Emergency: Cory having severe swim bladder issues

Tank
What is the water volume of the tank?
15gal

How long has the tank been running?
6 months

Does it have a filter?
Yes, an Aquatech 5-15gal HOB with filter floss

Does it have a heater?
Yes, Eheim 200W heater

What is the water temperature?
74F

What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.)
5x Panda Cory

Maintenance
How often do you change the water?
Weekly or biweekly

How much of the water do you change?
25-50%

What do you use to treat your water?
API Tap water conditioner

Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water?
Substrate is vacuumed as needed with Python

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish?
Yes, fishless liquid ammo cycle

What do you use to test the water?
API master test kit

What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: Before today's wc: 30ppm
After: 5ppm
pH: ~7.6
High range pH: ~7.5

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish?
Once daily

How much do you feed your fish?
One pellet, which is fished out after 5-10 minutes

What brand of food do you feed your fish?
Omega One catfish pellets

Do you feed frozen?
No
Do you feed freeze-dried foods?
No

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish?
I am not sure which fish this is as they all look remarkably similar, so either 2 months or 6 months

How long ago did you first notice these symptoms?
Today

In a few words, can you explain the symptoms?
Fish is unable to sit upright or swim

Have you started any treatment for the illness?
Not as of now

Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase?
No

How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all?
Fish is lighter color

Explain your emergency situation in detail.
(Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now)

Aquatic Emergency: my Panda Corydora is having severe issues of what I assume is swim bladder. I found the fish today sideways in a corner of the tank, and it is unable to move or sit upright, and can only swim a very short distance. I did an 65% WC today and I am wondering what should be done next. Thanks everyone!
Include pictures

 

Other than your nitrates being a little high, parameters look good.
Judging from the pic the Corydora is probably not going to pull through.
Motionless, lying on it's side is not really an indicator of a swim bladder problem.
Whirling & inability to submerge are
symptoms of swim bladder disorder.
Without additional information probably not going to be able to diagnose the problem.
Keep a close watch on the tankmates for symptoms of disease.

 

I notice you say you feed one pellet and fish it out after about 15 minutes. Those Omega One pellets are 8mm size, which is fairly large, so I wonder if you mean one pellet per fish or one pellet for them all?

 

Other than your nitrates being a little high, parameters look good.
Judging from the pic the Corydora is probably not going to pull through.
Motionless, lying on it's side is not really an indicator of a swim bladder problem.
Whirling & inability to submerge are
symptoms of swim bladder disorder.
Without additional information probably not going to be able to diagnose the problem.
Keep a close watch on the tankmates for symptoms of disease.

Thanks mate. That's sad to hear. I'll get him into a quarantine tank, do you think some API general cure or something similar would do any good?

I notice you say you feed one pellet and fish it out after about 15 minutes. Those Omega One pellets are 8mm size, which is fairly large, so I wonder if you mean one pellet per fish or one pellet for them all?

I just feed one pellet and they all fight over it for a little while before I fish it out.



fish has passed away D: I'll keep up on the water changes and keep a very close eye on the tankmates for now

 

Thanks mate. That's sad to hear. I'll get him into a quarantine tank, do you think some API general cure or something similar would do any good?

I just feed one pellet and they all fight over it for a little while before I fish it out.



fish has passed away D: I'll keep up on the water changes and keep a very close eye on the tankmates for now

I’m sure your intentions are good but you are starving your fish and this poor fish that died likely died of malnutrition.

’One 8 mm pellet, even if you left it in there ‘til they ate all of it, is just nowhere near enough food for 6 cory cats, or 5 either.

I’d try feeding them at least 3x a day for the next few weeks at least and I’d either get micro sized pellets or else crush those big pellets into finer particles and do not remove any uneaten food for at least an hour after you put it in.

One of those 8mm pellets per fish would be the minimum amount I’d give them for the next 2-3 weeks at each meal. Make sure you feed just before lights out and I’d leave the food in all night. Remove any that’s left in the morning if you wish.

 

I’m sure your intentions are good but you are starving your fish and this poor fish that died likely died of malnutrition.

’One 8 mm pellet, even if you left it in there ‘til they ate all of it, is just nowhere near enough food for 6 cory cats, or 5 either.

I’d try feeding them at least 3x a day for the next few weeks at least and I’d either get micro sized pellets or else crush those big pellets into finer particles and do not remove any uneaten food for at least an hour after you put it in.

One of those 8mm pellets per fish would be the minimum amount I’d give them for the next 2-3 weeks at each meal. Make sure you feed just before lights out and I’d leave the food in all night. Remove any that’s left in the morning if you wish.

eesh. i was even thinking i was overfeeding them with how smol they are. thanks for the advice, i'll start feeding a lot more

 

eesh. i was even thinking i was overfeeding them with how smol they are. thanks for the advice, i'll start feeding a lot more

It surprises me how often I see this happen and it’s usually because people are a little too worried about overfeeding and end up slowly starving the fish as a result. But we all make mistakes. Hopefully we learn from them when we make them.

Cory cats spend a lot of their time rummaging around in sand and other substrates looking for tidbits, this is their natural feeding behaviour so they need to be fed a little differently than the average goldfish that has a seemingly bottomless pit for an appetite.

 

the corys have been slowly dying off. my only guess is some disease got to the tank, because parameters have remained perfect and i've been feeding adequately. i'm now down to 2 D: