Odd Cory Swimming Behavior

Hey everyone.

I was wondering if I could get the help of the forums here to see if you all think something might be off with one of my albino corys.

I am relatively new to having corys (about 6 months or so) and have always loved their playful personalities and “zippy” nature. I currently have 3 albino cories in QT that are due to be added to my community tank with some other albinos.

I originally had 4 in QT but one died of what I believe to be a lingering Columnaris infection from a previous fish that had lived in the tank around 2 months back. (I had other occupants of this QT tank mysteriously die during this span despite parameters being good so a lingering infection was the best culprit I could think of)

I have since completed medicating the tank (Furan 2 and kanaplex) and am now a couple days past the medication regimen.

Since then all three cories have become more lively and I am proud of these little guys for pulling through. But one of them is acting in a way I think is kind of odd.

I am used to cories swimming around the tank but am used to seeing them zip around pretty quickly.
But one of my cories is a lot more leisurely. He almost reminds me of my old betta, slowly prowling the tank. This particular cory was struggling a week ago (I had found him against the filter intake and thankfully was able to turn it off so he could free himself) he had some minor fin damage that seems to have mostly healed and I’m honestly amazed he has pulled through based on where he was at a week ago.

Mostly I now think I might be a paranoid fish mom but any feedback from other cory owners would be appreciated. I love these little guys and want to do what I can to help them if possible.

Tank parameters
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 5-10ppm
Temp: around 74-75

 

Is everything else normal? Like has his behavior changed in any way? Has he been eating less or more?

 

His behavior has changed in the sense of an overall improvement. A week ago he was lethargic and weak, and all three cories while the medication was being added were pretty sluggish. But I know that can be hard on them so I wasn’t overly surprised.

Since completing the medication regimen he’s perked up and is swimming around. Hard to tell if he’s eating more or less. The food is all gone when I check later but he has two other cories with him so who knows. I’ll see him stop his leisurely pacing and drop down to nibble a little but then go back to swimming so he doesn’t show a complete disinterest.

 

Any pics? What are you feeding? What were you treating with Furan ?

 

Any pics? What are you feeding? What were you treating with Furan ?

Sure I’ll attach a few pictures from this morning.

I feed the Hikari bottom feeder wafers.

And I was treating the tank for Columnaris. So I did a course of Furan (4 doses across 4 days) and Kanaplex (3 doses across 5 days.) I finished that treatment on Monday. Have since added some of the filter media back, and done two 15% WCs.

As I was watching him this morning I did notice one thing. He did come down a couple times to the bottom, and would settle down for maybe a second before quickly getting back up and going back to swimming. To me it almost looked like something was irritating him so he didn’t want to lay down.

The bottom is sand with a little bit of gravel in there. The other cories don’t seem to mind and are currently relaxing at the bottom at I type this. It didn’t used to bother the other one either. He would lounge around all day before.

 

Sometimes stress like that takes a toll on your Cory. One of my cories is kind of going through the same thing. How long have they been in QT?

 

The zipping around in fact mainly takes place in the first period when they are adapting to their new surroundings.
Most corys settle down after.some time and a lot of people think they're boring gron that stage. This one could allready show normal "lazy" behaviour. It doesn't look sick and in fact looks quite healthy.

 

Sometimes stress like that takes a toll on your Cory. One of my cories is kind of going through the same thing. How long have they been in QT?

These three have been in QT since June 5th or 6th, I can’t recall the exact day I got them off the top of my head.

The zipping around in fact mainly takes place in the first period when they are adapting to their new surroundings.
Most corys settle down after.some time and a lot of people think they're boring gron that stage. This one could allready show normal "lazy" behaviour. It doesn't look sick and in fact looks quite healthy.

I’m glad to hear you feel he looks well. I was worried to death about this little guy when he first started to act like he was sick. And if in the end I chalk this up to being a paranoid fish mom I’m ok with that. Lol

I think what is throwing me is not just the “leisurely” swimming but also the persistence of it. While I was medicating the tank all three of them were mostly staying at the bottom, but I know medications can be stressful so I didn’t overly concern myself with it since they were still eating.
Obviously, I have no idea what he does while I’m at work or asleep, but when I check on him he is almost constantly swimming around. In the last few days I haven’t observed as much of the usual lounging about that is common once they settle in.