ANOTHER dead cory

[corykitty516]

So I get home last night after an AWFUL day at school and find ANOTHER of my cories, belly up. No Ammonia, no nitrItes, normal nitrAtes at 20 ppm, pH 7.2 (as ALWAYS) This is the third I've lost unexplained like this so I looked back over my journal to see if there was anything I was or wasnt doing. This one has a similar sore under the side fin (sorry, anatomy is escaping me right now) as the first one. The second one had been gnawed on so I couldnt see if what the cause was.

BLOODWORM is the only common factor. I fed it 24 hours before finding them each time. I dont feed any more, actually less, in amount than I do of flake or pellet. On days I do feed bloodworm I dont feed anything else. None of the other tanks have experienced this phenomenon.
Its frozen Hikari, I thaw it in tank water first and drop it in with a baster.
I saved him in a baggie of water in the fridge for closer examination when I get home.

Are they blowing out their stomachs ? Why is it only one at a time ??? why are there no symtoms ???

I didnt post this in emergency because well, they are dead so what can you do?

 

[jflowers]

Can't see it being bloodworm IMO, my cories love them and I feed frozen blood worm twice a week. Do you add anything to your water, salt, snail away? Any other recent changes? I have found some cories difficult to keep alive when recently introduced, Cory Julii for example, I have added three lots of three and only have four now, they died a day or three after introduction. Bronze cories though have done much better, no deaths at all. What are yours?

Jon

 

[SirMinion]

Unlikely to be the bloodworm, ours also get frozen bloodworm once a week. they love it.

 

[ral]

Went home last night and found one of my Cory's dead. I did not notice anything amiss before he passed away. Was surprised to just find him on his side when I got home.

 

[corykitty516]

They ARE julii. Nothing else new to the tank. I think this may be a weak batch or something. There were 6 to begin with, 3 for about 2 months then I added 3 more. The 3 new ones died while still in quarantine (parasites by evidence of white poo?) Got 3 more and quarrantined (medicated this time) them and they were fine. Now they are dying one by one. These came from the same LFS and were actually all from the same batch.

Salt: ONLY use it on my bettas and ONLY when they are sick.

Its the injury that puzzles me. I blamed the first one on a sharp edge that I then removed.

I'm getting a 30 gal next week (someone told me petsmart is doing 25% off tanks and stands) I picked up some refugee pristellas and another Julii and I cant put them all together with my current ones.. they need more space.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi corykitty516

Bloodworm shouldn't be a problem, but it could be possible that you got a bad batch. Perhaps it defrosted and was later refrozen. You never know about that kind of thing.

Personally I prefer feeding live food because you can see what you are getting. Why not try feeding live blackworms for a while. Your fish will love them, and there is no waste. Any that escape the fish will live in the gravel until the corys find them.

But the sore puzzles me. I'll wait and see what you say about it when you inspect it more closely. In the meanwhile, it won't hurt to increase your water changes until you are sure you have the problem resolved. Even though your parameters are normal, you might have too many bad bacteria breeding in there and this will not show up on water tests.

 

[Zombies]

I'm not sure if there really is a connection but I will mention that two of my cories died the day after eating bloodworms, I only fed them bloodworms about once a week. I stopped feeding them for now.

 

[corykitty516]

mystery solved .... bacterial infection

I hope the ones i have left can pull through

 

[Inchworm]

Hi corykitty516

Yes, when something goes wrong with a cory, it's usually bacterial in origin. They are usually sturdy fish, but when they are new they have recently been subjected to being caught and then shipped all around the world. They might wind up in hot or cold conditions during this time and they are almost always over crowded because water is heavy to transport.

If you can get them over their settling in time, and they strengthen their immune systems, you can expect them to live good healthy lives if your tank is kept clean and fresh.

Do you see any white spots on them? Damage to fins, tail or barbels? What are you doing to treat them?

 

[Inchworm]

Went home last night and found one of my Cory's dead. I did not notice anything amiss before he passed away. Was surprised to just find him on his side when I got home.

Hi ral

I see by your signature that you have pandas. These are smaller and more delicate than most of the other corys and more prone to bacterial infections. These can strike quickly or move more slowly.

I have been doing water changes in my panda tanks twice a week and have found this to be a good way to prevent problems. Even with this, there are times when I find them starting to develop white spots that indicate infection (although it is not necessary to see anything at all.) If you see this, do not wast time worrying about it being ich or fungus--it's bacterial..

Often I have had good luck treating them with an extra water change and a dose of MelaFix. If there is any improvement at all, repeat the water change and the MelaFix the next day and until they are cured. If there is no improvement, move on to a stronger medicine immediately.

 

[corykitty516]

Hi corykitty516

Yes, when something goes wrong with a cory, it's usually bacterial in origin. They are usually sturdy fish, but when they are new they have recently been subjected to being caught and then shipped all around the world. They might wind up in hot or cold conditions during this time and they are almost always over crowded because water is heavy to transport.

If you can get them over their settling in time, and they strengthen their immune systems, you can expect them to live good healthy lives if your tank is kept clean and fresh.

Do you see any white spots on them? Damage to fins, tail or barbels? What are you doing to treat them?

No signs of illness until I found them dead.

Until the most recent .... he lived a day after I found the ulcers on him and I determined that it was septicemia.

I was treating with Maracyn-Two but I think he just had too much internal bleeding to make it. If I hadnt found him dead already today I would have euthanized.

I'm continuing to treat the tank he came from through the full antibiotic treatment. They arent showing any ulcers yet but I think by that point it is too late anyway.

These cory's all came from the same source and I'm pretty sure they were infected when I got them. I dont want to try to get a return on them even thought they are supposedly lifetime garanteed. The LFS guy is an @$$ and I dont have the emotional stability to deal with that today.