Floating Peppered Cory

[Jim1984]

I have a 63litre tank with 4 peepered corys and 6 Danios. It has a fine substrate and live plants with plenty of places for them to hide.

Recently i have noticed one of my Corys keeps floating at the top of the tank, on his side or upside down. I came down one morning and actually thought he was dead untill i lifted the tank lid of and gently blew on him which made him swim down to the bottom. However he does keep doing this.

Is this normal behavour for a cory or is there something i should be worried about or can do to help the fish??

 

[Curiosity101]

No it's not normal behaviour. Leaving the bottom of the tank to visit the top to take a quick breath is relatively normal but not staying at the top.

Did you cycle the tank before putting fish in?

If you didn't it could well be that it's been injured during the cycle process so is struggling.

 

[WILDER]

Water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.

Does he look bloated.
Any sores or red streaking on his body.
What do you feed your fish.
How do the barbels look.

 

[Jim1984]

Thanks for the quick replies.

The tank has been cycling for 2 months, it was a fish in cycle with 3 Danios, as the levels died down i added 3 more Danios. About 2 or 3 weeks ago i added 2 peepered Corys, and just yesturday i added 2 more peepered corys. The fish that keeps floating is one of the 2 Corys i put in first.

Ive done a bit of reading and believe it maybe constipation or a blader problem, im hoping it the former.

The levels are:

Amonia- 0
Nitrite- 0.1 (About to do a water change now)
Nitrate- 5
Ph - 7.5

I keep the tempreature at 25c

I feed daily with flakes for the danios alternating between TetraMin flakes and Nutrafin Max Flakes. For the Corys i add a pinch of TetraPrime Mini Granules.

I have read that i should starve them for a few days, is that a good idea???

He doesnt look visibly bloated, he does appear to struggle when swimming to the bottom, however he does go down and act normally for a while. He also floats on his side.

His Barbels look okay and there are no red streaks or gill problems. Visibly he looks well.

 

[WILDER]

Improve the fish diet with some frozen foods, and green veg.

I think I would isolate him and use a bacterial med.
Also feed the fish some shelled peas.

 

[Jim1984]

Improve the fish diet with some frozen foods, and green veg.

I think I would isolate him and use a bacterial med.
Also feed the fish some shelled peas.

Thanks for the advice, i would isolate him but i dont have a hospital tank

Sorry to sound like an idiot but how often and what green veg should i feed them?

 

[WILDER]

Feed frozen foods, and green veg twice a week.

Frozen foods like daphnia, brime shrimp.

Green veg like peas, broc, savoy cabbage, cucumba, lettuce, spinach.

Just blanch veg in boiling water for a few minutes.

 

[Jim1984]

Feed frozen foods, and green veg twice a week.

Frozen foods like daphnia, brime shrimp.

Green veg like peas, broc, savoy cabbage, cucumba, lettuce, spinach.

Just blanch veg in boiling water for a few minutes.

Thanks, should i boil in water from the tank or tap water?? Does the chlorine in the boiling water matter??

 

[WILDER]

No from tap.
Cooking food, or rinsing food from the tap is fine.
It's adding tap water to the tank that's a no no!

 

[Jim1984]

No from tap.
Cooking food, or rinsing food from the tap is fine.
It's adding tap water to the tank that's a no no!

Okay thanks a lot