Is my cory fish dying? Seems to have seizures every few minutes and is always laying on its side?
He’s been an active, happy fish until a few hours ago. Every 15-20 minutes he seems to have a seizure – basically twitching and switching positions really fast in place – and then goes limp and floats around. He’s breathing lightly and is always on his side or upside down when he’s laying limp. He hasn’t gone through anything traumatic – haven’t moved the tank or anything.
I change about 35% of the water every day and every week I put aquarium salt in the water. I always use a water conditioner when replacing water – I feed them twice a day – check pH and nitrate levels every other day – just changed my filter – biowheel is working fine. Everything seems to be normal – none of my other fish are experiencing any illnesses or problems.
I’m guessing he’s dying – if it isn’t obvious enough – but, why? I checked my pH and Nitrate levels – all normal. I have 5 other fish in the tank with him and they are all absolutely fine. He’s not old either, only a few months old… any idea to how or why this happens?
I have another cory fish in my tank as well and he’s fine. I added the salt yesterday and I always use a little less than recommended.
The reason why I change my water so often is because I use to have a very high nitrate level – but this was before I got my cory fish – I have been able to keep it down but only by changing the water every day. Seems a little extreme but I’d rather change the water than have them suffer from high nitrate levels.
He does seem to be dying, but you seem to be taking care of your tank.
I think that changing 35% or the water daily is a little too often.
Are you sure that there isn’t too much salt it the water for him? The other fish might not be as sensitive to it, but he might be.
Maybe your fish has an internal parasite? My molly used to twitch and it looked like she was having seizures as well.
Maybe try medicating just your ill fish in a quarantine tank (if not you will end up treating all of your fish which can be a good thing) with some parasite clear made by jungle labs.
Did all of your fish come at the same time? From what I know, parasites can live in the intestines of fish for months before any symptoms.
Hope this helps.
Im sorry to hear that about your fish! Have you noticed anything different about his eyes? I have a white tetra that Ive had for 3 years now and about 2.5 years ago she lost her eye (I have absolutely no idea how) and I used to see her lie sideways/ upside down several times a day for about a year after it happened. Maybe your fish’s eyes are infected which is causing it to lose its eyesight and it is twitching to try to rid itself of it?
Also, since you change your water so frequently, maybe there are not enough “good bacteria” in your tank- I know that that can be pretty detrimental to a fish’s health (and why people say you should always let your new tank cycle for a few days before adding fish). I can definitely understand you wanting to change your water so frequently so that the nitrate levels stay low, but maybe you can feed your fish less frequently. I feed mine about once every 2-3 days and this has significantly helped me in maintaining my ammonia and nitrate levels. I hope your fish recovers soon!