Schmitee Posted November 29, 2015 Report Share Posted November 29, 2015 (edited) Hey guys, I've had a group of 6 corydoras sterbai for about 1 month in a fairly new (2-3 months old) tank. Some of the cories have lost their barbels, but in the past couple of days one of the cories has become really bloated and lazy. The water chemistry in the tank has stayed fairly consistent with 0ppm ammonia and nitrite, 2ppm nitrate, pH of 7 but high (up to 10ppm) phosphates. The cory in question has become bloated, rarely moves off the QT tank floor, is breathing rapidly and has protrusions coming out both from its belly and either side of the dorsal fin. At first, I thought they were scales caused by dropsy, but after a better look, it actually looks more like bubbles coming up from under the scales. I think I may have to euthanize this cory, but I would like to be sure my other cories won't get it. Has anyone had any experience with this sort of thing? Any idea what the underlying cause may be? Any early warning signs? I'll try to attach pics to help. Cheers, Schmitee Edited November 29, 2015 by Schmitee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lictoga Posted November 29, 2015 Report Share Posted November 29, 2015 What substrate are you using? What are you feeding, when and how much? What other fish are in the tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lictoga Posted November 29, 2015 Report Share Posted November 29, 2015 Also tank size and maintenance schedule as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schmitee Posted November 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2015 The tank is 24x12x15, the substrate is fine river sand (~1mm), I do weekly water changes of about 30-40% with mixing up the top of the substrate to make sure its clean. At the moment, the only other animals in the tank are cherry shrimp, I generally only feed once a day with staple of ocean free pro bottom feeder 1 or 2 pellets each, with a mix of frozen tubifex worms or instant baby brine shrimp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delapool Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 I've never seen that. So looking around all I could think of was gas bubble disease or bacterial infection (going off the barbel loss as well). Could these match ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lictoga Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 Im stumped, was thinking a bacterial infection of some kind. No sure on treatment as I'm not sure what it is. Just don't use salt with your corys, as the amount needed for any benefit will stress them out big time. Maybe [MENTION=8516]none[/MENTION] can offer any insight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schmitee Posted November 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 Thanks, I've been doing some reading into it and the most common ideas that pop up for people with similar issues are gas bubble disease and (not gas) bubble disease. The ideas behind cause I've seen are large increase in dissolved gases after water changes (seems unlikely as I use tank water which is siphoned in thanks to tank position, so no large amount of bubbles), internal infection (definitely plausible with the barbel erosion) and high protein diet. I'm not sure on the last one as to how high the protein intake would need to be for this to be an issue. Still haven't seen any improvement in the cory, its still lying around on the bottom with the occasional short swim. I've currently treated the tank with epsom salts (in case of internal blockage) and melafix. I initially did a treatment of multi purpose antibiotic, hence the green hue in the photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delapool Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 Wondering if the bubbles are gas filled or ? and if any redness on margins or centre / red streaking? I've only seen two cases online of gas bubble disease and never had it myself so hard to comment. Bacterial - what sort of antibiotic did you try for the ingredients? Just out of interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
none Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 (edited) Hey guys,I've had a group of 6 corydoras sterbai for about 1 month in a fairly new (2-3 months old) tank. Some of the cories have lost their barbels, but in the past couple of days one of the cories has become really bloated and lazy. The water chemistry in the tank has stayed fairly consistent with 0ppm ammonia and nitrite, 2ppm nitrate, pH of 7 but high (up to 10ppm) phosphates. The cory in question has become bloated, rarely moves off the QT tank floor, is breathing rapidly and has protrusions coming out both from its belly and either side of the dorsal fin. At first, I thought they were scales caused by dropsy, but after a better look, it actually looks more like bubbles coming up from under the scales. I think I may have to euthanize this cory, but I would like to be sure my other cories won't get it. Has anyone had any experience with this sort of thing? Any idea what the underlying cause may be? Any early warning signs? I'll try to attach pics to help. Cheers, Schmitee I would most definitely euthanize the fish. Based on the info provided and in particular that first photo likely internal bacterial infection - combined with secondary infection of columnaris. Cheers Edited November 30, 2015 by none Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schmitee Posted December 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 I can't tell if it's gas or fluid filled, the bubbles are completely clear with no red margin or anything, can't see red inflammation anywhere pointing to an infection. The treatment contains methylene blue, acriflavin and malachite green. Thanks none, as a last resort I'm considering lancing the bubbles and if there's no improvement by tomorrow night I will be euthanizing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
