fry update

I'm not sure how my fry Lucky is doing. A few days ago I did the weekly water change, and the little fish looked distressed afterwards. In fact, they all did. A day before the dose of prazipro was done, everyone looked better especially the oto wasn't breathing hard anymore. But I saw a few of the adult cories flash once again, so just to be sure I did a second dose of prazi after the water change. I also dosed the usual ferts. Came to look in the tank half an hour later, and the fish all looked poorly. Momma was lying on her side under some buces panting,

the oto sitting propped up in the mouth of the cave

and the males in other spots- Leo so lethargic he didn't even move away when I got close with the camera-

you can see from this side view his tail was a bit pinched too.

I'd never really seen them sit so still. The fry looked worst of all, quite pinched:

And I don't know what's up with its eyes. It seems to have a white mark through the bottom of the eye- is this normal?

I was alarmed when a little later I put in a tiny bit of food to see their reaction. Nobody really moved. The only thing I could think was- did I accidentally put a drop too many of Prime? or did the ferts and medication interact and reduce oxygen content? I did a partial water change.

The fry perked up a little bit, but still acted weak and let itself drift into corners. At which point I got a closer look at it, and the tail fin looks a bit ragged. Sigh.

A day later and the adult fishes act totally normal. They're spawning again. Momma stuck a bunch of eggs under the heater this time.

Fry seems a bit better. It's definitely grown- the belly no longer looks transparent but has white solid color like the adults' now.

It seems to increase noticeably in size every day- these pics on leaf litter a few days apart:

And here in the windelov fern:

on anubias:

But I'm still a bit worried about it. This morning the tail looked pinched again, and even though it was going after the food I sprinkled in, it seemed to have trouble swimming. Wriggling around in the plants and sometimes tumbling as if it couldn't swim straight. Because the tail fin is clamped? did it somehow get neurological damage? I don't know if I'm doing right to feed the tank a bit extra, maybe the water is not kept clean enough or it isn't getting the right density of nutrition.

If another one hatches out, I think I will either: feed the tank normal and let it take the chances (of starving). Or put the fry in mesh breeder box or separately in a tote to raise it where I can feed extra just for the baby fish.... This one, I don't know how it will turn out.