# OH NOOOO! My poor cory!



## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

One of my cories has not looked right since I got him from Petco. At first I thought that it was nerve damage to his barbels from being on the rough gravel, and due to a malfunction of my QT tank I had to put him in my 15 gal. after only 1 day. He seemed to be doing fine, then I noticed that his mouth looked funny. Today I woke up to find that his mouth is completely disintegrating. He is having trouble breathing and is in obvious pain. When I saw him so disfigured I immediately assumed that it was my fault, SCREAMED, jammed my feet into my shoes, and ran 7 miles. Then I realized that my first 3 cories have been fine since summer. Remembering that he never looked right, I think something was wrong with him from the start. I have never heard of this before, and I don't know if it is contageous at all. I don't think he can eat anymore. Should I put him down? If you can help, I really need help ASAP. Thank you. 

:BIGweepy:

Oh, I know you are going to ask so..
-15 gal planted tank with 6 cories and 1 male guppy
-weekly (sometimes every 5-6 days) 20% water changes
-he is one of 3 new fish, the others appear fine
-no larger tankmates that could have maimed him
-temp. 76-78 degrees
-some algae problems in tank
-tank dosed with flourish and flourish excel as directions imply
-eco-complete gravel (I thought this was the culpret at first, but all the others look great and have been on it longer, also this fish was wierd from the start, prefering to munch algae and rest on the driftwood instead of scurrying around the bottom with the others.
-fish has no other symptoms than otherwise stated (well, his gills look reddish)

I think this covers it. PLEASE help!


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## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

I tried to google his symptoms and the only thing that I got was cotton mouth. It doesn't appear to be this however, the symptoms don't match. Maybe a bacteria?

Seeing him suffer and not knowing what to do makes me sooo sad


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## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

Do I have everyone else stumped too? Sorry if I'm impatient, I just really don't want all my other fish to suffer the same fate, and I hate seeing him suffer.


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## kritas (Feb 29, 2008)

I have never heard of anything like this. And no you aren't impatient, when someone comes on with an urgent question about dying fish, obviously they need an answer ASAP.
Hope you find out what it is and what caused it, and I hope your Cory gets better


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## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

It is just so wierd. I thought for a moment that it may have been an infection, but he had no open wounds at any point. It was more like his mouth just started disintegrating for no real reason. I can't find anything online, so I really don't know what to do. It would be awful if he just slowly starved to death while in pain, but my other concern is for his 5 other cory tank mates. Grrr...this is just the sort of thing that happens to me.

Thanks for your reply though, it's nice to know what others are thinking even if they don't have the answer.


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## jeaninel (Aug 24, 2007)

Do you have sand or is it gravel? If it's sharp gravel his barbels may get worn down and could cause an infection. It sounds like maybe something like columnaris which is a bacterial infection. Can you get a picture?


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## Flashygrrl (Jan 18, 2008)

Check you nitrates? Sometimes a high level can do funny things to cories barbels...maybe try PMing Coryologist and have a picture if you can.


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## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

I'll check nitrates today. They usually are less than 10 because of the plants and my frequent water changes.

I have eco-complete substrate. It's kind of a mix between sand and very small gravel. My three oldest cories have been on it since mid summer and have grown very long barbels since then.

I heard columnaris is really bad. Would my entire tank be infected then?


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## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

Here's the photo. I'm sorry it's not that good, we don't have a very good camera.

Here's a before and after shot. The before one was the day after I got him.

[/ATTACH]


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## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

Err..actually the after shot is first.


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## Flashygrrl (Jan 18, 2008)

Yuck...if it were columnaris you'd usually see white fluffy spots on him too. Perhaps it was just the stress of being moved so many times? I'd still PM Coryologist as I'm just guessing here.


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## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

How do I pm Coryologist?

I think that Petco is breeding superbugs or new types of devastating diseases! Arrg...I am NEVER going there again!!!


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

hay kim.
i wonder if the plant ferts are cousing more problems for you with the algae.
perhaps a thread in the plant section might help you .
sending a PM(privert message is easy.
find the member you want to message,place your cursor over their name
you'll get a little list come up of options,click on the send a privert message,it will open up another page for you,that looks like
when you write a reply message,write what you need to say
then click on the send button.


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## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

Nitrates are 5.

Thanks Willow. Will do.


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## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

Here's an update:

This is the third day since I noticed the extensive damage to his mouth, and while it hasn't gotten worse as far as I can tell, it hasn't gotten better either. It is still bloody and severely misshapen. I still don't think that he can eat, and he is still in obvious pain. I did pm coryologist and I am waiting to see if I get a response. I am thinking I may have to put him down because I'm pretty sure that his mouth will not ever be the same, and I don't even know what this illness is, let alone how to treat it. The poor little guy just has no quality of life left. I have been reading on how to humanely euthanize a fish, but I don't have access to clove oil. The thing with the almost frozen water, is this an acceptable method that will let him die peacefully should there be nothing that I can do for him? Thank you.


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

i don't think the frozen water is an option really. 
please don't think me rude in asking............ whay can't you get the clove oil ?


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## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

Well, if I beg on my hands and knees for a drive I may be able to. Honestly, don't get me wrong, my main concern is that he die peacefully. I love all of my little fish and I would never want one to suffer unnecessarily. So, this is the best way? Where would I get said clove oil? Thanks.


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## mattyphilly (Jun 23, 2007)

If the answer to the following qns are negative, then i'd wait a while. He might recover. 
Does it look as if his anal and dorsal fin are melting? Did he lose scales or is his pattern fading drastically? Red spots on gills?


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## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

His fins and body are fine. His gills have been a little reddish though. Yes, I was not going to euthanize him right away, just if he looked to be slowly starving to death, as he does not seem to be able to eat. Right now I am just really hoping that it is nothing contageous. Once I get my QT tank I will probably put him in it because I feel that he may be able to eat better in a bare bottom tank. Thanks everyone for all your advice.


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## mattyphilly (Jun 23, 2007)

actually cories tend to do better in a tank with some gravel. I got this from a friend who breeds them. putting him out of the tank will cause him more stress


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## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

Ok, it just seemed that because of the condition of his mouth, he isn't able to sift through the small gravel particles for food. Maybe I'll start putting a small piece on the driftwood for him. I've been watching closely and he doesn't seem any better or worse. I still have no clue whatsoever what this is!


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## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

Sad news, he died last night. At least he was able to die peacefully of his own accord, and he is not suffering anymore. I still have no clue what he died of, and right now I am just hoping that my other cories continue to do well. Thanks for your help everybody, even though I was not able to save him.


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## jeaninel (Aug 24, 2007)

Sorry to hear that.:-( Hopefully your other cories will be ok.


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

sorry kim, 
i think this is probably a one off thing,and the others will be ok.


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## satwood (Oct 6, 2007)

Kim,

I don't have an answer for your fish but here in MA I have now had some very bad experiences with PETCO fish. I got ich in my new tank and have very high losses. The store near me does not care for their fish well and now with the disease I'm done with them for good.

Sorry for your loss, this is a very frustrating hobby sometimes, because of what we don't know and can't do.


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## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

Thank you everyone. Petco is BAD, I will never be going there again. I really need to convince my mom to take a drive with me this weekend to look at some fish stores. The other cories are still fine, so I am happy about that. I think it was just a wierd disease that only he had. I will count myself lucky for now that it hasn't spread.


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## iamntbatman (Jan 3, 2008)

Definitely have a look at some other stores. You'll likely find a favorite and stick with it for all of your livestock purchases. After some searching on the internet, I found an amazing store that has a great selection and also quarantines all of their new fish in isolated tanks before introducing them to the sales tanks. Out of the dozens of fish I've purchased from them, only one has died.


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