Albino Cory Has Lost One Of His Barbels! What Do We Do?

[Richie Hell]

We have smooth, fairly large gravel, but have a snail problem so thought it may have been him trying to eat a snail. Will our cory still be able to eat? He'\s lost his left barbel and we think it may have happened tonight as he ate quite a bit then suddenly stopped and swam quite quickly over to the bubble curtain and then just sat still.

Will he die or will he be ok?

 

[ulster exile]

We have smooth, fairly large gravel, but have a snail problem so thought it may have been him trying to eat a snail. Will our cory still be able to eat? He'\s lost his left barbel and we think it may have happened tonight as he ate quite a bit then suddenly stopped and swam quite quickly over to the bubble curtain and then just sat still.

Will he die or will he be ok?

Corys will nosy around in the substrate for food - they seem to spend forever doing this so sand or small, rounded gravel is always best. The barbel most likely has been damaged IMO by nosying in the large gravel, but have you noticed any cuts around the area that could indicate that this is not the case?

Try some melafix to help him with the barbel, but if the problem is with the substrate, then this will reoccur again I'd have thought.

BTW, you say "cory"...is he your only cory, as these prefer to be in groups?

 

[puppyduck]

Co-owner here.

The injured cory seems fine and I'm inclined to think he only had one barbel when we bought him home and were so concerned with just making sure he wasn't dead that we missed it completely.

We have other corys who are all fine, and there are no cuts on Bunny the injured cory at all.

I thought maybe it was a snail or a plant that he cut it on since he snuffles around the plants alot, and we have a bad snail infestation which have mixed with the gravel. I myself nearly cut my finger removing a larger snail so thought it may have been that.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Richie Hell and puppyduck

As long as your cory can eat OK, he'll be fine.

If this was caused by an injury, you'll want to keep an eye on him to be sure that fungus doesn't set in on the wound. If it does, there is medication available to treat it. Since their is no sign of injury, perhaps it has healed already. It could also be the result of a bacterial infection and this too would need attention if it is still active.

The reason it's best to use fine gravel or sand with corys is that it's easier to keep clean. Uneaten food, or in this case dead snails, can become caught between the pieces and become food for harmful bacteria. Since corys live on the bottom they are more easily effected by it than many other fish. One of the signs of bacterial infection is the loss or deterioration of a cory's barbels.

 

[puppyduck]

Ok. Update; I kind of misjudged our gravel size when posting. Lol. Looked at it later and its quite small. So we're pretty sure its not the gravel as its actually small and smooth.

He seems ok and is still snuffling around. No clear wounds visible but we'll keep an eye on him.

Thanks all