Cory scare

[aquarius]

well i got three cories a week ago and the were always swimming around happily, never sitting still. then yesterday i noticed that only two of them were swimming together and the third one was alone scavenging the gravel. they were like that for most of the day. then i saw that the third one was just sitting on the bottom and not moving. i got so scared, thought he was dead. well he wasn't. then today, i couldn't find this cory. i finally saw him lodged between the rocks and the filter. i was sure he was dead then. i moved the rock a little and he just started swimming around again. what a relief! so i don't understand what's happening. two cories seems to have paired up and the third one spends most of his time on the gravel now, apparently taking naps. is that normal? i hope he's not sick or anything

 

[lizard]

I've noticed the same thing with my three Corys - two of them tend to stick together while the other one is off by him/herself. Not sure why - sometimes all three stick together, other times they're all alone. Corys like to sit and rest and look like they're dead, or at least sick. I think they do it to freak us owners out

Pamela
aka Lizard

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Aquarius

Are you sure it's always the same cory that's by himself? Unless he's a lot bigger or smaller, it's easy to get mixed up.

Are they all eating ok? If so, just keep an eye on him, but I don't think there's anything to worry about. You could try adding another cory.........

 

[aquarius]

thanks! so they like to play dead, huh? those crazy cats

the cories are all eating normally as far as i can tell and they certainly look healthy. maybe they're finally settling into the new tank, since they're not as hyper as they used to be. i'll keep an eye on them, thanks

 

[rsz]

mine do that (in particular, the bronze one!) - it gets me EVERY time!

 

[fishgeek]

lack of activity can be an early sign of ill health
hopefully in your case it is not

watch closely and try to see if the cories barbel are as long as all the other cories

look for any red colouration in the belly region

watch for clamped fins

cories are quite suscptible to bactrial disease primarily because they sift through the detritus left on the bottom of our tanks. This can be made worse by having heavy or sharp substrates that could physicvally damge the barbels and allow secondary infections to enter the fish, or just cause feeding to be painful- think of cracked lips

Ensure correct substrate , cories perfer sand or at least small smooth gravel
Vacumn the substrate regularly to keep debri to a minimum(only the surface layers- dont stir up deep substrates totally)

If all cories are feeding well the problems less likely
good luck
andrew

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Aquarius

How's your cory doing?

Do you have a cave in your tank? Corys have poor eyes and like to find a place to get away from the strong overhead light and into the shade. B) Often you will see them in there for hours at a time. (They are also, naturally, less active during the daytime than they will be in the evenings and at night.)

If you don't have such a place, or low growing plants that they can get under, it might be a good idea to get one.

 

[aquarius]

Hi Inchworm. my cories are all doing fine. they're the most active fish in the tank, day or night, lol. two usually swim togeter on one side of the tank and the third is usually looking for food on the gravel and will sometimes join the others. i do have a small cave in there (if you can call it that. i stacked rocks and shells together) i occasionally see one of them in there for a minute and then he swims out. i'm curious to see how they sleep. someone once said that his cories sleep on top of each other in a pile. lol but whenever i come downstairs at night and check on them, all the fish would be asleep except for these little fellows. they're just so cute that i want more!

 

[Inchworm]

Hi aquarius

I'm glad to hear that your corys are all doing well.

My corys sometimes sleep (or just hang out) all piled up in their cave. Sometimes I look and the whole cave is full of little ones, all piled one on top of each other, 3 or 4 layers deep! All I see is a cave full of little bitty cory faces looking back at me. It really is cute.

They really get active in the evenings, swimming back and forth and up and down. One will shoot up and grab a gulp of air and then the next thing you know two, then more and more will alternately swim up and down.

When I see these young corys interacting with each other, and realize that this is schooling behavior, it makes me sad to think of any of them being sold to people who don't know (or care) that they should be with others of their own kind. For a cory, after growing up like this, being all alone in a tank is a really sad thing. It's no wonder they are timid and easily frightened.

It's hard not to want more and more once you get to know the little guys!

 

[Jo]

When I see these young corys interacting with each other, and realize that this is schooling behavior, it makes me sad to think of any of them being sold to people who don't know (or care) that they should be with others of their own kind. For a cory, after growing up like this, being all alone in a tank is a really sad thing. It's no wonder they are timid and easily frightened.

See the wierd thing I find is that my corries are not behaving in ways that I understand they should...I had three Julii's, but two died due to a disease at the shop i believe, the third one has been living on her own happily for a month and the other week I got her 3 panda's to keep her company.

I was always told that corys will not shoal with other breeds, but mine do. The most active is my original Julii, but the others are getting bolder. the original one will even "play" with my britskii (which are abuot 3" compared to her 0.5")

They are all happiy playing together, so I'd say that it probably depends on the fish as to what they feel happy with..?

 

[living_dead]

I just got 2 cories, very small ones. One will be swimming then go rest for a few hours. Really active fish but they need their rest as far as I am concerned. I'm sure its nothing out of the ordinary.

 

[Inchworm]

...I was always told that corys will not shoal with other breeds, but mine do. The most active is my original Julii, but the others are getting bolder. the original one will even "play" with my britskii (which are abuot 3" compared to her 0.5")

Hi Are you a fishy breeder geeza

I know people keep saying that, but to my experience, corys will all school together. It's interesting that they will play with a brochis, though. I'd never even thought about that.

I have about 6 different kinds of corys in one tank and find that they all get along together and play. Sometimes they are with their own, other times they all play together.

I think my pandas are the least likely to play with the others, but they are much smaller than the rest. Perhaps that's why they get along so well with your little julii.

Corys seem to be pretty "easy to get along with" type fish. They don't even move when my betta swims through their cave.