# Is this Cory cat ok?



## Atom (Sep 17, 2014)

I just got a cory cat (I'm assuming it's a bronze one?) and I've never had any before so I'm not sure if what I'm seeing is normal. One cory cat seems fatter than the other three and its anal fin appears to be hardly there and it's like a small rectangle when it swims.

I've added pictures and sorry they're pretty blurry  My camera isn't that great and it's hard to get a good shot of the anal fins while the fish is moving. I tried to highlight the fin area in red. Also showing a picture of a "normal" bronze catfish and you can really see the difference between them. 

The fish itself seems to be really active and social with the other catfish so it's behaving normally from what I know. It just seems a bit larger in the hind area as well as lacking that back fin near the tail and it's noticeably different from the other catfish. It's really hard to explain without seeing the fish swim in person, but I've tried my best to illustrate what I mean.

Anyone know if this is normal or if its sick/deformed? Thanks in advance for the help


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

Fish in the first picture seems very short in the body for a C.anaeus. Tail looks different too. Nothing obviously wrong with it.


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## Atom (Sep 17, 2014)

That eases my mind a bit! Yeah I wasn't quite sure which species it was  the label at the store said "Corydoras sp.", but I just assumed it was aeneus because they're fairly common and it was in a tank of albinos. 

It's definitely a bit chunkier than the other ones, but they're all about the same length overall. Maybe it's just a female and the rest are male  Anyway, thanks again I'll update if anything happens


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## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

Atom said:


> It's definitely a bit chunkier than the other ones, but they're all about the same length overall. Maybe it's just a female and the rest are male  Anyway, thanks again I'll update if anything happens


all of them have the same body shape? from the looks of it, it is one of the sub species of Corydoras aeneus. The curvature of the of spine looks more like a birth defect than anything els.


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## Atom (Sep 17, 2014)

Yeah it could very well be a birth defect because the anal fin don't look torn at all. It looks more like it's fused together to make a smaller fin or something like that. As long as it's not something the fish can pass on to the other ones, I'd like to keep it as it's bonded quite well with at least one of the other cory cats.

The other three cory cats have more of a streamlined shape with larger, triangular anal fins so they look pretty normal to me. Unless these are all males, which they appear to be.

Thanks for all the replies


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## Atom (Sep 17, 2014)

I've got another cory cat problem unfortunately :\. This time it's one of my albino cories. 

Yesterday I noticed it had a bulge on it's chest that was really big. Since then, it's only gotten larger to the point where the fish can hardly rest on the bottom of the tank without tipping over 

It appeared really quickly so I have no idea what it is. I've been looking online for solutions and most people recommend holding off food or feeding peas and I've been trying to add a few peas here and there and it actively chases for some. Other than the bulge, the fish acts normally and actively chases for food whenever it's put into the tank. 

I noticed a bit of poo hanging from it while it swam yesterday. It looked normal, but I'd never noticed poo hanging from any of my cories other than that. So I'm unsure if it's constipated or blocked up in any way. 

I'll attach a picture and hopefully someone can help me out with this. Hope it's not too serious  Thanks in advance for any advice.


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## Bullet (Apr 19, 2014)

Google a fish disease called Dropsy (also known as Malawi Bloat) 

Could be caused by internal bacterial infection (if swelling is sudden), parasites, or cancer (if swelling is gradual).

Should be able to be successfully treated with Epsom salts - please check suggestions on the internet for dosage amounts


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## Atom (Sep 17, 2014)

Is it normal for only one fish in the entire tank to be affected with dropsy? I haven't noticed anything thus far, but I'll look up the epsom salt solution thanks


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## Bullet (Apr 19, 2014)

I've fortunately never had a fish with this type of affliction and corys are usually pretty hardy 
I have PM'd you some details for treatment of dropsy and yes, only fish can have this in a tank 
Good luck


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## Atom (Sep 17, 2014)

I, too, haven't ever had a fish with dropsy so this is all new to me. Thanks for the private messages . 

I've heard that albino corys are a bit more delicate because they're bred for their colour and might be a bit more susceptible to sickness because of this.

Anyway, if it turns out to be dropsy, a lot of info out there suggests that the outcome won't be that great, so I really hope it isn't, but I'll follow the instructions in case it is. Thanks again.


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## Bullet (Apr 19, 2014)

Hey can you give us an update on the Cory's health situation


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## Atom (Sep 17, 2014)

Not looking good  It improved for the first 2 days or so it seemed and then the day after that it's belly turned yellowish and looks fluid filled. I'm assuming maybe some of it's organs aren't doing too well anymore and it's probably beyond my saving at this point :\.

I've been considering trying to drain the liquid from the fish myself, but I don't want to cause anymore stress than what's necessary. I think I caught it too late to cure the fish to 100% of it's previous self  I tried remedies, but they didn't seem to work that well. 

Not entirely sure what happened to cause this and the rest of my fish are doing fine. I've read that sometimes it could just be an internal organ failure or something like that.

Thanks for all the help though. Hopefully I don't get another case of this in my tank anytime soon.

Edit: on a lighter note, the black/bronze cory from the first few pictures is still active and well and interacting with the other cories in the tank  so I think that one's fine at least.


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## Bullet (Apr 19, 2014)

Hmm thanks for the update 
He / she may be too far gone and you're right that you may have caught it too late 
At least you know now so you can be prepared to act if it happens again - God forbid
Corys are generally very hardy but disease can be tough on them - on all fish 
I would not recommend doing any sort of home surgery as you could do further damage or cause pain unnecessarily 
Sorry to hear of this turn of events but I am pleased to hear of your other cory doing well


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## Atom (Sep 17, 2014)

Thanks for the kind words. And yeah I decided against doing anything from home because I'm completely inexperienced. It just sucks not being able to help it. 

Everything appeared so fast :\ it was behaving normally and then suddenly showed up with a huge lump one day. It was the first cory I've ever had, which I actually got by accident in a bunch of danios from a tank with multiple species in it. It's also the one that got me interested in cories where I had previously been unaware of them  they're really interesting creatures and I've become quite fond of them now. It'll be sad to see it go.


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