Cory Losing Barbels

[This Old Spouse]

My 20g long cory tank houses the fish you see in my signature. Below is a photo taken a few minutes ago. The stats are Amm and Nitrite = 0 and Nitrate is about 20. pH is 7.0, water temp about 72-73ºF. The tank has been set up about a year.

A couple of months ago I got 6 scleromystax barbatus. Within a month they had all died, one by one, with no outward signs of any problems. I could only assume that since they were wild caught in Peru that all the trauma finally caught up with them. I did a water change after each death.

Now some of my cory are starting to lose barbels. Not all of them, just some. I don't know how I can get the water quality any better. Does anyone have any suggestions? Here's the tank as of this morning:

 

[ainsy]

Looking at the substrate it looks like there is some gravel in there?

If so this can often wear them away - they are better on a completely sand substrate.

HTH

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Yeah there is gravel in there but...I dunno I just don't think it's enough to do it. As it's mostly sand and that gravel looks to be the smooth "river stone" kind

However, I don't know what else it could be!

 

[This Old Spouse]

There is no gravel. It's just the larger pieces of smooth play sand that have migrated to the top. Also, it's all toward the front of the tank.

 

[ainsy]

That's some pretty lumpy looking playsand!

I use playsand and it is uniform in size and tiny compared to yours

 

[This Old Spouse]

Well, good for you! This is what we get from Home Depot.

 

[Scales9]

Well, good for you! This is what we get from Home Depot.

I have the home depot play sand too, it is completely different to the play sand I used to buy for the kids when we lived in the uk, anyway my cories do not seem to have a problem with the home depot sand.

 

[This Old Spouse]

Some time ago I did a lot of research into substrate for cory to see what the best was. Sand, of course, because they like to rummage under the surface. But I found one study where a researcher used broken glass as a substrate

and after several months he discovered it didn't interfere with their barbels at all.

I have thought about replacing all the sand with new sand, just to ward off any worries about anything being harbored in what's in there now. Is Harlequins out there for some advice?

 

[ainsy]

No need to be sarcastic - I was only trying to help

 

[Tizer]

I wouldn't use that sand...to be honest. Try some Aquarium Silica sand.

 

[FishFanatic04]

Maybe the cories that died introduced a bacteria of some sort that is living in the sand?

I have watched vids of cories and they live on a mixture of substrates in the wild, INCLUDING gravel. I have the home depot play sand and the bigger bits wouldn't damage them.

 

[Proxo]

I remember you getting that sand a very long time ago and you hadn't had any problems with it since then?
So think i'm going to go with FishFanatic with the bacteria infection of some sort

 

[This Old Spouse]

I think you might be right. Now ... should I dose the tank with something? Remove all the sand and replace it? Both? Neither? Gaaahhhh.

 

[FishFanatic04]

yikes, I can't help on that one. Now if you need help with internal parasites or sterilizing your tank after a fish tb diagnoses. I am now an expert.

Good luck!! Someone will have the answer

 

[This Old Spouse]

Gad, I hope it's not TB! How are you doing? I was lurking on your posts about that.