Cory curved spine, upside down

[Somethin fishy]

Hello all,

I had a rather disturbing discovery today that one of my peppered cory cats (an adult female) was laying on the bottom of the tank, upside down, and in a rather uncomfortable C-shape. She was breathing heavily and struggling to get upright again without success.

I tested the water, and found it to be within normal parameters with ammonia and nitrite at 0, and nitrate somewhere between 25-50. 

I did about a 20% water change, added 1 tablespoon of salt per gallon, and Maracyn (erythromycin) as per the directions, as I suspected dropsy. I could see she was struggling so badly, and I was worried she would exhaust herself to death if I couldn't help stabilize her. With significant difficultly, I tied a piece of cotton string behind her pectoral fins but ahead of her dorsal fin, and tied the other end to a piece of dish sponge. This seems to be working to hold her upright and will hopefully keep her calmer too... She is still in the C-shape now, but if you gently touch her, her body is flexible, but it will go back to this resting position. It appears she can still move her tail fin fine. I did also put in some thawed skinned peas in the offchance she is impacted. I didn't see any external issues on her.

Any ideas on the issue? It totally came out of the blue. Some history is when she was a very young fish (and I was less experienced), she got sucked into a filter several times, and had some buoyancy issues for some time, but the last year or so she has been doing great until now. 

Thank you!

[nabokovfan87]

@Somethin fishy Welcome to the forums. Hopefully the group here can help you out with this!

Can you provide a photo at all?

If you suspect something like getting too stressed or tired, I would recommend using a hang-on breeder box or something like the ziss breeder box that would keep the fish closer to the surface.  A few things right away would be to dose the tank with aquarium salt, which you did, (or a QT tank) and then go ahead and add an airstone.  Struggling to stay upright would point towards a swim bladder issues potentially or internal issues.  Do you see anything like red blotch disease?  If you suspect something like internal issues (bloating, impacted, etc.) than the other option is to use Epsom salt baths.  From my reading you don't want to use normal aquarium salt (in the tank) and epsom salt baths at the same time.  This could lead to increasing issues when used together.

There has been some discussion elsewhere with fry about crooked spines and those being linked to some food issues. 

The issues and shape your explaining, given past issues as well, I would suspect one possibility here is damage from hardscape, equipment, and it could be a spinal issues that is permanent damage of sorts.  Pictures might help, but that would likely be a worst case scenario 😞 .

[Somethin fishy]

Hello, thanks for your reply. The cory (whose name is Dory, by the way) is unchanged currently. The string method for keeping her buoyant wasn't really working (kept slipping off), and seemed to be causing some damage to her anal fins. A better temporary solution seems to be keeping her catching net resting on the top rim of the tank. It is just barely large enough for her to flop around to turn, yet small enough to help her have something to rest against to stay upright. So so far, I guess a win? The only thing better about her condition so far is that since she isn't struggling so much, she is breathing far less rapidly. Her resting position is still with her back curved, but it does appear she is able to move her tail against the curve.

There are some pinky blotches on her belly, so I'm unsure if that's red blotch disease or not. I assume that doesn't cause stability issues, right?

Attached are some pictures. I am continuing the maracyn treatment, and I gave her half a pea in case she needs to pass something.

By the way, I moved her into a cereal bowl of tank water, she is back in the net in the tank now.

Edited October 11, 2022 by Somethin fishy
Bowl for inspection only

[nabokovfan87]

Yeah.  It looks like spinal damage somehow.  It's likely something fell or crushed the back.  I'm very sorry about that.  I would suggest euthanizing the fish at this point.

On 10/11/2022 at 4:41 PM, Somethin fishy said:

There are some pinky blotches on her belly, so I'm unsure if that's red blotch disease or not. I assume that doesn't cause stability issues, right?

Points to either that's the normal color and I'm just not aware.  Maybe @TeeJay can take a look at his and confirm.  I think it points towards some internal issues though.

[Somethin fishy]

If it helps any, I think that is possibly old damage? When Dory got sucked into the filter it was tail-first, and I would find her, freak out, and unplug the filter, and then she would swim out. She has had that shape to her tail for awhile now, just not kinked to the side. It has been kinked up for quite awhile now, but it didn't really seem to hold her back.

Edited October 12, 2022 by Somethin fishy
grammar

[Zzsharks]

On 10/11/2022 at 8:38 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Yeah.  It looks like spinal damage somehow.  It's likely something fell or crushed the back.  I'm very sorry about that.  I would suggest euthanizing the fish at this point.

Points to either that's the normal color and I'm just not aware.  Maybe @TeeJay can take a look at his and confirm.  I think it points towards some internal issues though.

I am so sorry  but I have to agree with nabokovfan87 I think the fish should be euthanized. I hate to say it but this fish is going to die anyways so you might not want it to be a sad slow death.😢

[nabokovfan87]

On 10/11/2022 at 5:44 PM, Somethin fishy said:

If it helps any, I think that is possibly old damage? When Dory got sucked into the filter it was tail-first, and I would find her, freak out, and unplug the filter, and then she would swim out. She has had that shape to her tail for awhile now, just not kinked to the side. It has been kinked up for quite awhile now, but it didn't really seem to hold her back.

I had this happen with tiger barbs and the skimmer on the seachem Tidal.  The main treatment would be bacterial, which you're doing. But the indications of the tail not working / unable to sit upright. That's causing permanent damage at this point and I don't know if that fish will ever recover from it.

That being said. so this doesn't happen in future, do you have any photos of the filtration? Is the pump too strong for the tank or what do you think was causing it?

It's tough to look at, but I am guessing this is where the fish was caught on the intake tube?

[Colu]

On 10/12/2022 at 1:44 AM, Somethin fishy said:

If it helps any, I think that is possibly old damage? When Dory got sucked into the filter it was tail-first, and I would find her, freak out, and unplug the filter, and then she would swim out. She has had that shape to her tail for awhile now, just not kinked to the side. It has been kinked up for quite awhile now, but it didn't really seem to hold her back.

Chances of recovery are small if it spinal damage If you think she suffering I would euthanize her with clove oil he is some information