u/BenMc19

TLDR: new Cory goes into a tailspin when he gets his gulp. Advice?

Hey guys, wanted to post to see what advice you all have. A couple of things I know I'm doing wrong and either learned about it too late or just isn't feasible to do the "proper way".

1. we have gravel instead of sand. Didn't realize we were going to become a cory loving family, was supposed to be guppies. Any advice on how to migrate from travel to sand without starting over let me know

2. I can't quarantine. I get why you should. But as someone getting into the hobby, having a complete 2nd tank (or tub with sponge filter and heater) just isn't something I can/want to manage. I stressed so much on getting my fishless tank cycled, two setups just a no go now.

Got a 29 gallon tank because my 7 year old wanted one for her birthday. Started with guppies, shrimp, and neon tetras.

She fell in love with Corys at the pet store. We bought 1 panda and 1 albino (I know, mistake #1).

We got the tank in February and did a full fishless cycle for 5 weeks (her birthday is March 27th, so we told her fish would be the birthday present because we needed to do the cycle.

March 27th we added guppies, 6 nerite snails, a few amano shrimp.

A week later after successfully keeping them alive we were going back to add neon tetras. We did, but then we got our 2 corys. Then I read about how they need a school, and they only school with their specific type, so we added 2 more of each (3 and 3).

A month of success, and a few days ago she asked me to get 2 more of each to make 5 and 5 (they have become our favorites to watch).

The two albinos we added were normal size and are doing great with the 3 we had. The two pandas, not so much. The ones she picked out were about half the size of the ones we have. She thought they were cute. I probably should have watched them closer in the store.

Things I noticed when we got home. Both tails seemed really short. Didn't look like fin rot, maybe nipped at pet store? They just were a straight instead of the normal -< that my others have.

Well when got home, floated the bag for half hour to acclimate to temperature, then added them, it was easy to see the two small pandas weren't right. One didn't hardly move at all. That one died 36 hours later. Took back and they replaced it with a normal sized Cory (this one's tail also looked shortened, weird, but this one acclimated perfect and joined the panda school like he's been there forever)

The video is of the 2nd remaining small new panda. This guy still doesn't school with the 4 big guys yet, but he is more active rummaging. However is not as active as we are used to. The issue is when he tries to go up to get his Cory gulp. He's slower to get to the top, but when he gets it, he goes into this tail spin on the way down. Does this every time. Now when he hits the bottom, he always lands on his belly, chills for awhile, then seems normal.

What's going on here? Is he sick? Swim bladder issue (doesn't seem to be an issue when he's on the bottom).

Because in worried about illness I did a small dose of the blue itch medicine and the parasite powder. I know this is probably a no no but with no quarantine I don't want to lose healthy fish.

Help me out. Is this something I should euthanize and take back for a replacement? Do I wait it out and see if he gets better?

Edit: it's been 4 days and he's still hanging in there. He is still more inactive than the other corys, and he still is doing his tailspin, but still alive. My worry is he may not be eating as much. Hard to tell.