shimmies?

[HoldenOn]

Hey all,
One of the corydoras I got is a little wonky. All of them are super skinny (darn petsmart) but this guy looks a little sunken. He looks normal but doesn't do the customary resting every 5 seconds. Also looks like he struggles to stay at the bottom sometimes.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Is there a lot of flow in that area of the tank? Saw some small white bits floating past him quite fast at the end of the video, and he's swimming as if he's battling against a strong current.

 

[HoldenOn]

Is there a lot of flow in that area of the tank? Saw some small white bits floating past him quite fast at the end of the video, and he's swimming as if he's battling against a strong current.

Nope, almost no flow in this tank, as these and the tetras are from slow moving streams.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Hmm, that's not good then. Hopefully @Colin_T will be able to tell what's wrong, I don't know I'm afraid.

 

[HoldenOn]

Upon further inspection I don't think it's shimmies. That occurs when there is a large gap in the GH, and my GH is perfect for these corydoras. I'm thinking it's a swim bladder problem, or he's just a bit odd.

 

[HoldenOn]

@NCaquatics have you ever seen this?

 

[CassCats]

Looks more like he's trying to swim against a current

 

[HoldenOn]

Looks more like he's trying to swim against a current

Maybe he is really weak and can't deal with the current there is. Recommendations or will he be once he fattens up a little.

 

[CassCats]

He should fatten up and get better over time. Could add a piece of driftwood to block some of the flow for him

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Maybe he is really weak and can't deal with the current there is. Recommendations or will he be once he fattens up a little.

Can you take a short video that shows the whole tank please? Might be a way to baffle the flow a little, but really need to see the tank and ideally the other fish too, to get an idea of what might be going on. Doesn't look like any swim bladder problem I've ever seen, it just looks like he's searching for food while fighting against a current.

Just saw that @NCaquatics had written the same thing while I was typing this out. Great minds think alike

 

[FishGuest5123]

Shimmies can be the result of electrolyte imbalance. You can dose a small amount of aquarium salt to help. With cories and tetras I usually do 1/2 tablespoon per every 5 gallons Of tank water. Be sure to dissolve salt first. Shimmies are due to environmental Source. What are your parameters?

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

There's definitely current there, if you watch the video closely and look at the background rather than the cory, you can see white bits floating past quite fast in the same direction that he's working against.

 

[HoldenOn]

Shimmies can be the result of electrolyte imbalance. You can dose a small amount of aquarium salt to help. With cories and tetras I usually do 1/2 tablespoon per every 5 gallons Of tank water. Be sure to dissolve salt first. Shimmies are due to environmental Source. What are your parameters?

GH - 165 ppm
pH - 7.7

 

[HoldenOn]

It's still a work in progress and the tetras are at the bottom because I turned the bright light on. Took the background off so you could see stuff more clearly.

Don't judge my swords, I still need to clip a few leaves here and there .

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Not judging at all! We all have things we're working on in our tanks, you should see the state of my oto tank right now, algae nightmare. Yours doesn't look bad at all, looks like a promising work in progress

Flow looks fine, good aeration without blasting across the tank, but adding some rocks or wood or more dense planting would give some resting areas where the cories could escape the flow, and I might feed them on the left side, away from the filter output