Cory Cats

[TetraGuy]

Hey everyone,

I am new to the forum, and relatively new to the hobby. I have been having problems with my cory cats. Over the course of a month or two, for no apparent reason, two of my cory cats have died. They start swimming strangely, such as in corkscrews or upside down, and then, after a week or two, they die. Any help/advice would be appreciated.

 

[fluttermoth]

We need far more info from you, I'm afraid.

How big is the tank, how long has it been set-up, what filtration do you run and how many and what size water changes do you do?

Did you cycle the tank and if you did, how? What's the decor (gravel or sand) and what other fish are in there?

Do you test your own water or get someone to test it for you and what are the results?

 

[TetraGuy]

So, its a 10 gallon tank, It has been set up for around five years, probably, though it has only been tropical for about a year. I have an undergravel filter and an Aqueon 10 power filter, i do about 25% water changes every other week, The tank was cycled, though it was a long time ago and I am not quite sure how. It was with goldfish, probably. I have four rocks, two of which are about two inches large and the others are closer to six. The substrate is about 1/4 inch gravel. I usually test my pH, alkalinity, hardness, carbonate hardness, and ammonia. However, I ran out of test kits except for ammonia, so I am not quite sure where it is there. I would like to buy more, but I have been unable to do so. The pH has been around 6.4, and the hardness is around 120 ppm. I am not sure where the carbonate hardness was, but i believe it was around medium to high (ppm).

 

[fluttermoth]

Ok; I would guess (diagnosing fish diseases is not easy; especially at distance!) that they're picking up some kind of bacterial infection from your gravel. Cories should really be kept on sand, and definitely not with UG filtration.

It depends on the species of cory, but they're not normally very sensitive to pH or hardness (pandas and dwarves are among the exceptions).

 

[TetraGuy]

Oh well thats a pity. I still have one peppered(plateaus)cory still, he/she doesnt appear to have any problems at the moment. Thank you for your replies, they have been most helpful and informative.

 

[fluttermoth]

Yeah, they're lovely fish; best of luck with your little chap. Maybe think about upgrading to an internal filter and a sand substrate? Depend how much you want to keep cories, I guess!

 

[TetraGuy]

Thank you very much. I do have a power filter, so I may consider turning of my undergravel filter and just running the power filter. I would certainly love to keep cories, but I wouldnt want them to suffer.

 

[plecostomusguy]

I believe that would be the most logical choice