Cories Still In Trouble

[This Old Spouse]

90% water changes every other day should be enough, one would think. This tank has been established for about 2-1/2 months and was cycled using established media. The stats are normal.

I have some tetracycline on the way in the mail, but will it kill off my shrimp and filter media? Should I try to catch them all and put them in a hospital tank and dose that? Not sure what else to do here. Gah.

 

[CrazyAirborne]

maybe u just need to give it more time? ur water changes are definitely adequate one would think, maybe they just grow back slowly?

 

[ZoddyZod]

not sure what the history is here, but what substrate do you have? Losing barbels an be a sign of infection or that the substrate is too sharp for them

 

[Caprichoso]

90% water changes every other day should be enough, one would think. This tank has been established for about 2-1/2 months and was cycled using established media. The stats are normal.

I have some tetracycline on the way in the mail, but will it kill off my shrimp and filter media? Should I try to catch them all and put them in a hospital tank and dose that? Not sure what else to do here. Gah.

The barbels can take a long time to grow back, 2 months or more. You will start to see a very short, thin barbel coming back, at least this is what happened with my corydora. Tetracycline is an antibiotic and will kill good and bad. I don't know how it is with shrimp.

 

[This Old Spouse]

@Zoddy ... it's a sandblasting sand substrate, which I'm going to change out as soon as I find something appropriate.

I have always been aware from reading posts here that sharp gravel is a problem. But look at this video of corydoras in their natural habitat in the Amazon river, especially at :15 to :20 where he shows the substrate. Not that I want to put this in my tank, but it looks really sharp to me.

Wild Cories


We're shopping today for better substrate for all our tanks (except the JD/firemouth tank which is fine). I'm hoping to find some pool filter sand. I'd love to go to Lake Superior and bring home some of THAT sand which is basically tiny round pebbles that have been tumbled to perfection.

 

[Harlequins]

Did they have stunted barbels when you got them??

I loved that video of cories i suppose in the wild the natural elements and soft waters make it ideal for corys,but it doesn't mean to say they feed off the rough substrate thats shown in the video,they were shoaling more so that hunting/feeding for food ....

I know when i first started keeping cories when i had gravel and 2 of my original tri's have stunted barbels,they've never really grown,but thankfully they haven't picked up an infections to cause them any problems,and still going strong(touch wood,dont like tempting fate...)

 

[This Old Spouse]

It wouldn't surprise me if they did have stunted barbels when I got them, but I'm afraid to say I don't remember. It just seems like I've been chasing tragedy ever since I got them, just trying to keep them alive. I'm down to 3 trilis now, and they spend all their time cruising up and down the sides of the tank.

I'll be spending tomorrow putting a layer of regular play sand on top of the white sand I have to see if that will help in the least. I'm not giving up yet!

 

[Harlequins]

TBH i reckon they were probably like it in the first place,has you haven't mentioned any of your other cories having the same problem.

If it was the substrate,i would think they would be suffering too...

Whats the other corys barbels like? e.g. your sig pic they have lush barbels do they still look like that?

 

[This Old Spouse]

The delphax and aggasizii still have lush, beautiful barbels just like their photo. But the smaller cories have shorter barbels ... the greens and peppers are starting to show signs of losing theirs, that's why I'm going to put play sand on top of the white sand. It's so disheartening, especially when I see how wonderful yours are!

 

[Proxo]

Think i'm having a similair problem mate, although mine seems to have turned into more of a 'fungas ball' on the mouth?
I've looked roung the internet to try find something out or even find a picture but had no luck, anybody any idea on this?
- sorry if i'm topic hijacking lol.

 

[This Old Spouse]

That's how several of mine died. It's called mouth fungus, and only one of mine survived the initial infection, but he just died a couple days ago, possibly from all the stress of the infection, I just don't know.

Melafix is what took care of it. It's actually bacterial, so you should be able to isolate it and treat with antibiotics (which I couldn't get soon enough). Good luck.

Oh, and do a gigantic water change. Every day.

 

[Proxo]

That's how several of mine died. It's called mouth fungus, and only one of mine survived the initial infection, but he just died a couple days ago, possibly from all the stress of the infection, I just don't know.

Melafix is what took care of it. It's actually bacterial, so you should be able to isolate it and treat with antibiotics (which I couldn't get soon enough). Good luck.

Oh, and do a gigantic water change. Every day.

Cheers for info

I've lost 1 and just noticed this one has it too, the rest seem fine and are growing
there barbels back pretty nice but can this spread to the other cory?

 

[This Old Spouse]

Yes, it's very contagious. You should have a quarantine tank set up so you can medicate the infected fish without disrupting your whole tank.

 

[Proxo]

Cheers for the help mate

 

[This Old Spouse]

Good luck, and please keep us posted!