Im not sure what is wrong with my Panda Cory??

low05011487

Hi all

Im fairly new to fish keeping and have had my first tank running for around 5 months now. I fully cycled it before adding fish and its a 20 gallon long.

I have a school of 5 Panda cory's, 3 fancy tail guppies, 2 platies and a dwarf neon Gourami. They all seem to get along fine except the Gourami can be a abit of bully now and again. My current water parameters for ammonia, nitrate, nitrate are all reading zero and have been for a long time. I perform a 30% water change once a week and the last one was friday.

All my other corys seem fine they are a healthy colour, no sign of fin rot and rooting around with their barbels. I have a smooth gravel substrate. The tank is temporary as i have a 40 gallon cycling with newly growing plants.

Anyway to get to the point one of my corys is very pale- almost white like they are sometimes in the lfs, he is laying very still on the bottom of the tank and has been for 2 days now, the only other thing i noticed is that his top dorsal fin looks a little ragged like the top part curve of it is missing (if you get me).

Im not sure what to do, because my other tank is cycling and no where near ready, i dont want to add anything to the tank without knowing what is wrong, and i havent added anything new to the tank.

I use liquid tests for ammonia, nitrate and nitrite but sticks for the rest.

PH is showing as 6.4
GH - 125
KH -140

The only thing thats changed in my tank of recent is that I removed a chinese algae eater having come to the realisation that he was aggressive having been mislead into believing he was a siamese fox.

Please help, unsure as what to do!

low05011487

I forgot to mention that I also have 6 diamond neon tetras. Looking at his top dorsal fin it is extremely ragged- it looks healthy- theres no fungus of what I can see but it looks like its been stripped down or nibbled. Can anyone suggest anything. He's still lying on the bottom. I am going to upload a photo if I can get one as he is currently hiding behind some bogwood.

BarbH

How long has it been since you removed the chinese algae eater?

low05011487

17 days exactly, the algae eater was around 4 inches long and he was quite aggressive. He schooled with my corys, only saw that he was aggressive with my platies in particular and he killed one of my tetras- sucked a big hole out of him.

BarbH

Chinese Algae eaters are nasty when it comes to other fish, and they tend to develop a liking to the slime coat on fish. From the information that I have seen on them they should be kept in a species tank only. Have you noticed if your gourmi goes after the corys at all? If you are able to I would consider moving the cory to a qt/hospital tank if you have one available. I would also observe the gourmi to see if he is going after your corys at all According to the profile on diamond tetra they are very peaceful, so I would not suspect them. Hopefully someone else may have some other ideas.

Also where are my manners welcome to TFK

low05011487

Hey thanks, I saw this site a few times, it helped me a lot setting up the tank :) Yes I took the chinese algae eater back to my lfs, they wasn't too happy but they sold me a fish they had told me was peaceful! The Gourami doesn't seem to bother them too much from what I can tell, I will take your advice and watch him closely. When I first set up I made the mistake of buying two and the other died from the stress of constant harrassment from the other (I nicknamed him terror) lol. lesson learned there!

I have managed to get a photo of him and his dorsal fin does not look to good at all :( Im not sure what to do because the other tank I have has only been cycling for 8 days (set up with sand for the benefit of the corys) although I did move over the gravel, a little filter media and pebbles from my current one to help the bacteria. Should I move him or is it too risky? The parameters for that tank say low levels of ammonia, not nitrate or nitrite.

Corydoras 1.jpg

Corydoras 2.jpg

Sorry the photos are'nt the best, its so dark :)

1077

I am no expert on fish ailmment's but have seen ,treated for my share. Fish looks to me to be very thin, possibly due to internal parasites. You could try anti parasite medication. Jungle Labs medicated anti-parasite food would work possibly better than treating the water but only if fish is eating.
If treating the water,,I might consider medication such as Metronidazole as per instructions.

low05011487

Hi thanks for the advice :) Unfortunately the panda cory has deteriated rapidly, he's now on his side and is breathing rapidly. I cant stand to see him suffer, but I know drowing him with air wont work :( I dont know what to do? Should I still buy the metronidazole? He's been very lethargic as well as the ragged fins and hasnt eaten today or yesterday :(

1077

I might consider euthanization from your description but that's just me.

low05011487

Hi
Sadly he passed away just over an hour ago. At least he wasn't suffering too long as he appeared fine up until yesterday evening. Upon close inspection his dorsal fin was in healthy condition no sign of fungus just ragged, like fin rot or he had been nibbled at. I also noticed his barbels were missing bar one. Due to that I'm relieved my other tank that is currently being cycled has a soft sand substrate. Couldn't notice anything else except he was a little thin, I'm too squeamish to open him up. Should I be worried? Given that my other fish are healthy and my parameters are fine is their anything I should be concerned about? Many thanks for your help.
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