Corydoras

[goldie]

I have kept a community tank for several years, but recently some of my Cory's have been loosing their eyes. In partucular the Albinos. I cannot see anything else wrong with them. Some eventually die, but others live with just the one eye, and some have lost both....I don,t keep any aggressive fish, but it has been suggested to me , that perhaps one of the Clown Loaches has been attacking the Corys at night. I am not convinced that this is the case, as my Clown loaches are about 6in long, and I am sure they would cause much more damage if they were being aggressive. I would be very grateful of any help in solving this problem. All the other fish in my tank are very healthy.......

 

[wetwetwet]

HiYa and welcome goldie,

Can you give us some info on your tank?

1. Water parameters. (ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, PH, temp', Hardness etc)
2. A full description of the fishes symptoms.
3. How often you do water changes and how much.
4. Any chemicals and treatments you add to the water.
5. What tank mates are in the tank.
6. Tank size, filtration
7. How long has it been set up.

This helps paint a better picture....

Do the eyes just go, is there a wound, do they go cloudy first or protude (pop)

Sorry about all the q's.....

 

[goldie]

Thanks for prompt reply, I will attempt to answer some of your questions.
I do a 20% water change every 2 weeks. The tank is a Juwel trigon and holds 190 L . I dont add any chemicals . But I use Aqua safe during water changes. The nitrate and nitrite readings are normal..the ph 6.5 and the hardness around 12. Temperature 78. The tank is well planted and I have bogwood in it. No sharp edges anywhere.....Other fish Ohhhhhhhh plenty . EG:.......Flying Fox, neons,bolovian rams, candy stripe loaches,sucking loach,cardinals,rainbows,white cloud minnows....and the 2 big clown loaches, who seem very peapeful.
The tank has been set up over 2 years, and I havn't added any new species recently.
As for the symptoms...the fish look perfectly heathy and then next time I look an eye will be missing......the socket looks a bit red for a few hours, and then just a clean hole where the eye has been. No other fish are affected.
I fear that another fish has taken a liking to eating the Cory's eyes.........could that be the cause I love my Cory's

 

[revengeishere]

Flying Fox, neons,bolovian rams, candy stripe loaches

Those flying foxes might be the culprit. If its the true siamese flying fox, its semi aggresive to aggresive. how big is it?

 

[goldie]

He is about 5ins and I have had him for about 4 years. I have never seen him chase the other fish, but of course I don't know what's happening when the lights are out Has anyone got any other ideas?? I am at a loss as what to do

 

[goldie]

Sadly another cory has lost an eye today....helppppppppp

 

[Lipreader]

I've looked for almost an hour and I can't find anything with information about this problem. I only came across this.....

Pop Eye Pop eye is an infection that can have a few causes such as bacteria, Poor water quality, injury, poor nutrition, tumors, vitamin deficiently. The symptoms are quite clear.
Symptoms:Eye or eyes protrude from head, cloudy eyes from bacteria infection.
Treatment:Generally hard to treat, u may try a broad spectrum antibiotic.

Maybe it is some kind of bacteria infection? I can't find anything else. I'm thinking if they are surviving fine and eating, leave them be but if they look like they are suffering, maybe you need to put them out of their misery. I'm sorry I can't be much of a help.

 

[pebbles]

i think you would be wise to look along the lines of one of your fish bullying, my guess would be the flying fox . i had to return mine to the fish store because he bullied my panda corys and my albinos.. he was a real horror. he was alovely looking fish but such a bully ..... pebbles

 

[goldie]

My flying fox is a Siamese flying fox, and I bought him several years ago, when I had an alge problem in my tank and he cleared it up very quickly. I have somtimes seen him chase other fish, but never seen any real aggreshion. But he is as I have said about 5in long now, and after hearing your comments, I think he could be the culprit...... It must happen during lights out, and if it's him I wonder why its the Corys he picks on. It's as though he or whoever it is, takes the eye clean out. I cannot imagine that it's my 2 big Clown Loaches ( 6in each) I am sure they would do much more damage................I suppose the only thing I can do is take him back to the shop, and then see what happens..............Sad because he is a lovely fish. Has anyone else had a problem like this ( loosing eyes from cory's)??

 

[impur]

You could get a divider and put the flying fox on one side with the cories on the other. Do this for a week or so and see if any eyes come up missing. Just a thought. You could put the clown loaches on that side too, then if all is well after a week, put the clowns in with the cories. If all is well after that you know its probably the flying fox. Trial and error i suppose, but it would work.

 

[Graeme]

It's the Sucking Loach!