Albino Cory Behavior - is he sick?

[jb60083]

I have had a pair of Albino Corys for about 5 years. For the past month
or so, one of them has been hanging out at the surface a lot,
completely sticking his head out of the water. At first I was worried
that there was not enough oxygen in the tank, but I think I ruled that
out. I have a bubble wall, tested for ammonia (0), checked the pH
(slightly high, but not harmful), Hardness (on the high side as well,
but still in the safe range), nitrites (0), Alkalinity (normal- I
occasionally add salt after a water change), and nitrates (present, but
not harmful).
Now he is still gasping at the surface, and lately he has been lying on
his side at the bottom of the tank, and his coloring is paler than my
other cory. I used to not be able to tell the two apart, but now he is
much thinner and whiter. He still has an appetite, and acts normally
much of the time.
Their tankmates are 5 platys, 7 neons, 2 small pink kissing gouramis, 4
cherry barbs, and an oto- all healthy and behaving normally. Is he just
getting old? These 2 corys have survived a lot- a move, a bad strain of
ich, and they have recently been laying eggs (last batch was about 2
weeks ago). I am still trying to get some eggs to hatch, so I really
want to keep this guy healthy. I do water changes every 2 weeks and add
stress coat every time.
Any help would be appreciated.

[Altum]

jb60083 wrote:
> I have had a pair of Albino Corys for about 5 years. For the past month
> or so, one of them has been hanging out at the surface a lot,
> completely sticking his head out of the water. At first I was worried
> that there was not enough oxygen in the tank, but I think I ruled that
> out. I have a bubble wall, tested for ammonia (0), checked the pH
> (slightly high, but not harmful), Hardness (on the high side as well,
> but still in the safe range), nitrites (0), Alkalinity (normal- I
> occasionally add salt after a water change), and nitrates (present, but
> not harmful).
> Now he is still gasping at the surface, and lately he has been lying on
> his side at the bottom of the tank, and his coloring is paler than my
> other cory. I used to not be able to tell the two apart, but now he is
> much thinner and whiter. He still has an appetite, and acts normally
> much of the time.
> Their tankmates are 5 platys, 7 neons, 2 small pink kissing gouramis, 4
> cherry barbs, and an oto- all healthy and behaving normally. Is he just
> getting old? These 2 corys have survived a lot- a move, a bad strain of
> ich, and they have recently been laying eggs (last batch was about 2
> weeks ago). I am still trying to get some eggs to hatch, so I really
> want to keep this guy healthy. I do water changes every 2 weeks and add
> stress coat every time.
> Any help would be appreciated.

It's obviously a gill disease and sounds like flukes to me. You may
have introduced them at the same time as the ich. I would isolate the
fish and treat with fluke-tabs. If fluke-tabs don't work, try Clout.

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[dc]

Altum > wrote in news:BMChg.40845$fb2.30260
@newssvr27.news.prodigy.net:

> It's obviously a gill disease and sounds like flukes to me. You may
> have introduced them at the same time as the ich. I would isolate the
> fish and treat with fluke-tabs. If fluke-tabs don't work, try Clout.

Praziquantel is also a great medication for complex parasites like flukes.
I've used Hikari's PraziPro many times to very good success. A single dose
is usually enough to kill the parasites.

[Roy]

"Roy" Hauer aka Koi-Lo > wrote in message
...

Well flattery will not get you anywhere with me boy you still are a
dickhead. See you should have spent more time studying instead of
playing with yourself. Has anyone ever told you that you look like a
Dick with ears? Well if not, you do!

Well I am of the belief that your still a ****ing asshole.

"jb60083" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> I have had a pair of Albino Corys for about 5 years. For the past month
> or so, one of them has been hanging out at the surface a lot,
> completely sticking his head out of the water. At first I was worried
> that there was not enough oxygen in the tank, but I think I ruled that
> out. I have a bubble wall, tested for ammonia (0), checked the pH
> (slightly high, but not harmful), Hardness (on the high side as well,
> but still in the safe range), nitrites (0), Alkalinity (normal- I
> occasionally add salt after a water change), and nitrates (present, but
> not harmful).
> Now he is still gasping at the surface, and lately he has been lying on
> his side at the bottom of the tank, and his coloring is paler than my
> other cory. I used to not be able to tell the two apart, but now he is
> much thinner and whiter. He still has an appetite, and acts normally
> much of the time.
> Their tankmates are 5 platys, 7 neons, 2 small pink kissing gouramis, 4
> cherry barbs, and an oto- all healthy and behaving normally. Is he just
> getting old? These 2 corys have survived a lot- a move, a bad strain of
> ich, and they have recently been laying eggs (last batch was about 2
> weeks ago). I am still trying to get some eggs to hatch, so I really
> want to keep this guy healthy. I do water changes every 2 weeks and add
> stress coat every time.
> Any help would be appreciated.
>

[jb60083]

Thanks for the advice- I have isolated my cory and treated him for
flukes, but he still looks sick. I have noticed there is an area under
his body that is sunken in, on my other cory it is the flat part of the
abdomen (I am not familiar with fish anatomy, but this seems like a
good term). He still eats, and is a lot less active than before. I
wasn't expecting a miraculous recovery, but I am just wondering if this
is getting better or worse. Also, I noticed in my other tank one of my
platys has a flat abdomen as well. All of the other fish are doing
really well. I am stumped as to what this is. I read some articles that
say it could be Fish TB, so naturally I am concerned about my other
tank. Any Ideas?
Thanks.

[Koi-Lo]

"jb60083" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Thanks for the advice- I have isolated my cory and treated him for
> flukes, but he still looks sick. I have noticed there is an area under
> his body that is sunken in, on my other cory it is the flat part of the
> abdomen (I am not familiar with fish anatomy, but this seems like a
> good term). He still eats, and is a lot less active than before. I
> wasn't expecting a miraculous recovery, but I am just wondering if this
> is getting better or worse. Also, I noticed in my other tank one of my
> platys has a flat abdomen as well. All of the other fish are doing
> really well. I am stumped as to what this is. I read some articles that
> say it could be Fish TB, so naturally I am concerned about my other
> tank. Any Ideas?
> Thanks.
=====================================
I read it could also be internal parasites (that cause sunken, pinched or
flat bellies). If these fish were mine I would separate them from the
others. Since they're inexpensive fish treating them may not be worth the
cost of the medication - and you really don't know what to treat them for.
If it's fish TB they're surely going to die so why take the chance of
allowing it to spread?
--
Koi-Lo....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
Aquariums since 1952.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
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