Corry Catfish Tilts

[Jediagh]

I got 2 new corry catfishes this past week. After 5 days of quarentined in individuals tanks I put them into my cycled 10 gal tank. Everything was going good expect that the little one got stuck next to the filter intake pipe and was there for a while before I noticed it!

I shut down the filter down and he was finally able to get away from it but I noticed that he swam tiltied. So I took him out of the tank and back into a quarentined tank (1 gal) no filter.

He has been there for 3 days and I noticed that his tail has a small red spot, when he sits still he tilts 45 degrees, and when he swims his left fin does not move. It was his left side that was stuck next to the intake pipe.

Is there anything I can do for him? I'm going to keep him in the tank for a while a there is no current in here. I noticed that the other 2 corrys in the cycled tank are much bigger than the baby and when they get close of the intake pipe they just swim away. The corry that got hurt I guess was just too small to pull away from the intake pipe.

Is there anything I can do to fix the intake pipe on the 10 gal tank. I tried ladies stocking but that worked for a day before the stockings were so full of stuff that the filter was having a hard time pulling water up.

Is there anything I can do to fatten up thebaby corry before I go putting him back in the 10 gal tank. I guess the 10 gal tank is not for babies right now.

Thanks

 

[tear-scar]

Some filters have pipes that can be cut or adjusted to a different length. Try making the pipe shorter so that it's farther from the bottom of the tank. Then it's less likely to interfere with the cories . . .

 

[Fiddlesticks]

Funny you should post this today. This morning while vaccuming one of my corys swam right under the vacuum and got sucked up. He was almost stuck where the tube thins out. Gave me a heart attack.I think I was more scared than him.lol I finnally got him out, and he just swam away. I will be watching him closely for a while though.

 

[Jediagh]

I can not make the pipes smaller.

 

[parker313]

Just happened to me too I got some baby skunk cories last week and one of them kept getting stuck to the filter intake tube but luckily I kept finding him in time to free him. Well, unfortunately this morning I found him there but it was too late

 

[babyfish]

Put a sponge over the end of the filter inlet, takes longer to get blocked than stocking. Wash it when you do water changes.

 

[Jediagh]

Thanks I'm going to try the sponge idea. Now what about "fatting up" a baby corry?

I;m giving him flaks and alge wafer (crushed into smaller portions) for now. Anything else?

 

[parker313]

Thanks I'm going to try the sponge idea. Now what about "fatting up" a baby corry?

I;m giving him flaks and alge wafer (crushed into smaller portions) for now. Anything else?

Bloodworms or blackworms are good

 

[TorPeteO]

Frozen bloodworms are like a growth formula for corys. Use them, my corys love bloodworm whenever they manage to get some.

 

[Jediagh]

Thanks again all... Time to go get some bloodworms to fatten up my cories!

 

[Jediagh]

Well I added the sponges to both of my pipe intakes of my filters so that my fishes won't get sucked into it. I attempted to re-add the small corry (the one that got hurt) but its still no good. He was moving around for a while and after about 1 hour just decided to float sideways near the top of the tank.

When I came in I though he was dead! But once his body got where the water falls back into the tank and he was pushed downards he moved around again. That was more than enough to get me to pull him out of the tank yet again. I figure there is just too much water movement in the tank for him.

So I put him back into the small (no filter) tank 1 gal tank he was in. He swam around a bit then laid on teh bottom and as I'm typing this looking at him he has floated to the top of the tank and is again floating on his side at the top near a corner.

He *IS* alive! His eyes blink and and if I shake the tank he will move around and then again float to the top. Is he dieing? What is wrong with him....

I'm concerned but have no idea what to do to help him....

ps.
Now the other two in the tank seem to be mimicing the little one. They are floating side ways near the top back left corner of the tank. One is vertial and the other just floating on its side. After a while of just floating there they then move of with their life...strange very strange....

The only thing I can think of is the dried blood worms that I added today to the tanks. The worms have not sank and instead are floating near the top corners. They (the corries) have nibbled at them put for the most part have left most of them alone....

 

[jaimoe]

Since it is a new tank there is a good chance it is ammonia poisoning. I know you said you got the water checked by the lfs but do you know if they checked for that? Some LFS's can be mind bogglingly ignorant.

 

[Jediagh]

It was/is not ammonia posioning. The 2 corries in the tank are doing well today. They are active as usuall. The other corry I stayed up all night keeping an eye on him. All night long we have upside down or on his side at the top of the 1gal tank. Sometime this morning he slowly fell back to the bottom of the tank!

He still tilts due to the accident in the filter pipe intake a week ago but other than that he and the other 2 are okay. I spent all last night looking online for other situations by others over things like this.

While I can not pin point in direclty to this my theory is as follows.

1) Yesterday I feed them all (3 corrys and 1 beta) dried blood worms for the first time.
2) I just placed a few of the blood worms at the top of the tank nd they all ate them.
3) Afterwards all of them, inlcuding he beta, looked bloated!
4) My reading stated that this could occur with dry food that does not have the time to get wet.
5) So the corries at the dry food, got bloated and had "air" in them that forced them to "float".

That is all I can think of...

In any case, the 2 corries are safe now happy swimming the the tank. I took the 3rd one (the one that tilts) back to the LFS and got a refund. I'll get another one next week once I'm back from my vacation.