# URGENT! HELP! Corydora habrosus



## jaela (Feb 22, 2012)

Hi,

I bought six habrosus cories a few days ago, and when I got back from my morning class they all looked fine -- but a moment ago one of them went belly-up. I noticed he was still moving so I dropped a drop of water on him with a turkey baster and he flipped back over and swam down, but after a few moments flipped over and went belly-up again. Every now and then he flips over and tries to swim down, but it's like something is making him drift back up and he can't get to the bottom. :-(
Please help, I'm panicking -- is there anything I can do for this little guy??


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## jaela (Feb 22, 2012)

Adding some more info in case it helps...

Housing 
What size is your tank? 15h
What temperature is your tank? 78 fahrenheit
Does your tank have a filter? Yes, Hydro-Sponge II
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? Airstone used in conjuction w/ the filter (inside the sponge, attached to the tubing).
Is your tank heated? Yes
What tank mates does your fish live with? Right now it's just six corydora habrosus, an anubias plant, and some snails that came in with the plant which I've been trying to weed out.

Food
What type of food do you feed your fish? Hikari sinking wafers
How often do you feed your fish? One wafer daily

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? Weekly
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? ~50%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Tetra AquaSafe, AQ salt if needed

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: ~20

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your fish's appearance changed? He seems to be bloated. There might be a little damage to the dorsal fin, but it's very hard to tell since the fish is tiny (less than an inch) and the fins are mostly translucent.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? He keeps trying to swim down but then he drifts up, sometimes staying at the top of the water, belly-up, for a while. He also sometimes lies upside-down at the bottom.
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? I've moved him to a small plastic bowl to isolate him and be able to observe him better, but that's all.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No. I only brought these guys home a few days ago, but they've all seemed healthy and active.
How old is your fish (approximately)? I'm not sure. I only know that he's under an inch in length, so probably still young.


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

It sounds like swim bladder. I'd suggest fasting, and if that doesn't help, maybe an epsom salt bath?


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

We have to take into consideration that cories are scaleless. If aquarium salt harms them, there's a high chance that Epsom will too, correct? :s

Since they could take it, you could try a thawed pea. Other suggestions include feeding frozen/gel food instead of hard wafers, or presoaking.


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

*smacks forehead* Forgot the scaleless thing, thanks Olympia. +1 to the pea, or daphnia.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Haha, yea, IMO cories look like they have scales, I never understood that 
Hopefully the little guy recovers!


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## Fin2you (Mar 5, 2012)

I've had a few of these guys do that to me too, and nothing has ever helped within a couple days they'd died. I hope yours makes it I still have a school of 6 habrosus they're funny when they divebomb up for air!


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## Fabian (Dec 16, 2011)

I haven't notice they had no scales,creepy.


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## jaela (Feb 22, 2012)

Thanks so much for the advice, guys. He seemed to be doing somewhat better for a while, but unfortunately I lost the little guy.  I live by the ocean, so I gave him a little funeral service at the beach.
The others seem to be doing okay, and no signs of bloating from them. I don't know what happened but at least no one else seems to be affected.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Well swim bladder disease isn't always due to something contagious. At least every one else is okay :/


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## jaela (Feb 22, 2012)

Hey guys,

I moved my betta girl in with the cories yesterday because they all looked fine, and now one of them is displaying the same symptoms as the one I lost. D: The thing is, it looks like one of his fins is torn up, so I don't know if he's doing badly for the same reason as the other guy, or if my betta girl got to him. I monitored her when I put her in and at the time she seemed to mostly ignore the cories, but she's pretty aggressive so I wouldn't be surprised at all if she got to him.
What do I do? Do I need to move my girl back out into her 2gal in case it was her, so she doesn't hurt anyone else? I don't want to keep going through this heartache with my cories, but I also don't want to stress out Ann by moving her _again_ if she didn't do anything... =\


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