Koglin
Fish Crazy
Hey Everyone,
New to the forum, and new-ish to the hobby. Had an odd issue I thought I would warn other beginners' about.
I recently set up a new 10 gallon planted tank, and after a few weeks of using some bio ceramic rings from a friend's tank, everything was going very well with my water parameters - so I decided it was time to add some fish.
I decided to get x6 pygmy corys (corydoras pygmaeus), but since they're shoaling fish and often venture to the mid lvls I decided to get some taller fake plants while I waited for my live plants to grow more.
This is where it went poorly, I had chosen a taller fake plant with thread-like leaves coming off of it (seen in the pic). At first it was great, sometimes food bits got stuck in the plant and my little corys would group up and sit around on the plant threads to scavenge it.
But tonight, I noticed one of them stuck upside down in the plant. I shook the limb a little bit, and another cory swam free of it, however 1 poor fella was tangled within the threads.
I gently pulled the plant free and turned it near the surface to try and spread the limbs apart more, and the cory couldn't wiggle its way free. Upon inspection with a magnifying glass, i discovered one of the threads was straight through his gill, and wrapped around him - locking him in place! I tried to gently pull him free, but alas, he is currently listing around on his side in quarantine. This may have been a freak accident, or possibly happens more often, I'm not sure.
Either way, I guess my warning with fake plants is this - take a few extra minutes and really consider how your fish could physically interact with them before buying, since tanks go periods without us checking them out, a trapped fish like my cory could've been stuck there helplessly for hours, causing irreversible internal damage. Personally, I have hope, but I do not believe the poor pygmy cory will make it.
Hope this helps someone.
New to the forum, and new-ish to the hobby. Had an odd issue I thought I would warn other beginners' about.
I recently set up a new 10 gallon planted tank, and after a few weeks of using some bio ceramic rings from a friend's tank, everything was going very well with my water parameters - so I decided it was time to add some fish.
I decided to get x6 pygmy corys (corydoras pygmaeus), but since they're shoaling fish and often venture to the mid lvls I decided to get some taller fake plants while I waited for my live plants to grow more.
This is where it went poorly, I had chosen a taller fake plant with thread-like leaves coming off of it (seen in the pic). At first it was great, sometimes food bits got stuck in the plant and my little corys would group up and sit around on the plant threads to scavenge it.
But tonight, I noticed one of them stuck upside down in the plant. I shook the limb a little bit, and another cory swam free of it, however 1 poor fella was tangled within the threads.
I gently pulled the plant free and turned it near the surface to try and spread the limbs apart more, and the cory couldn't wiggle its way free. Upon inspection with a magnifying glass, i discovered one of the threads was straight through his gill, and wrapped around him - locking him in place! I tried to gently pull him free, but alas, he is currently listing around on his side in quarantine. This may have been a freak accident, or possibly happens more often, I'm not sure.
Either way, I guess my warning with fake plants is this - take a few extra minutes and really consider how your fish could physically interact with them before buying, since tanks go periods without us checking them out, a trapped fish like my cory could've been stuck there helplessly for hours, causing irreversible internal damage. Personally, I have hope, but I do not believe the poor pygmy cory will make it.
Hope this helps someone.
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Hope the little one makes it! You never know, but it's good to share the story and try to help others watch out for these things too.
