Lost one of my Corydora habrosus :o(

Nemo2182 · Jun 27, 2020

As i prepare to give my tank its first big overhaul (only had 3 months lol) for my Corydora habrosus, i was horrified to find one of them completely still and a pale shade of grey!!! On closer inspect, he was propped up against a rock and had died :byebye:

Check my water parameters and all is good. Did an emergency water change anyways, and checked my other 7 which seem to be fine. He was fine last night, all were feeding and moving around, but now im worried. Only thing i can think is here in Uk we have had a bit of warm weather and tank rose 5 degrees more than normal. I added a bit of premixed top up to bring the temp down to 80. Could this of stressed him out? Im lost to be honest....i believe he is one of the three "newer ones" but has still been in there 3 weeks??Last two water changes i have been using a RO + tap water mix at 1 part RO to 3 part tap water as advised, but apart from that tank has been fine.

Am I just unlucky? Do i now have a parasite to worry about? I noticed his belly was a bit red, but then i dont know how long he was there for to be honest, i didnt notice till 4pm today and lights went out @ 9pm last night...

Byron · Jun 27, 2020

For most of us, diagnosing fish problems is next to impossible. Fish do die, from genetic issues unknown to us, disease (many of which have no external signs until death), etc. The red for instance could be red blotch disease, or just normal from a dead fish (I have often seen this in various non-cory fish). Never jump to conclusions, as that usually means we jump to dump in "x" and make things worse when there may not be anything in the first place.

Higher temperatures for a few days will not kill off cories, nor really even bother them much. A caution though...in warm weather, let the tank water temperature do what it wants. It is OK to turn off lights (unless live plants are present, then it needs to be carefully controlled), open the top for air circulation (but fish will jump, even cories, during darkness especially). Or of course have a room or house air conditioning. But do not do partial water changes or top-ups with cold water because this only shoicks the fish and the water warms up again anyway. A couple degrees is not going to matter, but some people take this overboard with 2 or 3 daily water changes or floating ice packages...none of which is good for the fish. Feed less, and less often, in hot weather. Increase surface disturbance to keep a good supply of oxygen entering the water. And wait it out.

Back in the 1990's and early 2000's, my house got up to 90F iduring hot weather, for several days. Nights cooled down to 70's. I left this alone, and never lost a fish. I'm now in a two level townhouse with a cool lower level where the fish are and the room stays in the low 70's all summer.

Nemo2182 · Jun 27, 2020

Byron said:
For most of us, diagnosing fish problems is next to impossible. Fish do die, from genetic issues unknown to us, disease (many of which have no external signs until death), etc. The red for instance could be red blotch disease, or just normal from a dead fish (I have often seen this in various non-cory fish). Never jump to conclusions, as that usually means we jump to dump in "x" and make things worse when there may not be anything in the first place.

Higher temperatures for a few days will not kill off cories, nor really even bother them much. A caution though...in warm weather, let the tank water temperature do what it wants. It is OK to turn off lights (unless live plants are present, then it needs to be carefully controlled), open the top for air circulation (but fish will jump, even cories, during darkness especially). Or of course have a room or house air conditioning. But do not do partial water changes or top-ups with cold water because this only shoicks the fish and the water warms up again anyway. A couple degrees is not going to matter, but some people take this overboard with 2 or 3 daily water changes or floating ice packages...none of which is good for the fish. Feed less, and less often, in hot weather. Increase surface disturbance to keep a good supply of oxygen entering the water. And wait it out.

Back in the 1990's and early 2000's, my house got up to 90F iduring hot weather, for several days. Nights cooled down to 70's. I left this alone, and never lost a fish. I'm now in a two level townhouse with a cool lower level where the fish are and the room stays in the low 70's all summer.

Thanks @Byron that helps, hopefully its a one off for now, even though any loss is saddening and then worrying. What makes it harder is we all do everything and more to make it perfect, its so hard and upsetting when one dies off....

I will leave the tank over hot days in future....

Nemo2182 · Jun 28, 2020

Houston, we have a problem

Second Cory looking a little clamped up...

Im reluctant to go gun ho with any treatments, because being a novice, i mixed all the wrong things together, so have Shrimp + Snail also, so have to be careful not to wipe everything out

Think I should of stuck with guppies....

Gypsum · Jun 28, 2020

I've had this same issue with c. habrosus. I've had a wee shoal of them since last December, and two have dropped dead suddenly, seemingly for no reason. There were a few months between the first fatality and the second. All water parameters copecetic, as far as I could test. It is frustrating and impossible to determine cause of death.

I recently got two Hypancistrus plecos and added a powerhead to the tank, increasing surface agitation and oxygenation. No idea if lack of oxygenation was a problem for the corys. Maybe, or maybe there is some kind of genetic weakness, as Byron said.

Nemo2182 · Jun 28, 2020

Gypsum said:
I've had this same issue with c. habrosus. I've had a wee shoal of them since last December, and two have dropped dead suddenly, seemingly for no reason. There were a few months between the first fatality and the second. All water parameters copecetic, as far as I could test. It is frustrating and impossible to determine cause of death.

I recently got two Hypancistrus plecos and added a powerhead to the tank, increasing surface agitation and oxygenation. No idea if lack of oxygenation was a problem for the corys. Maybe, or maybe there is some kind of genetic weakness, as Byron said.

Hmmm, I uprated my filter to AC 30 from the standard AC20 so the water is disturbed alot more than before. Also as this is a HOB and works like a fountain, it "drops" water in, so there is a fair bit of disturbance. Plus my original 5 have been in the tank for 2 months now.

Looks like the habrosus are very sensitive, probably as most are wild caught. Not to mention of the three new ones i recently got, two were missing there barbs, and to follow a trend, one of those died yesterday and the other is the poorly looking one today....

Gypsum · Jun 28, 2020

Mine all looked fine. Until they didn't. And it was fast. One minute I was looking at the tank and all fish seemed fine. Then the next, one was lying on the substrate, very DOA. Haven't lost any for a little while, though, knock on wood.

Nemo2182 · Jun 28, 2020

ClownLurch · Jun 28, 2020

Awwwwh.
The temp has definitely dropped these last couple of days. Maybe its genetic rather than heat orientated?

Retired Viking · Jun 28, 2020

Sorry about your fish. I have been mixing RO with my hard tap water too. I also started at 1 to 3 ratio with weekly water changes and slowly increased the RO. I am up to 11 gallons RO to 9 gallons tap water (treated) for my tetras. So far so good as far as my fish. However I did have to remove my anacharis because it started to melt badly and replace it with salvinia

Nemo2182 · Jun 29, 2020

So he is still hanging in there. But if I was a betting man im expecting him not to see out the week. Jas anyone had experience with Cory's suddenly coming back around?? I kept telling myself he is hasnt got any worse, that said, he hasnt got any better either...proper feel for the guy :-(

Nemo2182 · Jul 1, 2020

I know im flogging a dead horse here, but i havent got the heart to euthanise him, so i wanted to make a container thsr keep the shrimps from trying to eat him. I made several contraptions and then it occured to me that I had the old AC20 in garage. ..And hey presto, a quick and easy isolation pod!!! Ill give the little guy a day at most, he is on his side now... :no:

Tough little guys though

On a separate note ( my corys seem to be dropping like flys) Any ideas what wrong with this one (see pic) seems fine otherwise, but its like a massive sore on his face!!

Gypsum · Jul 1, 2020

My experience is that when they start lying on their sides, they're hopeless cases.

Nemo2182 · Jul 1, 2020

I couldnt watch him suffer anymore, he couldnt stay upright and barely breathing, so I administered an ice-cold feed into his holding tank and he went quickly :rip:

8 has become 6 in a week now, and with my other one showing that sore on his face I have no idea what is going on. I have enclosed another pic of my other poorly guy, maybe someone can shed some light?

Byron · Jul 1, 2020

Have you checked with the store to see if they are losing this fish? It is possible they were/are harbouring some internal disease, they are often undetectable.

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Lost one of my Corydora habrosus :o(

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