Emaciated Cory with bent spine?

[Spurn96]

Hi all! I’m new to fishforums and have a question about my cories! I had 4 Cory cats (two peppered, two panda) when I stocked my 5.5 gallon 6 months ago. I also have a male dwarf gourami. The pandas and gourami are happy and healthy! But my first peppered cat seemed to have gotten stuck and injured himself about four months ago, developed some ulcerations on his belly, and did not recover. The second peppered cat is more of a mystery to me. His spine was a little crooked early on, but has become increasingly bent. His tail has sort of collapsed as well, but until now he has been swimming and eating normally. I noticed him becoming emaciated, and he started to lose his color. Today I found him stuck and unable to swim, and I quarantined him. I’m afraid this little guy’s won’t survive, but could his illness/injury affect my other fish?

 

[FroFro]

Hi all! I’m new to fishforums and have a question about my cories! I had 4 Cory cats (two peppered, two panda) when I stocked my 5.5 gallon 6 months ago. I also have a male dwarf gourami. The pandas and gourami are happy and healthy! But my first peppered cat seemed to have gotten stuck and injured himself about four months ago, developed some ulcerations on his belly, and did not recover. The second peppered cat is more of a mystery to me. His spine was a little crooked early on, but has become increasingly bent. His tail has sort of collapsed as well, but until now he has been swimming and eating normally. I noticed him becoming emaciated, and he started to lose his color. Today I found him stuck and unable to swim, and I quarantined him. I’m afraid this little guy’s won’t survive, but could his illness/injury affect my other fish?

Your fish are dying because you have too many in a small tank. This causes unstable water parameters and the fish waste (ammonia and nitrate buildup) will get to the point that it begins to poison your fish. A 5 gallon is only suitable for one fish like a single betta. You need to do a 50% water change of conditioned water right away and siphon the gravel to remove as much waste and old water as possib.e You need to rehome your fish or upgrade to a larger tank immediately if you intend to keep anything other than a betta in the future.

https://aquariuminfo.org/cycling.html

 

[DoubleDutch]

Your fish are dying because you have too many in a small tank. This causes unstable water parameters and the fish waste (ammonia and nitrate buildup) will get to the point that it begins to poison your fish. A 5 gallon is only suitable for one fish like a single betta. You need to do a 50% water change of conditioned water right away and siphon the gravel to remove as much waste and old water as possib.e You need to rehome your fish or upgrade to a larger tank immediately if you intend to keep anything other than a betta in the future.

https://aquariuminfo.org/cycling.html

Agree with Frofro


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[Spurn96]

Hmm, I do 40-50% water changes every week with prime, ammonia is 0, nitrites are 0 and nitrates are between 5 and 10 ppm. I also clean the gravel and carbon filter cartridge weekly. I performed a fishless cycle over he course of a couple months before I introduced fish. I realize my tank is somewhat overstocked, but the water conditions have been ideal for the fish, is there another reason this could have killed my Cory?

 

[Spurn96]

Hmm, I do 40-50% water changes every week with prime, ammonia is 0, nitrites are 0 and nitrates are between 5 and 10 ppm. I also clean the gravel and carbon filter cartridge weekly. I performed a fishless cycle over he course of a couple months before I introduced fish. I realize my tank is somewhat overstocked, but the water conditions have been ideal for the fish, is there another reason this could have killed my Cory?

Also just as a side note, there was no reddening of the gills/increased respiration in the little guy, just the worsening spine deformity and emaciation

 

[Demeter32]

Besides the fact that corries require a 20gal and a group of 6+ of their own species, many corydoras are bought with internal parasites. Couple internal parasites with too small a tank and the stress of not being kept in a group, I can see at least one theory as to why it died.

I've bought a group of 4 and put them in a 20gal quarantine, they did great for a while, then one started getting rather thin and wouldn't eat much.Then another did the same. Basically they both starved to death because the parasites living in their gut sucked up all the nutrients, which is what probably happened to yours.

Also, dwarf gourami should really be in at least a 10gal, but bigger is always better.