Argh! Cory Disaster!

[stephentw]

So I finally managed to get some Green Laser cory's and they were added to the tank yesterday. 1 of them didn't look well from when I first added them and died soon after, shock/stress from moving I thought. Then another died overnight. Then when I came in tonight I checked them and 1 had missing barbels (I didn't notice any with barbel problems before I added them but I could have overlooked that as I kept the lights off to not stress them) I have sand too so not sure whats happened there. Now when I've looked again the one with missing barbels is currently dying and ANOTHER has missing barbels that's 4 out of the 6 I've bought all dying/not well within a little over a day!

What on earth is going on? I'm absolutely gutted! Nothing like this has ever happened to me with any of my fish. What can I do, have I just been unlucky or is there something I can check? My other fish all seem perfectly happy.

 

[Harlequins]

Sorry to hear of your loss

Seems strange,unless they barbel damage happened in transfer,just being in your tank for a day shouldn't cause this barbel loss...

What size tank do you have?
Your readings for ammonia nitrite?
What other stock do you have?

Did you acclimatise them slowly?

 

[stephentw]

Sorry to hear of your loss

Seems strange,unless they barbel damage happened in transfer,just being in your tank for a day shouldn't cause this barbel loss...

What size tank do you have?
Your readings for ammonia nitrite?
What other stock do you have?

Did you acclimatise them slowly?

Yeah I always use the drip method for acclimatising new fish and I've never lost one so suddenly before let alone a possible 4, makes me wonder if it's been something out of my control. The dying one is now dead and the other barbel-less one is swimming around mid water and keep going to the top for air, but apart from that looks fairly normal.

I have a 125l tank (heavily planted) stocked with mainly tetras (green neons, embers, couple of rummys, couple of penguins, couple of platys and 3 gold lasers). I do weekly water changes and my stats are pretty consistent. Currently

PH 7.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5

 

[mattlee]

were they bought and collected or posted to you?
if you collected them then it pays to watch the fish for long enough that your happy with their health. if they were posted then i always check the ammonia levels in the bag the fish arive in to see if its hitting dangerous levels. as said barbels wont wear off ina day especially on sand and i doubt that they were damaged in transit as they would have been in a plastic bag......
i would get on the phone to the seller and say what has happened and that they are not healthy specimins and see what they will do, either replace or refund. ive never had green stripes or any cory to think about it die during transit or acclimatisation.

 

[stephentw]

were they bought and collected or posted to you?
if you collected them then it pays to watch the fish for long enough that your happy with their health. if they were posted then i always check the ammonia levels in the bag the fish arive in to see if its hitting dangerous levels. as said barbels wont wear off ina day especially on sand and i doubt that they were damaged in transit as they would have been in a plastic bag......
i would get on the phone to the seller and say what has happened and that they are not healthy specimins and see what they will do, either replace or refund. ive never had green stripes or any cory to think about it die during transit or acclimatisation.

I'm getting them replaced they were posted. Only 1 of the 6 left now but surely of there was something wrong in my tank my gold lasers would be showing similar signs and they aren't. Just have to hope for the best with the last one I guess.

is there anything I can do before getting the new ones to make sure everything is ok on my tank? I'm keep testing the water. Maybe melafix or pimafix?

 

[mattlee]

try doing a decent sized water change the day before you get the new fish. this will ensure good clean water for them to be added into.
i wouldnt put meds in the tank without 100% needing them as it can stress fish for no reason.
when the new batch arrive take your time and acclimatise them slowly and any healthy fish should be fine. im sure that your water is ok and there is nothing wrong with the pH etc as ive kept corys at pH 8.0 before.
dont forget sending fish through the post is very stressfull as they will be bashed about in dark conditions and in a very small space with the water deteriorating fast.
good luck with the new ones, let us know how they do

 

[stephentw]

try doing a decent sized water change the day before you get the new fish. this will ensure good clean water for them to be added into.
i wouldnt put meds in the tank without 100% needing them as it can stress fish for no reason.
when the new batch arrive take your time and acclimatise them slowly and any healthy fish should be fine. im sure that your water is ok and there is nothing wrong with the pH etc as ive kept corys at pH 8.0 before.
dont forget sending fish through the post is very stressfull as they will be bashed about in dark conditions and in a very small space with the water deteriorating fast.
good luck with the new ones, let us know how they do

Well the new ones arrived. They're acclimatised and in the tank now. They all look healthy from what I can see, no barbel loss or anything like that. The only thing I'm worried about is they're racing around going absolutely mental and my other cory's have never done that. This is the same thing the last batch seemed to do before dying off gradually. They're rushing up and down the glass and racing lengths along the front, chasing each other about and generally looking a bit mad. Is that normal or should I start worrying?

 

[Harlequins]

That sounds pretty normal to me

 

[hughessomefish]

Keep us infourmed on how the new batch does.

 

[stephentw]

Well its day 2 now and all is going well. No losses yet. They're very active. Far more than my Golds, they still just sit under the bogwood all day. Thought they might come out with the greens.

 

[Harlequins]

Fab news hope they continue to thrive

 

[fluvial]

I got a pair of Corry Sterbai and for the first 2/3 weeks they used to spend hours swimming up and down
the same piece of glass at the side of the tank.
Thought they were probably stressed as they do prefer to be in groups of 4+.
Eventually they settled down, and I've added another to be with them. He has an occasional swim around
the tank but appears much more settled than the first two did.
The 3 of them now get along fine and spend all their time shuffling along the substrate looking for scraps
of food

 

[Inchworm]

Hi stephentw

Who did you buy the fish from?

 

[mattlee]

Well its day 2 now and all is going well. No losses yet. They're very active. Far more than my Golds, they still just sit under the bogwood all day. Thought they might come out with the greens.

i have golds and greens and all they do is sit under the wood or in coconut caves, they seem to only come out for food and to spawn..... its a very boring tank to be honest as these are the only fish in it and it looks empty! they are also very skitish and hide as soon as anything approaches the tank. i have 2 coconut caves and 17 fish and they all pile on top of each other inside.... when you remove the cave they go nuts
such a shame as they are beautifull fish