Corys Chewing/panting?

[Ethan040]

My Bronze corys seem to be chewing all the time or panting there chests aren't moving its moving near the mouths/gills i added 3 yesterday the original 1 i had did it and these do it i don't knwo if they where doing it in the shop though.. i test my water regularly and ive just tested it and everythings fine.

Is this normal? they all seem very happy snuffeling for food and what not.

Thanks

EDIT: My BN also does it but only lightly none of my other fish do it at all.

 

[Harlequins]

Sounds like they're breathing...fish breathe through their gills,

If they seem happy enough and are moving around,then i wouldn't worry to much

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Ethan040

I noticed from your other threads that you have recently set up a new tank and added these new corys. From the activity you describe, they do seem a bit agitated.

How long has the tank set up for? What is the temperature of the water? Please do a round of water tests and let us know the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings in numbers.

 

[Ethan040]

My first 10 gal which i had the 1 cory in finished cycling on jan 4th and i put 9 1 month old guppys/mollies in they did great then one week ago i got given a bronze cory i put him in the 10 gal and he did fine then i got told i needed a group so i got a new 3 foot 29gal juwel and i got 3 more this weekend i moved everything across from the 10 gal into the 29 gal plus i got new plants, bogwood and slate to make a hide.

The 29gal has got the standard juwel 600lph filter running and the eheim pickup 2008 from my old ten gal and a 200w heater.

Water stats are..
PH 7.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20 (could be a little more as i left the tube for about 20 mins more and it went a darker red.
Water temp is 26 on the side farthest away from the heater and 27 the other side but the heater is right next to that temp gauge.

Ive got 7 different plants in the tank also if that makes any difference.

I feed them on King British catfish pellet food, KB algea wafers,live/frozen bloodworm once a week, live brineshrimp now and again and they eat the leftovers from the other fish and the cuccumber the Bristlenose has sometimes.

They have only been in a day though and the others only been in just under a week so maybe that's the cause? also there not darting about like they where yesterday there still very active but there just happily snuffeling about in the sand and my old ones still trying its luck with one of the new ones lol.

Thanks

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Ethan040

Your water stats are good. I was concerned that the addition of the new fish might have caused a rise in ammonia but so far, so good.

You might try turning the temperature down a bit. It's on the high end of their acceptable range. They will be OK in temperatures from 21 C. to 27 C. (70 F. to 80 F.) although they seem to do better in water at the cooler end of the range.

The only other thing I can suggest to you is that you take care to vacuum the substrate regularly. BNs tend to produce a lot of waste that can sink into gravel if you have that. Good luck with your corys!

 

[Ethan040]

Thanks, i will turn it down to 23 and see how they are.

I did a 25% water change today and will carry on doing that size every week is that enough do you think? i use sand as substrate and i vac it every water change.

Do you think 2 15% changes a week would be better? thats 2 vacs a week then just to make sure its spotless.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Ethan040

It's always better to do too many water changes than too few. Don't hesitate if you think you need to do them more often or do bigger ones. It's especially good to do extras while you have small fry in a tank because it helps them grow. I change about a third or more of the water in my tanks weekly with daily water changes in my fry tanks.