20 Gallon Tank Corydoras sleeping upside down

HI all,
I've had my 3 albino corydora catfish for over a year. For the first time ever, they have started to randomly sleep upside down. The first time I saw this, I thought it was dead! At first I thought it was only one particular fish, but I know for sure that at least 2 of the 3 are doing it.

My water parameters are great. My temp is great. The only thing that has changed is that I added a Coraline dwarf gourami to the tank. The gourami is curious and peaceful (LOVE THIS FISH!), so I don't believe that stress would be causing this behavior. They seem totally peaceful and acting normal except for this occasional sleeping upside down thing.

Any ideas? Should I be worried?

Thanks,
Lenore

 

whats a coraline DG? Is that like a flame but with a diffrent name. Anyways ive personaly never heard of cory sleeping upsode down and I don't think its a good thing. but who knows.

 

I have never heard of Cory sleeping upside down. That is a new one on me. DG are normally more on the shy side and not aggressive except towards other DGs so I wouldn't think it would be the cause of enough stress to bring on a behavior like that.

And adding only one small DG shouldn't cause a minI cycle so if your testing with a liquid test kit and your reading are OK I wouldn't have a clue as to what is up with the Cory. Maybe someone else will chime in with some idea. Good luck with your problem and may your fish go back to normal behavior soon.

 

New symptoms

OK, there is definitely a problem.

I just double-checked my water: Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates right around 10.

My biggest catfish has bulging eyes (pop eye?). I also just noticed a little red speck on his back. It's hard to see but it's sort of sitting on top of his back (towards his tail), sort of like a tiny skin tag. Is this a bacterial infection??? The other fish seem fine.

Just a month ago I had to euthanize my guppy because of her bent spine and trouble swimming. Is this related?

HELP!

~Lenore

 

I just got a 10 gal for a quarantine tank and set it up to put all 3 corys in it. I did lots of research and have put Maracyn and Maracyn 2 in the tank, as well as a tablespoon of aquarium salt.

The Maracyn directions doesn't say anything about taking out the charcoal filter -- I've read that some do and some don't, so I guess I'll leave it in unless someone has some strong facts against doing so?

As for the new tank, I have a new filter in there, but I put the ceramic bio-thingies from my established tank in with the new filter, as well as the cories terracotta pot and cave stone. I'll test the water tomorrow to see if I'm starting a cycle or not. Do I need to put an airstone in this quarantine tank? The water level is a little lower than the output of the filter so there are some air bubbles created by the waterfall, but I don't know if this is enough for a temp. set up. I do have another air pump so it's not a biggie...

Please keep your fingers crossed that these meds work!!!! I'll be so sad if I lose even one of these cory cats, they are just so awesome!!!! I call them my little Dr. Seuss fish because their whiskers remind me of the Dr. Seuss characters

Thanks for all your help,
Lenore

 

So sorry about your cories.

Yes, I think you should take the charcoal out unless the charcoal is over a month old or it will remove the medication. You'll have to watch your water parameters closely because the antibiotics will likely kill your beneficial bacteria too.

Best of luck to you and your cories. Let us know how they do. The right antibiotic can work wonders.

 

Done. I put a foam filter in instead. Do I have to toss the foam filter once treatment is finished or can I just rinse it out to get the meds out of it?

 

I have a little bad news for you, cories do not tolerate salt very well (it burns their skin). It tends to irritate their skin. So as much as I hate to tell you this, you might want to do a 100% water change.

 

UGH! Well, I knew that in general, but I had read that they can tolerate a little salt, which seems to be helpful in treating popeye and whatever the actual cause of the popeye is. So, I only used 1 tablespoon for a 10 gallon tank (the rec. was for 1T per 5 gals). Really, I need to change the water again? Is that more stressful than the little amount of salt in the water??? These cories have been through a lot in the past 12 hours!!!!

 

Skin burning or new water....yup. I would do a 75. They should be able to tolerate a little bit.

 

I was referring to the fact that their tank had all the medication in it already and I was loathe to mess THAT up, not the fact that I might be burdened by another water change. The corys are now happily swimming around, we'll see what the next 24 hours holds.

Thanks for all the information everyone!

 

If you're using an unseeded sponge, or if the medication has wiped out the bacteria on your ceramic rings, then you'll probably want to do large water changes every day or so anyway. I really hope they pull through! Keep us updated.

 

Thanks. I was planning on testing the water tomorrow. If I need to change it, I'll do so before adding more meds.

 

Update: all 3 cories are doing well, though 1 is still sleeping upside down. I'm doing water changes because I have ammonia, but I'm using an ammonia neutralizer and adding the meds after each water change in the hopes that they get enough antibiotic to help them. Thanks everyone!!!!

 

So glad to hear they are still kicking.

Too bad you are having to deal with ammonia on top of everything else. In my opinion, a new Q-tank is the one reason to use one of those bacteria products like Stability that you add every day for a period. Even though it won't give you a lasting cycle, the terrestrial bacteria will handle ammonia for as long as you need the Quarantine. That might make it easier on the fish. Also, I keep a sponge filter going in one of my aquariums in addition to the main filter so that it will always be cycled in case I need it.

Keep up the good work, and let us know how those cories are doing.

 

Thanks, callichma. I was hoping the bio rocks would help more than they are, but oh well. I'll be going to the LFS in an hour to pick up some stuff -- I hadn't even thought of that! Good call

 

if you're medicating with antibiotics in a new QT, I would second the use of the add-every-day terrestrial bacteria, simply because if you're going to be doing water changes AND killing some of your good bacteria with antibiotics, the daily bacterial dose might not be such a bad thing.