Corydora Question

[ghettofarmulous]

Hey guys,

Long time lurker, first poster. I Have a 23l FLuval edge, It’s been running for a year and IV been serious about it for a few months now.
My Corydoras have developed a habit of swimming around allot especially at the surface and gulping air.
They seem healthy and eat well, No mass of algae present in tank and IV been doing weekly 20% water changes. I use tapsafe and bring it up to tank temperature (24C) before adding. I do weekly tests before and after water changes. The filter is cycled and is giving a bit of disturbance at the surface with bubbles so I assume it’s not oxygen deficiency. The lighting is 2 fluval LED's MR11.
Im not sure why they are doing this, How much disturbance does the surface need for efficient gas exchange?

On another topic, Does anybody know if a measurement of Chemical oxygen demand (COD) would give an indication of water quality?

Also is anybody into fly tying? Im looking for a nice piece of wood or slow growing plant that would go nice in an Edge. I have a brand new Fly tying bible by Peter Gathercole ( already had it) if a swap can interest someone.

Any help is appreciated.
Tank contains:

Fish:
2 bronze Corydoras
2 Cory. Sterbai
2 Male guppys
4 Neaon Tetras

Plants:
2 Anubias Nana


Water Paramaters:
Nitrate ~50mg/l
Nitrite 0mg/l
GH ~10
KH ~6
PH ~6.5
No chlorine
Temp. 24C in warm room.

Iphone Video to follow,

Paul

 

[three-fingers]

On another topic, Does anybody know if a measurement of Chemical oxygen demand (COD) would give an indication of water quality?

No idea, but unfortunately anyone on here can tell you that your tank is waaay overstocked with inappropriate fish . This is not your fault at all, as I'm presuming your local fish store gave you advice on which fish to buy - LFS are notorious for giving bad advice, often out of ignorance but also sometimes just to make money.

The Fluval edge has a tiny surface area:volume ratio compared to traditional aquariums, and on top of this every single one of your fish (with the possible exception of the male guppies) grow too large for your aquarium.

Neons should ideally be kept in bigger groups than just 4, 6 is usually the minimum recommended number for any shoaling fish. Corydoras are shoaling fish too so you should ideally have 6 of each species (or at least compromise with 4 or 5 of each). These fish all grow to an average of 2" and the corys especially are very active when kept in the proper numbers...so now you should be beginning to understand why they are unsuitable species for 23L of water .

Corys can absorb oxygen from their gut, so they are swimming around the top in a confused attempt to reach the surface to swallow air to cope with the low-oxygen environment.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but your best bet would be either to return nearly all of the fish, or buy a bigger aquarium (not a fluval edge or biorb) .

In the meantime set the heater to about 18*C if you can and do small daily water changes. Reducing the water level slightly so its not touching the top glass would help too.

Also never blindly trust your LFS advice, check here or multiple other sources first .

 

[ghettofarmulous]

Hmm i knew i was. The guy in the shop sold me the fish and said it was fine but i checked it too late
Ill be getting a 70L soon so ill keep on top of things untill the new tank has cycled.

Thanks for the input man.

 

[three-fingers]

No worries, we've all been misled by LFS advice before, at least we can learn from their mistakes!

edit: Just to add, if your Fluval edge has a cycled filter already, you can just put some of it's media into the new tanks filter - this will massively speed up the cycle and is called "cloning" a filter .

 

[ghettofarmulous]

ill be getting the tank (24*15*12) on the 25th this month, I dont have much cash so im going simple to get it running. Its an Opiwhite 6mm glass.

Since i cant afford another heater and filter ill be using everything in the fluval straight off. Im doing daily water changes at 20% so ill start to save the water in sterile 4L containers at 4 deg. C.
So, when i get the tank i will transfer the water saved (brought up to tank temperature), the water from the edge, filter, heater, substrate, plants and fish.

have put extra biomedia in the filter to get a good culter and monitor water parameters daily.

The fluval edge filter turns over about 378 lph according to manufacturer so its probably more like 320. The heater is adequate as i purchased a decent heater instead of the stock.
The chemistry of the water im changing wont change as it will be stored in low temp slowing microbial action. Also my nitrate levels are nice and low.


Paul

 

[XeroTolerance]

For the question regarding the corydoras it is natural for them to do that. Do you see any other of your fish doing it? If so, then it may be an oxygen deficiency and I would recommend adding an air-stone, bubble wand, or whatever else you would like. Just as long as you get more ripples on the surface.

 

[three-fingers]

ill be getting the tank (24*15*12) on the 25th this month, I dont have much cash so im going simple to get it running. Its an Opiwhite 6mm glass.

Since i cant afford another heater and filter ill be using everything in the fluval straight off. Im doing daily water changes at 20% so ill start to save the water in sterile 4L containers at 4 deg. C.

Oooh, Optiwhite - lucky you!

No need to save the water, the water is totally unimportant bacteria-wise - contrary to what most LFS will say - it's all about the filter bacteria . Ageing the water will achieve nothing, water conditioner works instantly anyway .

When you get the new tank, just fill it up with fresh de-chlorinated tapwater. You can then leave it in the tank to come up to room temperature before transferring everything over, but you could also just use hot water from the kettle or an electric shower to speed things up (obviously don't add boiling water directly into the tank, mix it in a bucket first).

You will need a new filter and probably heater as soon as possible, however. The Fluval 23L should have around 25w heater in it, the general rule is 1w per litre so your new ~70L tank should need 70w. The nearest to that is a 100w so thats your best bet . A standard 100w heater should be about £10 online, or £15-£20 in shops.

Having transferred everything over the tank will probably take week or so to settle, going through a "mini-cycle" as the bacteria lost in the transfer slowly grow back and mature into a robust colony. In the meantime I would recommend 50% daily water changes to stop any ammonia levels creeping up .

 

[ghettofarmulous]

For the question regarding the corydoras it is natural for them to do that. Do you see any other of your fish doing it? If so, then it may be an oxygen deficiency and I would recommend adding an air-stone, bubble wand, or whatever else you would like. Just as long as you get more ripples on the surface.

I lowered the temp as recommended and the corys are doing it much less, The other fish are not and never had looked like they are gasping for air.
ill also lower the water level to improve surface area

Oooh, Optiwhite - lucky you!

No need to save the water, the water is totally unimportant bacteria-wise - contrary to what most LFS will say - it's all about the filter bacteria . Ageing the water will achieve nothing, water conditioner works instantly anyway .

When you get the new tank, just fill it up with fresh de-chlorinated tapwater. You can then leave it in the tank to come up to room temperature before transferring everything over, but you could also just use hot water from the kettle or an electric shower to speed things up (obviously don't add boiling water directly into the tank, mix it in a bucket first).

You will need a new filter and probably heater as soon as possible, however. The Fluval 23L should have around 25w heater in it, the general rule is 1w per litre so your new ~70L tank should need 70w. The nearest to that is a 100w so thats your best bet . A standard 100w heater should be about £10 online, or £15-£20 in shops.

Having transferred everything over the tank will probably take week or so to settle, going through a "mini-cycle" as the bacteria lost in the transfer slowly grow back and mature into a robust colony. In the meantime I would recommend 50% daily water changes to stop any ammonia levels creeping up .

Ill need to get a new heater so...
Ill need a hood though, Could somebody recommend an online place i can get a hood for 24 x 15

This is great guys thanks

Paul

 

[colleen0309]

Good morning and welcome to the forum!

 

[ghettofarmulous]

Two days till new tank!

Went and got a fluval 205 for 50 quid brand new. Still need a heater and lighting system.

Got a regulator and solenoid from work for co2 when everything is established.

 

[snazy]

No need to save the water, the water is totally unimportant bacteria-wise - contrary to what most LFS will say - it's all about the filter bacteria . Ageing the water will achieve nothing, water conditioner works instantly anyway .

Just to add, there is indeed no need to save the water in order to help with cycling the new tank, as the bacteria is not in the water.
But it will be better for the fish to adjust if you start off the new tank with some old water.
There is certain concentration of minerals and other stuff that differs from your tap water, so the fish will be less stressed if you use it.