What's going on with my Catfish?

[tartan101]

I just bought 3 Peppered Cory Catfish. 2 are perfectly fine, but the other one I could have sworn it was dead last night. When I put the fish net in the tank to get him out, he started swimming. All last night he laid mostly on his side, but I could still see his body moving. I have him now in a plastic fry-breeding holder. He's laying on his side, but did swim up quickly to eat.

Not sure if anyone knows what's going on? This is the first time I've had Cory's.

--Lisa

[dan2x38]

Watch he doesn't jump out. Corys are bottom feeders but they dart up to the water surface and gulp some air then use it to breath. He might have gotten hurt during netting in the LFS. Keep him in the separate tank so you can watch him but put him to the side so he does not get stressed. Remember they are mostly nocturnal so limit the light. Also don't over feed. Take a pea and squeeze it out of the shell put that in for him to eat. Corys are pretty easy to care for as long as the tank is clean with regular water changes. Poor water conditions result in certain gases building up in the substrate. This can erode the Cory's barbels (whiskers) then they will starve b/c they use these to find food.