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I'll preface this with the fact that I haven't been here to observe my fish closely for the better part of five days or so. I was pretty much here to feed them and that's about it, being that I had a rambunctious puppy that I was dogsitting.

In any case, onto the heart of the matter. I was combing out my hair when I hear this weird random splashing coming from my 20 gallon. I looked up to see one of my triline cories bouncing about the surface of the water (like zooming up to get a breath of air, but getting multiple breaths at once?) and then getting caught between the plastic breeder box and the side of the tank.

I went over to release him from the space he'd gotten trapped in, and he sort of floated down to the gravel, landing on his side. At this point, I can see that his "lips" are tinted red. Barbels seem okay, but right between them is red.

Truthfully, he doesn't look good at all. I witnessed him dash up to the surface a second time, bobbing about at the surface at least a dozen times before falling back to the substrate (belly up). He's breathing quickly. I don't know what to do for him.

The tank DOES need cleaning, and that's on the to-do list for today, but water levels are normal (pH 7.2-ish, amm 0, nitrite 0, nitrate ~20).

For whatever reason, after the last time I cleaned the tank, I've gotten a lot of algae... coating the gravel and plants. It's sort of growing like BGA but it isn't that.

None of the other fish are acting abnormally. I haven't even noticed the betta girls going up to the surface much, so I don't think it's an issue with oxygen in the water, though his surface bobbing made me wonder.

I feel bad... if I'd been here the past few days, could I have helped him or diagnosed sooner? Is there anything I can do?

Anyone... help?

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Here's a (somewhat blurry - sorry) picture of him just after he spiraled downwards the second time. I checked in on him and he's hiding in a terracota pot "cave" and seems to be better (not dazed, on his side or having weird seizures )... I can't really see him too well, as he's shaded by the pot, but I THINK he still is somewhat red on his "lips." Not sure... any ideas?

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~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Kitten, he also looks a tad red around the gill area?

The only time I saw something similar in my Cories was when I had a nitrate spike in my tank some years ago. I had a very well planted 10 gallon that I kept Cories and Kuhli Loaches and a Betta (occasionally) in. I ended up losing two of my Cories and my 2 regular Kuhli Loaches before I figured out what was going on! They all exhibited the shooting/swirling behaviour before they died, along with red "lip" area and (eventually) eroded barbels....

I'd say a good tank vaccuum is in order. I know it's hard to get in around the plants and all, but those little faces are right there in the dirty substrate all the time. If you can catch it before it gets worse he may make it okay, but you don't want it to get ahead of you!

Good luck!
L.

The red of the gills is just the normal color... the only thing that's different is the red of his mouth. I'm cleaning tanks again tomorrow, so I'll get good and into the small spaces. Hopefully he'll be okay.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~