I've been looking for tank mates. Research suggested my selection is very limited since goldfish are such dirty fish, and many compatible fish will nip their fins, but a Corydora school is apparently an option! I keep my tank very clean (and it has driftwood for them), so I think they can be happy.
So, I finally decided to get a small school of them--aiming for 3~5. I went to Petco and saw three mis-marked trilli corys [I fell in love. They are so adorable!], but one looked incredibly stressed. I really didn't want to throw money on a fish that looked beyond help, so I asked the employee to get me the remaining two. Upon coming home, I very disappointingly realized she caught the troubled one. It was nearly impossible to tell in the bag since both of them were stressed at that point.
Now that I have him, I wanted to see if there's anything I can do to try to help him out. He has no visible signs of diseases or anything being wrong, but he's in 100% panic mode (even his cory friend scares him to death), he ignores food, and just sits at the bottom of the tank breathing very hard--like he was doing at Petco. He's slightly darker than his friend, but that's about all I have noticed. Within 10 minutes of being released into my aquarium, the healthy one was happily looking for food and swimming around with my orandas. He doesn't want to be around the stressed Cory at all. I really wanted to get him out of my aquarium since I'm afraid he does indeed have something, but the only thing I can do is put him in a small filtered 2.5 gallon tank (it was for a betta). That size is cruel, even if it's just supposed to be a hospital tank. Plus, I am not sure if I should be medicating him in some way. I completely understand this is a shot-in-the-dark, but I was hoping to find out what you experienced fish hobbyists would do in this situation.
(p.s. I realize I'm taking a big risk putting fish straight into my aquarium, but I have no other alternatives and I *very* rarely get new fish. Broke college student, etc. It can't be helped! Does anyone EVER have a good experience buying from chain pet shops?)
I've had a 55g with three Orandas for almost two years now, and it's getting a little lonely. So I've been looking for tank mates. Research suggested my selection is very limited since goldfish are such dirty fish, and many compatible fish will nip their fins, but a Corydora school is apparently an option! I keep my tank very clean (and it has driftwood for them), so I think they can be happy.
So, I finally decided to get a small school of them--aiming for 3~5. I went to Petco and saw three mis-marked trilli corys [I fell in love. They are so adorable!], but one looked incredibly stressed. I really didn't want to throw money on a fish that looked beyond help, so I asked the employee to get me the remaining two. Upon coming home, I very disappointingly realized she caught the troubled one. It was nearly impossible to tell in the bag since both of them were stressed at that point.
Now that I have him, I wanted to see if there's anything I can do to try to help him out. He has no visible signs of diseases or anything being wrong, but he's in 100% panic mode (even his cory friend scares him to death), he ignores food, and just sits at the bottom of the tank breathing very hard--like he was doing at Petco. He's slightly darker than his friend, but that's about all I have noticed. Within 10 minutes of being released into my aquarium, the healthy one was happily looking for food and swimming around with my orandas. He doesn't want to be around the stressed Cory at all. I really wanted to get him out of my aquarium since I'm afraid he does indeed have something, but the only thing I can do is put him in a small filtered 2.5 gallon tank (it was for a betta). That size is cruel, even if it's just supposed to be a hospital tank. Plus, I am not sure if I should be medicating him in some way. I completely understand this is a shot-in-the-dark, but I was hoping to find out what you experienced fish hobbyists would do in this situation.
(p.s. I realize I'm taking a big risk putting fish straight into my aquarium, but I have no other alternatives and I *very* rarely get new fish. Broke college student, etc. It can't be helped! Does anyone EVER have a good experience buying from chain pet shops?
)
