Sick Cory in Community Tank, Few questions

[sirdarksol]

Last night, I discovered that Cthulhu is sick. He's just laying at the bottom of the tank.

He might be more grey than normal, but I don't see any other physical symptoms. He moves a little if disturbed, and I can see his mouth going.

ammonia is zero, nitrate is 10-20, and pH is normal for the tank (I can't find half of my cards, but I remember that the greenish color is what it normally is)
nitrite is one of the things that I'm wondering about. I can't find my card. The water in the test vial is sky blue, and I'm using Aqua Pharmaceuticals Master test kit. Can someone out there tell me what that means?

Another question stems from the fact that I have not yet set up a hospital tank (I will when I get my next paycheck, I swear). The tank is a community tank, with three barbs, a glass fish, and two otos. Would it be problematic for me to put any sort of treatment in the tank? There are a few Malaysian Live-Bearing snails in the tank, but I can easily pull them and put them in a bucket while I'm treating the tank.
Would any of you suggest treatment at this stage? If so, for what?
I have no idea if this has any bearing, but I have heard about using salt dips. Would this be suggested for a Cory?
Thank you in advance for your help.

[atmmachine816]

Light blue=zero

Does he swim then flop over on his side?

[sirdarksol]

He is a little cockeyed, but not actually on his side. However, he is pretty wide, so I'm pretty sure that even if he was dead, he'd likely end up on his belly.
I've done a 25% water change, and plan to do another tomorrow. I did one on Tuesday, as well. The other fish seem to be doing ok.

Thanks for info on the test.

[COBettaCouple]

liquid vitamins, stress coat, novaqua+ .. those should be ok to add without a problem and might help.. does he eat any? how old do you think he is?

[sirdarksol]

Originally Posted by FLBettaCouple

liquid vitamins, stress coat, novaqua+ .. those should be ok to add without a problem and might help.. does he eat any? how old do you think he is?

He's still pretty small. I'd guess he was a juvenile when I got him six months ago. Who knows, though.

[COBettaCouple]

from your 1st msg it sounds like there's no other corys in the tank? If so, that could be part of the problem - the corys tend to like to have at least 1 buddy for security and without any other corys he could suffer higher stress and be more at risk for problems.

[0morrokh]

Yeah, and you should also consider getting more barbs and glass fish. Both are shoaling fish (so groups of 6 are best). Cories should be kept in groups of 2-4 min, depending on the species.

Can you see any more specific things wrong with him? Is he eating? Rapid breathing? Flashing? White or red spots?

[sirdarksol]

I know about the barbs and glassfish, and am working on fixing it, as a few of my other posts suggest. My problem prior to this was that a couple of fish that were too large for the tank were making adding others to the tank impossible. Now I've got the problem that I have yet to find a store in the area that sells Orange Barbs or unpainted Glassfish.
I did not, however, know about the Cory needing a school.

I think I have figured out what is going on. I believe this is Fin Rot. I went out and bought a tank to set up as a hospital tank, and put him in it. Once he wasn't on the natural gravel, I could clearly see his fins (which blended in really well with the gravel), which are severely damaged. I've begun treating him with Maracyn, and I found a store in the area that sells Vita-Chem. He seems to have a bit of energy now, too. He's still lying on the tank bottom for hours at a time, though.
The other possibility that I can come up with is that Miyamoto and the goldfish were providing him (perhaps incidentally) with some protection from the barbs, who started picking on him when they were moved to their coldwater tank.

[sirdarksol]

He's laying on his side now. There are also a couple of little reddish orange dots on his belly.

Also, I just noticed that the Vita-Chem I bought from my LFS was the saltwater version. The guy had all the stuff behind the counter, so I couldn't actually look at it, and I was just so glad that I found a place that sold Vita-Chem that I didn't pay attention. Is this going to be causing a problem?

Lastly, I realized how much of a dummy I am when I realized this morning that when I set the tank up, I just put the carbon in the filter like the instructions said. So two days have gone by with the carbon pulling all of the medicine I've put in the tank back out of the water.

[COBettaCouple]

The vitachem marine has (as you know):
Ascorbic acid, marine algae (ulva and kelp), marine sponges (Cliona cliona), marine plankton extract, biotin, soluble brewer's yeast, cobalamine concentrate, L-Lysine HCL, d-alpha tocopherol, inositol folic acid, hydrochloride monohydrate.

The vitachem freshwater has:
Ascorbic acid, marine algae (ulva and kelp), plankton extract, biotin, soluble brewer's yeast, cobalamine concentrate, L-Lysine HCL, d-alpha tocopherol, inositol folic acid, hydrochloride monohydrate.

it seems that the difference is that the marine version has marine sponges in it. i'm not really sure what effect it would have on freshwater fish really.

those dots on his belly sound like ulcers.

[sirdarksol]

Ugh!!!
I think I did better when my new Blue Guorami was covered with bloody red spots one morning and died that afternoon.
Cthulhu seems to be hanging on, but because he blended in with the gravel so well, I'm not entirely sure exactly what he looked like before he got sick.
Two new questions: (and thank you, everyone, for the answers so far)
First, are Cory's eyes normally sticking out, like frog's eyes, or are they flush with the rest of the head? This is really important, because I just realized that I've been presuming that this was normal, and it might not be. (I'm really smart, but not all that bright, if you know what I mean. I know a lot of things, but can't always apply that knowledge. That's one of the biggest reasons that my posts are so long. It helps me sort out my thoughts)
Second, is it a problem if his tail wedged under the input for the filter? It's one of the really tiny Whispers (the "i" series), the kind that's run on an air pump, rather than an impeller. My initial thought was to nudge him out from under it, but he's upright, which he hasn't been since this morning. I'm worried that the amount of pull in the tube (no matter how little it is) will hurt him, but I'm just as worried that he's slowly suffocating when he's laying on his side, as he's holding one of this gills closed.

[shatin]

Hello from Elize in Hong Kong

I am so new at this and two of my fish seemed as if they were going to die. Same sat at the bottom of the tank, had spots and I used 1 tablespoon of course salt (diluted in hot water) for every 5 liters of water mixed it with ICH meds, Bio Booster and a clorine neutraliser and 10 drops of Water Decontaminant Mixed it into tap water that is at room temperature ( I always keep two 5 liter containers of water standing overnight for any possible use). Removed the Carobon from my filter, did a 30% water change, then added the water with all the meds. Put the filter back without the carbon,just with a white type of spongy cloth that serves as a filter - Day 2, 3 and 4 did a 20% water change each day adding Ich meds and the salt equivelant to what was needed for the amount of fresh water added. Today day 5 did a 30% water change, once again took salt, Bio Booster, the chlorine neutraliser and Water decontaminant, filled the tank. Cleaned my filter and put the carbon back also rapping the carbon in the white cloth.

I made home made food and this is what they had each day.
4 shrimps
3 tablespoons of cooked and deshelled peas
a teasoon each of a variety of fish flakes
I mushed it all up in my coffee grinder
1 teaspoon of fry food
Made up little balls - put it in the deepfreeze and gave them a small amount three times a day.

Hope your fish buddy makes it

Best wishes and good luck

Elize