Please Help: Sterbai Cory Paralysis, Twitching, "seizures"

[Alyssum]

New Update

They are still declining in health even though I change the water every 1-2 days/vacuum and trying four different medications (obviously not the right ones). It has been almost 2 months with this problem. Their spines are going crooked, C shaped, (not in the typical TB way) and their bellies are getting red patches all over them. They still eat and you wouldn't know they were ill by just glancing. You have to take them out of the tank and observe them in a small cup.

At this point I'm out of ideas. I'm almost to the point where I feel like I should euthanize them. I wish I could send them to laboratory after they die to find out what was wrong, but being a casual fish keeper I can't afford such a thing. Maybe if I had my own microscope. I'm still open to suggestions.

I recently tried tetracycline to see if it'd help with septicemia, but I saw no change. Probably killed my bb too. I know you have to be careful with that medicine if your fish is anemic. So to date I've tried, prazipro, metro (oral and bath), kanaplex (oral and bath), focus (which is a binder and has furan in it supposedly) and TC tetracycline from AP (oral and bath)I. I have furan from API but I don't want to dump more medications in and as far as I know furan works more with outside infections.

Their symptoms:

The worst cory (Twitchy) is still twitching, going off by herself more often, twitches when swimming ( not much change from my last post), has redness in the gill area that seems abnormal, maybe inflammation. I can be wrong, I admit I don't know if this redness is normal, but I've never seen it like this before. Her barbels were growing then started eroding again while the other two's barbels have grown quite long since the treatment.

They all have slightly sunken bellies with red patches on them, like irritation. Their spines go into C shapes at times, not always though, which they straighten out. One of them is bending in two places instead of a C shape (Big Bertha), more like a C shape then at the base of the tail it goes in the other direction. They have redness at the base of their tail fin.

The healthier cories have balance issues every so often for a split second. They'll "drop" their bodies for a moment then right themselves. I've seen them suddenly "slam" their face and side of their bodies into the sand and swim through it rapidly, then swim off, which has started happening in the past week.It's hard to say if the metro+prazi was helping. I was treating with it for at least three weeks. The sunkeness defintely improved on Twitchy, but progress stagnated and the other cories started showing symptoms.

*Apologies if there are too many pics, I'll move them to links if it is a problem*

My largest cory (Big Bertha), she looks pretty normal from the side, except for redness at the base of the fin. I have names for them so I can tell them apart.

Purplish hue with no flash

Twitchy (I don't know if the camera really captures the abnormal redness around the gills that I can see even with little light)

Little Cory - He seems the least unhealthy of the bunch right now.

 

[Munroco]

I hope you can get this sorted. TBH they don't look that bad in the pics. Fins arent folded like you'd expect when a fish is ill. I looked at a load of pics of cories on the net, quite a few including sterbais have some pink colouration round the gill area.

 

[nic1]

As Munroco mentioned your corys dont look as I would expect from your posts....
I would stop all medication at this point, I would also try and leave them alone now too. catcing them in a cup and poking your head in changing the water every 2 days and adding meds will surely stress them out quite a bit.
Medications even though they are designed to cure are potent enough to kill off what ever disease or aliment your fish have, that is why it is only recommended for short term use, some fish are not even strong enough to withstand meds as you are quite effectively poisioning your fish a little bit but in doses large enough to kill a parasite.
when a human being takes a dose of antibiotics we ususally recommend that you take a dose of probiotics to replenish the lost good bacteria such is the same for all living things.
 
As your corys have been medicated quite a few times in two months I would be inclined to just give them a vitamin supplement to help replenish their health and then change their water at 40% once a week.
 
After all of this, I would say that this is just genetic, Im asuming that the group are from the same family? they may all exhibit the same traits after a while with the weakest cory showing signs earlier than the rest. I would not euthanise them, give them a chance and see how it pans out.
 
once they do go naturally you can get a crafts knife and open him up, internal parasites will be notable.
 
sorry I cant help more, but in all honesty they dont look as bad, but I cant see them in person.

 

[Byron]

I'm in complete agreement with nic1.

 

[Alyssum]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I admit they do not look "bad" most of the time. It is very hard to capture what I am seeing in photos or even video. They act normally, but I find the tail curling, twitching, and loss of balance unsettling. There are angular crooks in their spines which I know is not normal. It is very hard to get a picture of because it happens randomly. Imagine an acute angle. That is what is happening where the caudal fin and spine meet.  Their bellies are slightly sunken as I said before. I've only put them in cups twice about a week or two apart, to see if it was getting worse. It was very hard to get a good look at them in the tank, as weird as that sounds. I don't know if they are related. The fish store I bought them from says they get wild caught and bred fish.
 
However, I am happy to hear that the redness might be normal. I was not sure, which is why I posted the pictures. I understand that medicines should not be taken for long periods of time, which is why I did not continue medications beyond a certain point. It was hard to decide what I should do because I was getting a lot of different answers on different forums. I decided to try one last medicine (medicated food) after a week of no treatment called romet.
 
Unfortunately it had no effect on the fish, so I guess all I can do is what you guys suggested. I'll try to make them as comfortable as possible. I want to see this through til the end, so I will continue updating. Please keep in  mind I am not trying to sound irate or defensive. I appreciate the advice and it helps a lot.
 
Here is a video of how they look right now. Two of them look pretty good, but the twitching one curls the most, has pale barbs, and noticeable redness on the gills. I know it looks like there is a bunch of stuff floating in there, this was before I vacuumed. About 1/3 of the way in you will see a cory lose balance for a second. Unless this is normal, then in that case, good news.
 
http/v8.tinypic.com/player.swf?file=1ze8i74&s=8
 
I believe they are exhibiting some mating behaviors, they will "vibrate" against each other now and then.

 

[Lillefishy]

From some of the pics it looks like it could be red blotch disease, unfortunately it's quite common in corys.
It can be treated if caught early with a broad spectrum antibiotic

 

[Byron]

I have carefully viewed that latest video, and I see absolutely nothing wrong with these corys, nothing.  And I am not being at all facetious when I say that considering all the various chemicals/medications they have been subjected to, it is quite surprising they are in such good shape.  There is no need at all for further treatments.  Maintain clean water, change 1/2 the tank every week using a good conditioner, and that's it.
 
BTW, Corydoras sterbai are being commercially raised now, so it is likely these are not wild but farm-raised.  However, that does not preclude any store from obtaining imported wild fish, they are still around, and there are importers of wild fish.
 
Byron.

 

[Alyssum]

Thank you Byron. What do you think of the cory that twitches every 5 seconds (she has never stopped doing this since it started)? Do you think this is permanent damage from whatever happened to them? Will her barbs ever regain the orange color the others have? I know it is a guessing game, but I am curious to see what you have to say about it.

 

[Byron]

Thank you Byron. What do you think of the cory that twitches every 5 seconds (she has never stopped doing this since it started)? Do you think this is permanent damage from whatever happened to them? Will her barbs ever regain the orange color the others have? I know it is a guessing game, but I am curious to see what you have to say about it.

 
I watched the video again just now, and I do not see anything that would bother me in this fish's behaviour (the one with the white rather than orange pectoral spines).  As for the colour, this might return if the fish are well fed and kept calm.  This whole family (the Callichthyidae) are highly sensitive to any chemicals and medications.  Maintain good water, feed good foods, and keep your fingers crossed.

 
On the foods, there are some good options available.  I use three different sinking foods for my basic (once daily) feedings.  Presently Iam using Omega One's shrimp pellets (corys love these), Omega One's Veggie disks (algae/kelp is important for all fish digestion) and New Life Spectrum's .5 and 1 mm pellet basics.  I usually miss one day a week (once or twice weekly missed feedings is fine except for fry), and on the water change day I do not feed prior but a couple hours after I give them a treat with frozen bloodworms.  You could also try vegetable foods like yams, squash, etc, which some aquarists have luck getting corys to nibble on.
 
Byron.

 

[Alyssum]

Thanks again. I haven't given them any medicine for the past few days. I've been feeding them Omega shrimp pellets, hikari sinking wafers, and blood worms. I do want to try some vegetables and algae wafers. I was wondering if I should ever consider getting more fish to put in with them after waiting a month or so? I know they'll need to build up their immune system again, as introducing new fish will open them up to possibly new pathogens. Obviously, I don't want to put anymore cories in the 10 gallon, but buying a larger tank for three cories is a big jump. Not that they don't need the space, but I worry they will die of this and it will have tainted the tank and pass this disease on to other fish. It's not so much the money, but it will take up a lot more room in the apartment, so I want to consider my options carefully. I was thinking about buying one guppy to put in there with them, to see if this crosses species. I know it sounds a bit mean, but I've heard of experienced aquarist having "sentinel" fish moved in with new fish, before introducing them to their aquariums. Of course this would be in reverse. My betta never showed the signs that the cories did, so I find that interesting. From their initial recovery from metronidazole/prazipro I can determine that a large part of it was a parasite.

 

[Byron]

By more fish do you mean more corys?  They should have more of their own, 5-6 is the minimum size for a group of corys, but more is always better.  But I would wait a bit to make sure all is well first.

 

[Alyssum]

I would like to get more corys when I get a larger tank, I am just very scared they will get sick too, even though I have treated my corys. They still show symptoms (curling spine, twitching) which may never go away. It's very hard to get on camera. I wanted to try first with a different species of fish because I would like more variety in the new tank, to see if it crosses species, and space constraints. It is all very frustrating because I don't know if their presence will contaminate the new tank I set up. For example, if my corys all perish in the larger tank, and I get new ones, I don't know if they will get sick. I still don't know what they have, it could just be a parasite (don't what kind or its life cycle) or bacterial or both. I don't want to euthanize my little guys because they are an inconvenience, especially after all they've been through, but don't want to mistakenly kill a mass amount of fish just because I want more. All I can think of doing is introducing one new cory and perhaps a guppy and observing to see if they fall ill. The 10 gal is already crowded for just the 3, which is why I considered a guppy for the time being. Perhaps I should just take the plunge? My cories have been virtually the same for over a month. I wanted to ask you if it is normal for a cory to "tip" over randomly and right himself, like I captured in my video about 25 seconds in? You said you saw nothing wrong in the video, so does this mean this is "normal" cory behavior? Sorry if what I'm saying is a bit convoluted, let me know if you need something clarified.

 

[Byron]

I really think there is nothing here, now, at least nothing I can discern in their behaviour in the video; and I just watched it again and see nothing around 25 seconds that alarms me.  As for what may have been present, this I would leave unanswered; wait a spell, then add more.  They need more.  And I certainly would not euthanize them, there is absolutely nothing to warrant that.
 
On adding other fish species, do not add anything you do not want, as a "test" or anything.  This can lead to all sorts of issues.
 
Byron.

 

[Alyssum]

I do want the fish I add in, but only want to do one fish at a time to see if it is still contagious. Would it be okay to add one more small cory temporarily (3-4 weeks) to see if it is still contagious? I know I'm already pushing it with three. Once it's all clear I'd like to get a 40 gal and add more cories.

 

[Byron]

I do want the fish I add in, but only want to do one fish at a time to see if it is still contagious. Would it be okay to add one more small cory temporarily (3-4 weeks) to see if it is still contagious? I know I'm already pushing it with three. Once it's all clear I'd like to get a 40 gal and add more cories.

 
This is only a 10g tank, but if more fish are to be added they should be corys of this species, another two or three (at the same time, because these fish always settle in better with more).  Assuming you do not have a separate quarantine tank for new fish, I would wait a bit just to be certain these are OK.
 
If you do get a 40g or whatever, this 10g could be your QT for new fish.
 
Byron.