Arggh! Flatworms Vs. Corydoras = Carnage!

[nmonks]

Well, I can't say I wasn't warned. Yesterday, no fewer than four baby cories had flatworms on them! The poor little guys were either dead or nearly dead.

The remaining fry are fine, save one or two who have a little skin damage (fungus?). I've done a huge water change, taken out all the flatworms and plants and cleaned the sand as much as possible. I'll probably take the sand out as well, but I fear the halfbeaks will be freaked out by a shiny tank bottom. I've added anti-fungus/anti-finrot medication.

I'm not sure if the fungus or skin damage was caused by poor water (or sand) quality/cleanliness, and the flatworms were simply eating dead skin, or else the flatworms were eating the slime or skin on the cories, and in the process causing the damage and/or fungus.

So while it was cool watching the baby cories forage on the pond life, and this certainly removed the need for newly hatched brine shrimp and microworms, the risk of damage and/or skin problems seems to be real. One month after the eggs were laid, I can say that over half the eggs were eaten by snails, and a significant number of fry died subsequently either from predation by flatworms or some sort of water quality issue.

Quite possibly, the clean tank approach is the way to go!

Cheers, Neale

 

[Miss Wiggle]

sorry to hear that, but sometimes you have to take risks to get the best results, you never know it might have revolutionised the way we bring up cory fry

thanks for sharing

 

[Bozza]

Sorry to hear about ur baby cories. You never know until u try it. We learn from our experiences

 

[tetraman]

You never want active livebearers to be freaked out from below, or they'll exit vertically. I've had that happen in a breeding net before.