Inchworm, Help Me!

[PlecMama]

All my cories are dieing

It started with that one we noticed last night, I now suspect that people were eating it while it was floating this morning I had one going 2ft up to the surface to get air, so I knew he was sick, I thought they might all be sick and I took them out and into a small tank where I could watch them.

I now have 4 floating, if you tap the glass they will right themselves and go back to the bottom but then they just bob back up again. I think I am going to lose the whole lot.

EVERYTHING else in the tank looks to be it's usual self, but the cories, are they more sensitive then the others?

The dieing ones have red gills, no marks to their bodies or fins, they float up on their sides and it takes about 3 hours from start to demise, just like the one last night.

The only ones looking ok are the bronze, in fact my first cory, the big bronze appears well, so well that we couldn't even catch him, he's still in the 6ft. In the isolation tank, I have 2 baby bronzes that look ok still and one peppered. I took another dead body out of my tank this morning and it was a baby bronze.

What should I do? I got 4 baby bronzes a few days ago, same time as I bought the Hatchets, Thursday? and now I have lost 2 of them and potentially 6 of my original cories. Is there anything I can do?

 

[WILDER]

If they have red gills due to poor water quality or gill flukes, what are your stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate, and ph, increase aeration as well.

 

[PlecMama]

We spend three hours cleaning that darn tank yesterday, we took everything but the fish out and cleaned it, that tank should be clean enough that you could drink a glass of the water yourself (yuck) - I just don't understand it.

Maybe the new fish brought in a parasite but then why are they the only ones affected?

Can't test the water until I get paid tomorrow.

 

[WILDER]

What did you clean, as you can do more damage that way, water stats would of been good, how long has the tank been set up.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi SuzieQPlecMama

This is what I was afraid of when I answered on your other thread:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...0&#entry1064899

Treat them as I suggested there. It's about all you can do at this point, I'm afraid. Please get their treatment started as soon as possible. If it was only the new corys, the red gills might have been caused by changes in PH during the distribution process, but if I understand you right, your other corys are sick too.

Corys have the ability to take gulps of air at the surface and absorb the oxygen through their intestines, so this would not necessarily be a symptom if that was all that was happening. In nature, sometimes the river bottoms get muddy and this gets them through. It's quite ordinary for them to do this once in a while. In this case, they might not be able to breath normally or there might be low oxygen conditions at the bottom of your tank that caused them to go to the surface for air.

Make sure they have clean water and good circulation, and keep it on the cooler side rather than warmer.

Corys are not necessarily more sensitive than other fish, but they do live on the bottom where waste products and uneaten food collect, so they are exposed more directly to less sanitary conditions than the other fish.

I really hope they recover for you.

 

[PlecMama]

Thank you and thank you for the PM. I have the meds in the cory water, I put them in as soon as I caught them all out of the big tank.

Regarding the cleaning, I have to lift all my decorations to get the poop out from under them where it accumulates, I did that and took out all the caves/wood/rocks etc I cleaned the filters in tank water so no worries there, I also cleaned the air stones with a blade.

Cleaned the inside of the class with a clean, safe, sponge, washed and dried the hood (no solvents or soaps) and wiped down the lights.

 

[WILDER]

That's fine then, good luck.

 

[PlecMama]

Thank you I daren't be to hopeful but the ones in the tank are starting to look a bit better, I have no doubt I may lose 2, probably 3, but the others that were looking sick are now looking what could be described as "ginger" at best, but not like they are about to immediately turn up their fins.

Also found one more peppered in the big tank, he looks fine to, he's hanging out with the big bronze, probably wondering where all the other people went

 

[Inchworm]

Hi SuzieQPlecMama

You've done a lot of work on your tank today and it it helps keep the problem from spreading, it will surely be worth it.

Now we can will just have to keep our fingers crossed and wait to see how effective the medicine will be. I'm very glad they are beginning to look better and hope they continue to make good progress.

 

[PlecMama]

Ok.....I lost 3 peppered corries but the others look fine. I since found another peppered in the tank, so that left 3 in the big tank that went untreated (I did dump a bunch of meds in in a low dose just to be safe) the ones in isolation all look fit and well now, so I have popped them back in the main tank to take their chances.

Since I don't have a spare airstone or heater for the infirmary any more, they have been sitting on the radiator at a good constant temp but I was worried about their oxygen levels.

My little dead bodies have been buried and my big cories are pleased to have their friends back. No one else in the tank is showing any signs of stress and even my tiny platy fry are zooming about eating well, I really don't know what happened to the cories. But I thought I'd let you know how they were getting on

 

[Inchworm]

Hi SuzieQPlecMama

I'm happy to hear your little guys are doing well.

Please watch them carefully to be sure they are fully recovered, especially if they haven't gone through the entire course of treatment as prescribed in the package directions.

How warm to you usually keep your tank?

 

[PlecMama]

Usually around 78ish, but it's not an exacting science, this is a very old house, 1889, the temperature can change quickly depending on what the weather does.


....regarding the ones that were on the radiator, I know you are worried about them I checked them every time I walked by, they were in the dinning room, so I passed by a lot on the way to the kitchen. I didn't boil them being mindful of the facts that they had meds in and no extra oxygenation.

Since they are back in the big tank, we have done a good 40% change with meds, I expect them to complete their course, hopefully without further problems