# Cory catfish?! Red mouth and labored breathing?



## christinaporreca (Feb 22, 2015)

Hi everyone! I have 2 Cories and 2 Albino catfish. My other catfish are all doing great, except for one.

Saturday (3/28) I read that the redness can be from water quality. I changed 8 out of the 10 gallons and thoroughly cleaned the gravel. The redness disappeared by Sunday but he is still breathing extremely hard.

What should I do about this? I noticed this less than a few days before Saturday. 

I have a quarantine 2.5 gallon tank I can put him in.

Does anyone have an idea?

Here is a photo before the water change


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## jeaninel (Aug 24, 2007)

I always recommend a sand substrate for cories. They like to root around in the substrate looking for bits of food and gravel can be very hard on their barbels and mouth area. Sand is much easier on them and they're able to find food easier since it sits on top of the sand rather than work it's way down into the gravel.

If the redness seemed to get better after the water change and gravel clean I would just leave him in the 10 gallon and maybe do another water change. Keep the water quality good and the gravel clean and keep an eye on the little guy. If the redness gets worse you may to to put him in a hospital tank and treat. Hopefully it doesn't get to that stage as it can be very stressful on the fish. Good luck!


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## christinaporreca (Feb 22, 2015)

Thank you! After the water change all redness went away. I think the ammonia was higher than usual, I'm not sure. 

Should I be concerned about the breathing?

I can change to sand soon- is it harder to clean?


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## LolaQuigs (Mar 28, 2010)

Is your tank cycled?


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## christinaporreca (Feb 22, 2015)

Honestly.. I'm unsure. When I test the waters ammonia and nitrites are 0.

I noticed his right whisker new his mouth looks different from the left, like it split? there's two on one side.


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## christinaporreca (Feb 22, 2015)

I think he may have tore his whisker? I tried to get a picture as best as I could.

I put him in a 2.5 gallon for now.


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## Axeria (Feb 6, 2015)

That is what happens to corys if they are kept on too rough a substrate (just like bettas and sharp plastic plants/objects) unfortunatly as they use them to forrage on the bottom for food... The good thing is that it is easy to remedy, just get a fine sand with rounded grains. Do NOT use quartz sand, that is really coarse and are a known destroyer of cory whiskers.

I hope your little guy heals up fast and that you can get him some nice sand


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## christinaporreca (Feb 22, 2015)

Thank you guys! Will the filter suck up any sand? I never thought about not having gravel. I'll be able to get the sand today and probably change it by tomorrow


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## Axeria (Feb 6, 2015)

I think only a under gravel filter would suck up sand... Is this what you have?


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## jeaninel (Aug 24, 2007)

As long as your filter intake is a few inches above the sand you'll be fine. Sand isn't hard to clean, just hover your syphon just over the sand and any debris will get sucked up off the surface. If/when you switch to sand just make sure to rinse it really well. Put the sand in s 5 gallon bucket, fill with clean water, swirl it around then dump off the dirty water, repeat until the water runs clear. Might take alot of rinsing but worth it in the long run.


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## jadaBlu (Feb 14, 2013)

I treated a cory with redness with redness with methelene blue and a tiny bit of Kanaplex in bath for 25 minutes dailly it helped with the labored breathing and redness. Sand is fantastic. Easier to clean and your catfish will be much more active. Somewhere in planted tanks I posted you tube video where one side of the tank was gravel and the other sand you could see what made the catfish happier.
I tried find it to post here but couldn't I had no idea when I first got catfish they like sand. No one tells you at the petstore and it took awhile to find out here.


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## christinaporreca (Feb 22, 2015)

No I don't have an under the gravel filter! Right now he's in the quarantine tank with java moss and I'm feeding him blood worms. His labored breathing stopped and he's healing! I noticed it looked like a deep cut, so I'm happy he's better.

I'm picking up the sand tomorrow for sure!

Also what a strange thing.. I took the heater from my oldest betta, Richard's, tank. He's been insanely bloated, I was convinced it was his time for quite awhile because I treated for SBD and it wouldn't stop. After I took away his heater he went back to normal. 100% was able to swim to the bottom, actually move around! I can't believe it.


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## jadaBlu (Feb 14, 2013)

Sand will mess and undergravel filter I am not sure of the specifics but I've read it several times on forums. Maybe switch to a sponge filter. Maybe it wasn't SBD but a bacterial infection that was accelerated by heat. Look for a new heater for him and keep the temp lower like 77- 78 degrees.


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