Dead Cory

[Kombat]

I came home yesterday to find one of my corys dead. I have had them for just 3 days. I tested the water immediately and it all looked good. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 15ppm nitrates, 7.6 pH. This is my first tank and my first new fishes since the cycle (I cycled with other fish) finished so these may be dumb questions. Do new fish just die sometimes? Since my water parameters are good I don't know what else it could be. Transport shock maybe. Again, I am a beginner so forgive if these are inane questions.

Thanks,
Karl

 

[windy713]

I came home yesterday to find one of my corys dead. I have had them for just 3 days. I tested the water immediately and it all looked good. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 15ppm nitrates, 7.6 pH. This is my first tank and my first new fishes since the cycle (I cycled with other fish) finished so these may be dumb questions. Do new fish just die sometimes? Since my water parameters are good I don't know what else it could be. Transport shock maybe. Again, I am a beginner so forgive if these are inane questions.

Thanks,
Karl

it could be just that you got a sick fish. i've had my corys for 3 years now. if you see a few dead fish in the tanks at the store. it may mean you are not shopping at the right place. i would check around. your nitrates are a little high, as well as your ph. i usuall keep my no3 at 0 and ph at 7.0, but that also depends on what other types of fish you plan to add. i would do a partial water change since bad bacteria may be in trace amounts. do you have live plants? they may help but make sure you get healthy ones and also proper lighting for the plants(though live plants are not necessary). just a suggestion. and remember it is better to ask if you dont know, so i dont find any question stupid.

 

[The-Wolf]

yes, some fish just can not handle the stress of being bagged and taken home. this happens more if the fish has only ecently arrived in the shop.

most LFS will ofer somekind of gaurentee, say 24 hours or so, where if th fish die, you take back th body and a water sample. they check the water and if all is ok, they replace or refund.
It maybe worth asking your lfs what their policy is on this.

 

[Kombat]

The lfs has a return policy but I can't find the reciept. Corys aren't terribly expensive fish so I'm not too mad about losing the reciept.

I thought under 20ppm nitrates was ideal. Maybe I misread something. What should I keep it under? My tap water does have some nitrates in it. Should I do more frequent water changes or use an additive like EasyBalance that gets rid of nitrates? I thought the pH was a bit high too. I saw something at the lfs called pH7.0 or such that is supposed to make your water exactly 7.0. But I was avoiding messing with the pH since I've read on here many times that it is just not worth the hassle.

And yes. I have live plants. I couple anacharis and a couple cabomba. It's a 29 US gallon tank and it still have the hood that came with it. I upgraded the bulb to a 20W Aqua-Glo. The plants are growing but are a little "leggy". I know I need to upgrade the light fixture, just waiting for some funds. I'm holding off on adding more plants until I can get the light upgraded.

Thanks,
Karl

 

[DoyouWantsum]

It might be that you did not get your cory aclimatised to your water conditions enough.

I now place my bag of fish in the tank for 15mins for the tempreture in the bag to be the same as the tank.

Then i add a small amount of the tank water to the bag and leave for another 15mins.

Then i do the same again before releasing my fish into the tank.

Before i used to just let the tempreture equalize and then put them in the tank, and then found that sometimes on the 3rd day i had a dead fish.

 

[Kombat]

My wife just called and said another cory is dead.

I was planning to go get some more fish this weekend but I don't think so now.

These fish were from Petsmart so that may have something to do with it. A co-worker though said he gets his from there and has never had one die.

As I said in my previous post, my tank is new, just under 4 weeks old, but it had cycled. I tested every 4 days and watched the ammonia rise and fall and nitrites rise and fall. I was under the impression that corys were hardy as well. The only thing I can think of assuming Petsmart gave me healthy fish is that maybe the pH (7.6) is too high and maybe since it is a new tank something other than the nitrogen cycle hasn't been established, though I haven't a clue what that could be.

I've looked at 2 websites and for corys one said the pH should be 6.0 to 7.5 and another said 5.8 to 7.0. So there's two sources that say my pH is too high for corys.

Opinions? I love the idea of corys in my tank and the idea of messing with my pH to keep them or to not keep them at all makes me ill. I saw a product called something like PH 7.0 that is supposed to make your water 7.0. How easy are those to deal with? I'd rather keep my aquarium chemical free apart from dechlorinator.

Thanks,
Karl

 

[Nina]

Should I do more frequent water changes or use an additive like EasyBalance that gets rid of nitrates?

Just to let you know that you should add an additive to your tap water when you do water changes etc. By doing this it will help eliminate the "bad stuff" in your tap water.


In regards to your fish - it could be bad luck or a dodgy batch at the fish store. As you will find out the longer you are on the forum Petsmart and other similar stores are not liked for fish. For dry goods they are usually cheaper but most people will not buy from there. You are probaby best to have a look round at your local fish stores and see which ones you like. I have a few round near me but will only buy fish from a couple. If when you first walk in you have a bad feeling about the shop dirt tanks, dead fish, stupid staff, then you are best staying away from them.

Try the additives and water changes and then do the tests. You may find that everthing is okay again. Personally I would try to keep away from chems. I have got around ten corys and they are in a tank where the pH is around 7.3/7.4. Although you can't go too wildy far away from the pH guidelines you do need to remember they are guidelines and as you have seen from the two searches you have done the guideline can vary greatly from place to place.

Best of Luck]

N

 

[monkeyman]

Personally, i think your nitrates are SPOT ON! 15ppm is nothing! I have had 5 corys in my tank for coming close on 2 years now and just recently (about 6 weeks ago) after adding bogwood to decorate my tank, my pH PLUMMETED (gradually) to around 5!!! I have removed the bogwood but have still not managed to get my pH to budge (but, as they say - thats a different story)! The thing with pH is (as you will so often hear on here & its true) that it is constant!!

One possibility is that perhaps in the store the corys were kept at maybe 6/6.5pH and the jump to 7.6 was too much for them. I think ideally fish are not supposed to have a jump of more than .5pH in 24hrs...

It would be interesting to see the pH in the store. Though basically, i think the fish just never got used to your water...

Good luck in the future!

 

[PlecMama]

Forget the receipt, nothing says "replacement" like whopping a dead fish on their counter.

 

[Kombat]

Thanks for all the replies and advice.

I tested again last night and the pH color was between the 7.2 and 7.6 colors so it looks like it might be down to about 7.4.

Thanks,
Karl