One Cory Dead, Another With Sunken Head

I already started a thread to ask about potential ich but something else is going on with the panda corys I added 2 days ago besides occasional flashing. This morning, I noticed that one of them had red on his head and a streak of red on his flank and he was barely breathing. I did a water change and by the time I'd refilled the tank, he was lying on his side unresponsive. I scooped him into a container and shortly after he died His body became progressively redder after I first noticed him this morning. I've attached pics both from when he was in the tank and after death. What do you think might have caused this? My temp did get up to 88 degrees (up from 82) because the heater stuck on but none of the other 7 corys or 6 glow light tetras seemed to be having any issues. No ammonia, no nitrite, nitrates must have been around 20 before the water change.




Second, I've noticed that a few of the corys seem to have somewhat pinched or sunken heads. Are they just thin? I'm especially concerned about one of them who's also much paler than the others and whose gills seem very red. Any ideas on this? Not all of them are sunken like that so I don't think it's normal.

Many many thanks!!!

 

You’re keeping the tank at 82f? If so that’s not likely to be helping matters.
How long has tank been cycled?

 

That's very high! They look like pandas which like cooler water. Likely they started dying because of not enough of oxygen.

 

You’re keeping the tank at 82f? If so that’s not likely to be helping matters.
How long has tank been cycled?

It hovers between 80 and 82 unheated. I was trying to raise the temp last night in case they are battling ich but I've abandoned that plan. The tank has been cycled for 3 weeks now. I'd be surprised if this were due to the tank being young given that not all of the fish are affected.

That's very high! They look like pandas which like cooler water. Likely they started dying because of not enough of oxygen.

Respectfully, if it were due to lack of oxygen, why would all of the other fish be fine? No one is gasping or showing any signs of distress. I have an AC 70 running at full blast as well as an airstone bubbling vigorously, both of which are causing a good deal of surface disruption. I'd believe that perhaps the one that turned red and dyed was negatively affected by the broken heater. However, I've never heard of high temps giving fish pinched in heads.

Given how quickly these problems appeared (I can see the sunken heads in pictures I took yesterday less than 24 hrs after I purchased the fish) and since not all of the fish are affected, I strongly suspect that the fish were afflicted before I brought them home, rather than this being an issue with my tank conditions. Right now 5 are glass surfing together and 2 are resting at the bottom.

 

Glass surfing is just exploring there tank. Nothing wrong with that. Did the sunken heads happen before or after you got them?

 

Glass surfing is just exploring there tank. Nothing wrong with that. Did the sunken heads happen before or after you got them?

Yes, I agree that the glass surfing is fine; I mentioned it because I don't think they'd necessarily be doing it if there were starved of oxygen, etc. I'm happy to see them active.

I looked at a photo I took just hours after I brought them home and I see the sunken head in the pale catfish; I just didn't notice anything odd about it at the time.

 

What else do you have in the tank? Any chance someone got aggressive with him? I have a few usually peaceful fish that get aggressive in higher temps. Our male swordtails Bevis and Butthead are a prime example and they got their names specifically for Buttheads nasty behavior during his first Ich treatment.

 

What else do you have in the tank? Any chance someone got aggressive with him? I have a few usually peaceful fish that get aggressive in higher temps. Our male swordtails Bevis and Butthead are a prime example and they got their names specifically for Buttheads nasty behavior during his first Ich treatment.

You're referring to the one who died? I have 6 glowlight tetras, a few cherry shrimp, a few ghost shrimp (actually ghost shrimp, not macrobrachium, and they jump away when fish get close), MTS, bladder snails, and pond snails. I don't think he was attacked. I'd always heard that redness on a fish body is a sign of a bacterial infection. Is that true?

Well today pale sunken head cory is out and about foraging with everyone else, but a different cory is hanging back. I'm just going to keep an eye on everyone and see how things go.

 

The cory who hasn't eaten at all today now has a large red patch on one side and some small red streaks on his tail. I've removed him from the tank because I'm worried about him dying overnight. I found a few other threads here by people describing the same symptoms in their corys and some have suggested it's red blotch disease but I'm finding very little info on that. I wonder if I should try posting in the cory specific section of the forum.

 

Here's a pic. I have a cat atop me so I haven't checked on him in a while.

 

Coradee Do you have any ideas on what this could be? Thank you!

 

Hi, the fish does look a little thin but beside that it does look like it could be red blotch Disease, usually caused by a nitrate/nitrite spike, have you checked your water parameters?
I’d suggest moving the affected fish to a separate tank, I know people here look down on melafix but a full dose is often recommended for red blotch along with pristine water & good airflow.
Extra water changes in the main tank would also be a good idea for a while.

 

Your fish might have Camallanus worms? Worth looking into. Just realised yesterday that that's what my albino corys have. Red streaks n' all. If that is the case, start looking into effective treatments ASAP. I personally am trying to track down some Waterlife Sterazin, soon as Levamisole is probably going to be impossible to find where I am. Good luck!

 

Your fish might have Camallanus worms? Worth looking into. Just realised yesterday that that's what my albino corys have. Red streaks n' all. If that is the case, start looking into effective treatments ASAP. I personally am trying to track down some Waterlife Sterazin, soon as Levamisole is probably going to be impossible to find where I am. Good luck!

First of all, sorry about your fish but very interesting...I haven't seen any worms protruding from them though and I'm not seeing these sudden onset red patches as any sort of symptom listed.

 

First of all, sorry about your fish but very interesting...I haven't seen any worms protruding from them though and I'm not seeing these sudden onset red patches as any sort of symptom listed.

Ah, sorry I couldn't have been of any assistance in trying to figure out what might be wrong with yours. I wish you all the luck though - hopefully you find out what the problem is before it's too late.

 

Hi, the fish does look a little thin but beside that it does look like it could be red blotch Disease, usually caused by a nitrate/nitrite spike, have you checked your water parameters?
I’d suggest moving the affected fish to a separate tank, I know people here look down on melafix but a full dose is often recommended for red blotch along with pristine water & good airflow.
Extra water changes in the main tank would also be a good idea for a while.

Thank you. I checked the water this morning and nitrite was still zero, as it was 2 days ago when the previous cory died. (When I checked the water then, it was 0/0/15 after a 50% water change.) Sadly the affected fish died last night. I have a pretty good amount of plants and haven't detected any ammonia since the tank cycled. Do you have any good references on red blotch? I went searching online but most everything I found is either a FishLore forum post or this one petcha article: The Petcha article says that the disease is characterized by red sores, which my fish didn't have.

Good news: the surviving fish are looking great and I really don't think they had ich after all.

 

Ah, sorry I couldn't have been of any assistance in trying to figure out what might be wrong with yours. I wish you all the luck though - hopefully you find out what the problem is before it's too late.

No need to apologize, I appreciate your putting that on my radar. It's good to know what to be on the look out for. My 6 remaining pandas and 6 glowlight tetras are looking great (some slightly red gills on a couple of corys so I'll watch for that).

 

I thought I'd report back and just say that it's been over 2 weeks now since my last post and I haven't lost any additional corys (or other fish for that matter). What a relief! I'm feeling confident now that the ones I still have will continue to do well. Thanks again for the help.

 

yay congrats!

 

I left a house sitter in charge for a week and went on vacation. I came back to 2 dead corys and a third died yesterday. I have 2 left.