Baby Cory Deaths - Puzzled As To What The Prob Is?

[Spishkey]

i had a group of 22 babies hatch and a few died off as they grew leaving me with 10 or so very healthy ones.

they are now about 2 to 3 months old

whilst doing a water change yesterday i noticed around half of them seem to have what looks like an air bubble underneath the skin. it is situated underneath them. is this normal or if not any idea whats caused it? sorry can t get a picture as they are still smallish and the bubble is underneath them.

 

[smegforbrains]

Sounds like a bloated stomach but pics would help us be a lot more accurate.


How much are you feeding?

 

[Spishkey]

i feed three sinking pellets a day (between 6 adults and the babies) with one day a week where they have nothing.
also one day a week the pellets are not given, but they have a frozen cube between them instead

it doesnt look like a bloated stomach, it is see through and just below the skin surface, will try to get a pic later today

 

[smegforbrains]

Do you melt the cubes before you put them in the tank?


If you drop them in frozen, that could have done them some harm internally.

 

[drewry]

hi Spishkey

i have had this before on my baby corys i think its a bit like traped wind as corydoras shoot to the top to take air in they do eventually pass it through the other end

 

[Spishkey]

ok got up this morning to a few of the babies lying dead on the bottom of the tank.
something must be really wrong in this tank?

just uploading photos of the 'bubble' best pic i could get.
none of the babies that died seemed to have a bubble anymore but one did have a split where the bubble would have been

 

[Spishkey]

sorry they are a little unclear
ok if you look you have the stomach,(the pinky bit underneath) then a large bubble type growth next to it. in the last two pics there should be 2 corys to each pic. a normal one and one with the bubble thing

 

[Spishkey]

another death during the night. am puzzled. all the others seem fine bar one who has a tell tale bubble underneath.

any ideas people, im stumped.

temp 22
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 5

30% weekly water change
fed on sinking pellets frozen defrosted cube food
5-7 babies left with 6 adult sterbai and 1 peppered (i know he needs some friends soon!)

 

[Colin_T]

How much limestone do you have in the tank and what is the PH of the water?

Unfortunately I can't tell much from the pictures but baby fish should not be starved for a day otherwise it can stunt their growth. When they are more than 6 months old you can give them a day without food but for the first 6 months they should be fed every day.

Grasping at straws here but if there are lots of snails in the tank the fish might have worms. Some types of parasitic worm (that don't normally live in fish) can get lost when inside a fish. These can appear as transparent things inside the fish.

If the bubbles appeared after a water change there might have been air trapped in the water. As the fish come in contact with the water the air could be absorbed into them with the water. Then it expands and causes air bubbles in their body.
It's a bit like gas bubble disease that Wilder suggested but is caused by tap water being under pressure when in the pipes. When the water is trapped in the pipes it can become full of dissolved gases that then come out when the water is put under normal atmospheric conditions.
Aerating the water for 30 minutes or more before it is used, will help to get the dissolved gases back to normal.

 

[Spishkey]

there has been an outbreak of snails in the tank over the past few weeks after introducing some live plants. maybe its that?

sorry dont have the ph reading to hand, im at work, i dont have limestone in the tanks?

no more deaths today, air pump still off. should i leave it off?

 

[Spishkey]

ok got some clearer pics!

 

[Colin_T]

the first lot of pics showing the little catfish also shows them on a white rock. That looks like limestone.
If the airstone is not producing tiny little bubbles then it should be fine to have on. Wooden airstones, and some ceramic ones can produce very fine bubbles that can cause problems. But most normal airstones should be fine.

Are they really really fat because it looks like they are? When did they last get fed?

 

[Spishkey]

no they are not fat, that roundness is the bubble im on about! the pink bit is the stomach, then a huge see through bubble. that one in the last pic cannot swim properely anymore so im wondering whether to euthanise? its so round it cant seem to move its fins on the underneath anymore, as if its lost the feeling in them


they were last fed yesterday

no i dont think thats limestone, i will find the name in a moment, i have some new ones somewhere with the tags still attached ready to go in my shop

 

[Colin_T]

that's weird. All I can think of is a cyst or the body cavity is filling up with fluid. Sorry, I'm out of ideas other than trying a broad spectrum medication and see what happens. Alternatively take a couple to a fish vet and have them autopsied.

 

[Spishkey]

woke up to another dead baby and two more showing the bubble symptoms. i have searched and searched the internet but can find nothing like this.

have started a course of eSHa 2000 but im thinking im too late. i just hope it does not affect the adults