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Last week I noticed my cory had a marble sized buldge underneath him. I left him alone for 2 days thinking maybe it'd clear up but it didn't so I took him out and put him in a 3gal bucket by himself. Suspecting it was Dropsy I administered Jungle Labs Fungus Clear (claims to cure dropsy and prevent bacterial infection, also a wide spectrum anti-biotic) Anyway after 3 days there was no effect and I started to notice a dark spot on his belly as he was floating at the top all the time upside down.

Last night i decided to take durastic action as I couldn't stand watching him struggle to get to the bottom anymore so I sterilized a needled and when I looked at his belly part of it was clear becaue the swelling had stretched his skin so bad it opened up a gap. I took the needled and poked a hole through it horizontally (as to not damage his organs). I lightly squeezed and noticed it was air that was inside him. I put him back in the bucket and he went to the bottom to rest.

But as i noticed every few hours I have to squeeze him again or he'll start to float. I think its because there is no water agitation in this bucket and he's trying to go up for air so hes gulping in air and not being able to dispell it.

I was thinking about setting something up so he cannot breath to the surface and putting an air pump in to creat agitation to oxygenate the air better and hope he recovers.

I have a feeling his condition may be permanent because there might be something wrong with his swimming bladder.

Someone help! I dont want to lose him. I thought about putting him down but i can't do it and hes still swimming very strongly when i accidentally frighten him.

That was pretty drastic, poking your cory with a needle! I have heard of operating on fish before but never at home like that. You should set up a better quarentine tank for your fish. A 10 gallon aquarium with a heater, filter, and an aerator is the bare minimum you should have. If you can't get those, at least put your cory in a breeding net or similar so you can keep him in your main aquarium in the proper conditions. Without at least 72 degree Fahrenheit water and an aerator he will surely die. You probably don't even need a filter if you change 1/4 of the water every day in a quarentine tank. You should put him in in the correct conditions until you get a suitable quarentine tank. You should keep him on the antibiotics after you get him in a quarentine tank. Corydoras can't survive just by taking air from the surface like a betta. It is more of a supplement for them to the oxygen they get from the water. If you don't have a breeding net then take a plastic container, poke a lot of holes in the sides, and put it in your aquarium. The holes will allow water to flow through and your cory will be protected from other fish. Use a piece of wire to attach the container to the edge of your aquarium so it doesn't sink. Make sure the wire isn't under water so it doesn't rust or just use copper wire. If you get a filter for a quarentine tank, add some filter media from the filter in your main aquarium to the new one so you don't need to cycle the tank. Try not to squeeze the cory even if it is floating. You will just damage the slime coat. Make sure that his side is not out of the water because he could dry out. An aerator will help him from staying in one spot for long and drying out. Adding Stress Coat to the water will help repair damage to his slime coat and fins. When corys gulp air, it doesn't go to their swim bladder so keeping him from going to the surface will not help. The air goes to their gut and they take in so little air anyways, that it wouldn't affect their swimming at all. Many fish with swimbladder disease will recover. I have heard that keeping the water level low will also help the fish in recovery. I hope your cory makes it.

My first thought was also 'find a syringe'. That's essentially what we used to do with cattle having the same sort of problem (using something a bit larger than a syringe tho').

How did the little fella go?