Bronze Cory, Homicidal Maniac Or Just Lucky?

[Cobain89]

My tank recently suffered a big loss. 28 out of the 29 fish that were in there died. There was no signs of disease symptoms at all, however a few had signs of blood. The one fish that remained was my bronze cory. About a day after being all alone, she laid eggs all over the tank.

Surely she didn't go on a killing spree to clear the tank for her eggs. would that be possible?
Also, she must have bred with an Albino cory because I only had one of each, will the babies be all bronze/ all albino or can they be mixed?

 

[Sp3nc3r]

cory's as far as i know, lay eggs and as they lay eggs the male fertilizes them, so if he's dead then i dont think thats possible

umm as for you fish loss i am very sorry, but i dont think 1 cory would go and kill all of your fish, what are your tank stats?

 

[AlexAndCarmen]

Corys actually spawn in a 'T' position, where the female receives the necessary bits from the male, and then fans them over her eggs in her fin basket before laying them on whatever surface she has chosen. Therefore, she would need the male to be there at the same time. They spawn everytime she lays eggs and once she has the bits from the male, she deposits the eggs in the fin basket to fertilize them.

As for all the other tank mates dying. Corys don't kill other fish, well none that I've heard of. I have found cories eating a dead fish once in our tank, but they are scavengers and we did notice that the said fish wasn't as strong as the others, so didn't expect it to live as long as the rest.

Sorry to hear about your loss of tank mates. What other fish did you have?
Hope that helps, Carmen

 

[Cobain89]

I forgot to mention that the albino cory was the last to die after about a day of just that and the Bronze cory in the tank so that must have been when they had the eggs. I never really believed they would kill anything, guess they just survived whatever it was.

I had all sorts in the tank: 11 tetras; including 4 black widows, 2 glowlights, 1 serpae and 4 red eye tetras; 2 angel fish, 1 golden algae eater, 1 cuckoo synodontis (Or something like that), 1 peppered cory, 1 julii cory, 2 glass catfish, 5 scissortails and 3 zebra danios. So all 27 of them are dead and the albino cory died as well.

All I have a left are my two fighters and a couple of plecs in a different tank. I've moved the bronze cory in that tank now as well so the eggs are safe in a tank of their own.

What causes the eggs to go white and kind of fluffy? I've noticed that in quite a few of them...
Are there ideal conditions for eggs to be in?
Thanks for your help.

 

[Sp3nc3r]

the eggs go white because they have fungus on them, and they are dead

you have 2 male fighters in a tank and a couple of plecs, what kind of plecs

common plecs, those can grow to 24 inches and require a very big tank if you have a couple

what size tank?

 

[Cobain89]

Nah, one's a female fighter.
They are both common plecs but are still pretty small. The tank is only about 6 UK gallons but if they get too big for it, I'll just give them back to the shop. 8)

 

[demonmagus]

still the fighter thing is kinda dangerous as the female will just get killed by the male

But how did everything die? We need your tank stats and size

 

[Xebadir]

The tank is only about 6 UK gallons

11 tetras; including 4 black widows, 2 glowlights, 1 serpae and 4 red eye tetras; 2 angel fish, 1 golden algae eater, 1 cuckoo synodontis (Or something like that), 1 peppered cory, 1 julii cory, 2 glass catfish, 5 scissortails and 3 zebra danios. So all 27 of them are dead and the albino cory died as well.

Overstocking is the culperate here from the look of it, that tank is far too small for this many fish. This would have most likely killed the fish via Nitrogen Cycle Spikes, or failing that, disease.

 

[Cobain89]

Nooo, the 6 gallon tank has the fighters and the plecs. All the fish that died were in a different tank, more than twice the volume of the smaller one... So it wasn't overstocking.

 

[garraty]

Nooo, the 6 gallon tank has the fighters and the plecs. All the fish that died were in a different tank, more than twice the volume of the smaller one... So it wasn't overstocking.

Still at 15 gallons the tank was way too small. And I mean WAY too small. How long was this tank up and running? When were the fish added? Water changes? Doesn't matter that much really, as overstocking is the obvious killer.

Try limiting the number of fish and you will have better luck.

But, on the eggs. If they turn white and furry they are no good. If they get darker as time goes on they may hatch, this is usually four days, give or take a couple depending on temperature. Once hatched, they need no food for two-three days, then they need food smaller than you can see. Microworms, pulverized flake or something else small enough for a fish that is a couple millimeters long.

Nooo, the 6 gallon tank has the fighters and the plecs. All the fish that died were in a different tank, more than twice the volume of the smaller one... So it wasn't overstocking.

Another thing, 6 gallons is too small even for two small common plecos, unless they are TINY. Because they grow so big and so fast they make a ton of poop at a young age and a six gallon tank can not handle that much bioload. How big are these plecos? I would consider a six inch common to be called small.

 

[Sp3nc3r]

how long have you had the male and female together

it is most likely that the female will be torn to shreds, i suggest moving the male to a tank by himself

 

[severina]

still the fighter thing is kinda dangerous as the female will just get killed by the male

But how did everything die? We need your tank stats and size

how long have you had the male and female together

it is most likely that the female will be torn to shreds, i suggest moving the male to a tank by himself

I was very disappointed in you two. That is just an outright lie! The male might not rip the female to shreds, but its either that or the female could rip the male to shreds, as what happened to me when I first tried my hand at breeding. ;P

 

[Cobain89]

I still don't think it was overcrowding because I had all them fish in for at least a year and they all suddenly died in the space of 2-3 days. It's not like any of the fish were giants, the biggest was probably 5 inches max.

The plecs in the 6 gallon tank are only about 4 inches each at the moment, but the bigger tank is empty now so I might consider moving them.

As for the fighters, they seem keen to breed. The male keeps making his nest and they've kinda got close to squeezing the eggs out, but the nest keeps getting ruined because the water level seems to drop gradually but I'll sort that out. Might even move them into the bigger tank as well.

 

[Noobyfish]

Yes overstocking did kill them. They were so tightly packed some disease easily wiped out all your stressed fish. From what I see you had a 15 gallon stocked like a 70 gallon. 29 fish with some being 5" is way overstocked. I know you didnt mean it because even now you dont think it was overstocked but trust me and everyone else, it was.

Im not an expert by any means but im told beginers should keep to 1'' of fish per gallon. I know it may seem small compared to the amount you had before.

For example 6 small tetras and 4 corys would fill your tank using this rule.

Im sorry about what happened to your fish. Everyone makes mistakes.

 

[GuppiesRGr8]

SO SAD