Swim bladder disease

[LTurner97]

I think my corydoras is showing early signs of swim bladder disease but I’m not 100% would if be harmful to treat the tank even if it isn’t swim bladder disease just as a precaution ?

 

[GaryE]

Here's the issue - swim bladder disease doesn't exist.

Swim bladder problems do, but they are symptoms of other diseases. The swim bladders balance the fish as they hold intestinal gas, Bowel issues can cause swelling, which can block the gas (or produce too much). I can be from parasites, infections, inflammation or blockages. The problem with treatment is deciding what you're looking at.

Step one is a water change - 40-50%. Then lock into 25-30% weekly, forever.

Step two is to look at the temperature. A lot of people keep Cory group fish too warm. Look up the temperature needs of the species you have, and most likely, adjust it down.

Step 3 can be stopping feeding for a few days to see if symptoms persist. Watch for redness around the belly, which can be a sign of internal infection. Because of their body armour, Cory group fish can be hard to diagnose. A lot is hidden.

 

[LTurner97]

I did a 25% water change yesterday so when shall I perform another one ? I have 3 different breed of Cory so I’ve kept the tank between 23/25 degrees Celsius , I’ve tried varying their diet a lot so maybe I’ll stop feeding them for a few days and my julii did have a red blotch on his stomach yesterday so I performed a salt bath which took the red blotch away but today his very unhappy

 

[Colin_T]

Post a video of the fish having trouble swimming. Upload video to YouTube, then copy & paste the link here.
If you use a mobile phone to film the fish, hold the phone horizontally (landscape mode) so the footage fills the entire screen and doesn't have black bars on either end.

Most catfish don't have a swim bladder and there's no medications to treat swim bladder problems anyway.

If a fish floats up when it stops swimming, that can be from air trapped in its intestine or a swim bladder issue. To test this you stop feeding dry food for a week and offer live or frozen foods only. If the problem corrects itself with the removal of the dry food, then it's air in the intestine, which the fish can fart out. Corydoras do take in air from the surface and this might be the issue.

If a fish sinks when it stops swimming then it has a swim bladder issue.

There's no cure for true swim bladder issues and the fish is normally euthanised.