A corydoras helper needs to look at the bottom, not the surface
The emergency details for corydoras catfish start with where they live: in a group, on the substrate, mostly active toward evening. A neighbour checking at midday may find several corydoras resting motionless together under a plant and assume the worst, when that stillness is ordinary daytime behaviour for this fish. Helpers need the number in the group, their usual hiding spots, and the note that no corydoras should ever be moved out alone, because a single cory separated from its shoal stops behaving normally and stresses quickly.
The surface dart is breathing, not an emergency
Every corydoras helper needs one behaviour explained before the first visit: corydoras regularly shoot to the surface, gulp air, and drop back down. That dart is a normal part of how these catfish supplement their oxygen, and a helper who mistakes it for gasping may start changing water or adding treatments the tank does not need. Surface behaviour only becomes a report-worthy concern when the whole group hangs at the top constantly, breathes fast while staying there, or stops returning to the bottom. Writing that distinction down saves the helper a frightened phone call and saves the corydoras an unnecessary disturbance.
Feeding details: food that reaches the floor
Corydoras feeding instructions must solve the problem helpers never see: food eaten by faster fish before it sinks. Leave the named sinking wafers or pellets, how many to drop, and where to drop them, ideally in the corydoras' usual corner after the lights dim, when they forage most actively. State that flakes floating on the surface are not a corydoras meal, that uneaten wafers should not be doubled the next night, and that the group also grazes naturally, so a missed feed is far safer than a pile of rotting food fouling the bottom layer where these fish live and breathe.
Substrate, salt and treatment rules
Helpers need three firm corydoras rules. First, never replace, deeply dig up or vacuum away the smooth sand or fine substrate in a panic clean, because corydoras push their barbels through it all day and damaged, worn barbels are a known vulnerability for this fish. Second, add no salt at all, since scaleless catfish tolerate it poorly even when it is suggested as a general fish tonic. Third, add no treatment, algae product or new tankmate without asking you first. Add the practical details too: leave the filter running, top up only with conditioned water at a similar temperature, and keep the lid on, because a startled cory can jump during a clumsy net or hand movement.
Contacts and the questions a helper will actually ask
The corydoras emergency sheet should name you first, then a fish-keeping friend or the aquatic shop you use, and it should list the alarm signs in cory terms: barbels looking short or eroded, red patches on the belly, the whole group refusing food across two evenings, or several fish lying on their sides. Helpers will also have small questions mid-visit, like whether the resting group is asleep or whether tonight's wafer count changes after finding an uneaten one. Routing those questions through KinsLe Messenger keeps every corydoras conversation, photo and answer in one per-pet hub, so the neighbour, your family and you all read the same thread instead of piecing together separate texts while you are away.