Need help for my cories

[snowc]

Hi to all, i have a group of C. duplicareus which had been with me for over a year. Recently, i have observed strange behaviour from one of them.

My cories like to hide underneath a driftwood in my tank esp when the light is on. However, this particular cory like to stay in the open. Also it did not rest on its pectoral fins which to me is weird. In addition, it displayed sign of lethargy during feeding or when moving about. When i tried to catch it, it didn't struggle much.

I have isolated it in another tank. No medication had been added but i intend to add a bit of blackwater and pimafix. Need advice on any medication that is safe for cories?

[benny]

What's their diet like? What is the frequency of water maintenance? What kind of filtration are you using?

Cheers,

[minute_me]

If the disease is not contagious, better not to isolate them as it will cause them more stress. I isolated a few of my cories which i thought have some problem. They all died after i isolate them.

[snowc]

What's their diet like? What is the frequency of water maintenance? What kind of filtration are you using?

Cheers,

Their diet consist of sinking tablets such as hikari wafers and tetra tabimin. Water change is done once a week (around 10 percent).
Filtration is by Eheim Ecco 2234 with biohome and cotton wool. My nitrate, ammonia and nitrite readings are zero.

Just have a look at the poor fella, the condition is getting worse. It lying on its side and panting. Praying hard..........

[benny]

Ok. I need to you check something very carefully. Take a magnifying glass if you have to.

When you look at the eyes of the cory, is it sunken?

When you look at the belly of the coy, is it sunken or hollowed?

Cheers,

[snowc]

Hi benny, thanks for the advice. The eyes do not appear sunken and same for the belly.
So far, I have added tetra blackwater and pimafix.

[snowc]

What i can only suspected is an internal bacterial infection. Can check if anyone have the same encounter as me?

[stormhawk]

If you have, or suspect that they are having an internal bacterial infection, get some Sera Bakto-Tabs or that Thera-A? from NLS. Basically any fish food with an anti-bacterial function. Usually they contain a garlic extract in some form as part of their ingredients. In this case I would go with Bakto-Tabs. It should help your fish recover faster, provided that duplicareus feeds on it.

I generally do not advocate adding in chemical additives like Pimafix to your tank water. Tetra Blackwater Extract is not a cure-all either.

Oh and another thing, please check the food you are feeding them. In my experience, the Hikari wafers tend to go bad after some time without you realising it. Same with the Tetra Tabimin. In our climate, it is best to keep our fish foods in a dry container, with a small packet of silica gel to absorb moisture. Sometimes our "dry" fish food is not really dry. They tend to spoil fast given our humid conditions.

[snowc]

Hi stormhawk, thanks for your advice. I think i will try bakto-tabs. Anyway, is pimafix harmful to corys? Heard they are sensitive to medication. Cause i have a LFS owner advice me to add only blackwater to treat them.

[stormhawk]

I don't know how Corys react to Pimafix, so I cannot comment on that. They are sensitive to certain types of medication if I recall. It's better to treat the source of the problem, i.e. their internal digestive system to flush out the infection, if any, rather than to use a chemical additive on the tank water itself.

Give the Bakto-Tabs a go. If the one behaving oddly doesn't get better or ignores the food, you might have to prepare yourself in the event that it dies.

[snowc]

Good news. Some improvement for the cory's condition. Its no longer lying on its side and able to swim well. No sure if it's the credit of the blackwater or pimafix but i'm glad.

Have tried feeding it but still not eating. Have just perform a partial water change and will continue monitoring.