Askosrose

He's just lying on the bottom of the tank today. I checked my water and my ammonia is still at 0 and my nitrites are at .8. He gets up and swims for a bit and eats and then he's back to lying around. I feel so bad

Karen

Askosrose

He died He wedged himself between the heater and glass and I have no idea how to get him out.


ETA: I went to remove him, and he freaked me out by swimming away! Anyhow, he's still at the bottom doing noting, so I fear it's only a matter of time.

Tommy Gun

So all of your other fish appear healthy?

What are your nitrate levels, if you know?

Do you have any sort of airstone running or a filter that you can use to aggitate the water's surface? Maybe there is a lack of O2 in the water and so you may want to look at that since it is typically pretty easy to correct without a lot of money or time invested.

Askosrose

I won't be able to get a nitrate test until tomorrow. As for filters, I don't know what those ones are Is there something I can do in the meantime to boost the oxygen? I don't want to lose this little guy.

BJP

Even if there is plenty of oxygen in the water, nitrite enterferes with the ability of the gills to take it in. Fortunately with corys they can take in little gulps of air to augment the supply of oxygen in the water. It's kinda like a survival technique that forced to use over time due to high ammonia and nitrite levels may not be enough. Small additions of salt can help. With corys and in general predissolve it before adding it in warm water. About a 1/2 tablespoon per five gallons of water to start. That should get you close to enough to offest the nitrite for now. I've kept albino corys for years in water with twice that much salt without problem so I have no fear of the addition if predissolved.

Additionaly I like to treat corys and a lot of others with a good internal med like Discomed by Aquatronics added to their food for the first week or so following the specific instructions and duration of the brand aquired. That's easier to do in a QT tank though. If it's not too late simply removing him to a clean water source should help. It may not be cycled but with no substrate and regular water changes it shouldn't be hard to control surges.

Askosrose

BJP, thank you. I have no other tank to put him in, but I do have tank salt. I'll try adding some.

Askosrose

Oh my gosh! I just added the salt to the tank, and my cory perked right up! He's swimming around and nibbling at the food like he's a different fish. I feel so happy! I'm not a fish muderer!

Thank you SO much!

Wow. Can I give you guys a pager in case I have a late night emergency one day?

Karen

BJP

I guess I'm a little late. I was out aquiring more test tanks, filters and products to test. I was going to say if you hadn't thought of it yet, that for a fish as small as a cory, you should have plenty of options from tea pitchers and big mixing bowls in the kitchen to clean buckets used for hauling/mixing tank water. Toss in an airstone or maybe a little sponge filter and you have instant tank when needed. A tiny heater can help as well.

My parents keep trying that but I keep dropping them down wells so hopefully they'll give up soon. At least until the weather breaks I'll be checking in regularly. I noticed Walmart starting to fill the parking lot up with lawn and garden stuff today. No landscaping timbers yet but I'll be watching.

Askosrose

I'll keep that in mind if he starts to look sluggish again. I just worried that without the heater, he'd be too cold in a bucket.

If your parents are determined, they could always have you implanted with a GPS tracking device....my husband could hook them up

Askosrose

I guess the salt isn't helping much, because the poor little guy is still just lying there. I got two aerating decorations to add more oxygen to the tank. The girl at the lfs also suggested holding off on feeding them for a few days.

I checked the water today and the ammonia is still at 0, nitrites at .8 and I bought a nitrate kit and level looked somwhere between the 12.5 colour and and 25 mg/l (is that pp also? )

Karen