Julian

hi everyone,

i came home today from school a little late and when i got home to feed my fish, i found my little peppered cory sitting on the bottom of the tank with his smaller dorsal fin completely ripped off... his caudal region is swollen, red and puffy and i dont know what i can do to help it if i can at all. i put some more conditioner in the tank as it doubles as treatment for injuries and scrapes but thats about it. i dont really know what other fish in my tank could have done this especially to the cory. i have 2 angelfish, 1 dwarf gourami, 3 neon tetras, 3 ottos and 3 corys in my 20 gallon tank. (i know its overstocked a bit and im working on a bigger tank) not sure if all the chemisty in the tank is perfect but all the fish have been doing fine in the cycled tank for atleast a month now and the only aggression ive seen so far is from the two angels. any and all suggestions to help my cory would be great!

Chief_waterchanger

Glad you know your tank is overstocked, angelfish, especially if near adult size shouldn't be in that small of a tank.

Angelfish is probably the culprit, and if I were you I would isolate the injured cory in either a hospital tank or a tuppaware bowl with Methylene Blue. 1 drop per gallon, if it is smaller than a gallon do one drop then change part of the water, or dilute it in another container first or something. It needs to be by itself to prevent any added risk of infection. I would keep the water at 80 degrees farenheit in the hospital tank/bowl, if at all possible. Make sure to do 50% daily waterchanges and add pre-medicated water. Remember, 1 drop methylene blue per gallon, if you have access to it. (It stains clothes and skin permanently if spilled. The skin has to be replaced by sublayers of skin before it goes away, soap doesn't work well on it. )

If you have a spare milk jug you can put the methylene blue water in the milk jug and do your waterchange refills from the milkjug, so you do not overdose your fish.

Most pet stores carry Methylene blue. Wal-mart carries it as an ingredient in some of their fish medications, but I do not think they sell straight methylene blue, or meth blue for short.

Best of luck with your cory, and wish it a speedy recovery.

COBettaCouple

Welcome to fishlore!

i'd agree on the angels.. do you have a male & female? if they're breeding or have just buddied up, the other fish could be in trouble. so i'd keep a close eye on things in there.

a product called Fish Protector would be good if you can find it (in addition to the meth. blue). Liquid vitamins may help too.