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I flipped on my tank lights this morning and found one of my corys stuck to the filter intake. Thinking he was dead, I reached for the net to flush him. To my shock, he was still alive!

He's in REALLY bad shape tho. He's definitely on his way out I just wanted to see if anyone can tell me what happened. As you can see in the pic, the base of his tail and his right pectoral fin appear bloody. His other side is not. He also can't sraighten his back. He can't move from the position he's in in the pic. Was he attacked? Is it a disease? Any ideas? Please help! Thanks.



gartenzwerfe attached this image:

He passed away just minutes after I took the picture.



><>Dani<><

hemorrhagic septicemia aka red streak disease? kinda stretching on that one. an ammonia spike like that would most likely hurt other fish.

is the bloody side the same side that was stuck to the filter intake?

is he a recent addition that possibly could not acclimate to new water parameters?

No he's not a new addition. He's been in the tank from the sart, back in August.

Nitrites: 0 ppm
Ammonia: ~.75 ppm Due for a water change today anyway.

I think the bloody side was AWAY from the intake.

><>Dani<><

I'm pretty sure it wasn't an attack by another fish, it doesn't look like the cory has been bitten. I would guess that the cory was drifting or swimming very weakly around the tank, and got stuck to the filter. I bet that whatever happened to the cory, happened before it was stuck. I don't know exactly what happened, though. Maybe it was some kind of hemorrage.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Your cory had a severe bacterial infection, which could spread if not treated. An infection like that will kill a fish in less than 24 hours, so I would treat it as soon as possible.

A good antibiotic for infections like that is Maracyn Plus. I have used it and had success with it.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

too add to that I coat the food with the meds when I treat with anti biotics especially when its internal, its more effective when injested rather than just added to the water. It works great and IME has worked ALOT better than just adding directly to the water as well.

also, do a good vacuuming of the bottom, where all of the decay is. since they stay around the bottom it helps so much if it's nice and free of poop

thats exactly what my koi fry had i hope it will disappear when i put them in the pond

Last edited by resle at 24-Oct-2004 15:13

i'd take another look before pumping antibiotics in the tank (they ARE bad for the fish).

i haven't seen something quite like it, but my guess is that he was beaten by something in his right side, which made the severe damage to the left side. the tail doesn't look that bad, and it might be a secondary injury. also, such a bashing will explain why he couldn't move his back. it was severely injured.
what can hurt a fish like that? maybe going too close to the output flow of the filter? maybe doing that while sleeping, and acting too late? i don't know.

anyway, it isn't an attack of another fish. it is blunt trauma, IMO.

No, the bleeding at the fin tips is diagnostic of septicaemia. Were the bleeding more centred on the body, then it would be consistent with trauma, but at the base of the fins, septicaemia of some sort is the most likely culprit.

I would wait until another fish becomes symptomatic before medicating, just because there is no way of knowing if the septicaemia was caused by bacterial or other reasons.

Symptoms to look out for include lethargy and a genral "ill" appearence, there may be neurological symptoms, there will be bleeding at the base of the fins and blood streaks through the body in advanced stages. Dropsy (oedema) may occur as organs fail.

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I like to think that whoever designed marine life was thinking of it as basically an entertainment medium. That would explain some of the things down there, some of the unearthly biological contraptions