My Bronze Cory Has Gone Pale

[cmfoggy]

Hi all, hope someone can help me.
I had 3 albino corys
3 bronze corys
and 1 peppered cory
until yesterday when the smallest albino died, he went all quiet and stopped eating for 2 days then died.
but today i noticed that the largest bronze cory is very pale and gone off his food as well, does anyone know what is causing it, should i put him in a quarantine tank, what should i do, please help i dont want to loose any more corys

cheers

 

[Inchworm]

Hi cmfoggy

It would help if we knew a bit more about your tank and its occupants. What are the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings?

The temperature? The size of the tank and the other fish in it would be helpful too.

 

[cmfoggy]

Hi cmfoggy

It would help if we knew a bit more about your tank and its occupants. What are the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings?

The temperature? The size of the tank and the other fish in it would be helpful too.

hi inchworm
i have a 150lt tank and in it there are
4 b/n catfish
2 albino corys
3 bronze corys
1 peppered cory
1 albino red finned shark
and 1 very small silver shark (which i am trying to get rid of as i know NOW that it will grow far too big, and i have never seen him bully or try and nip another fish as he is only about 4cm)

temp 26
GH 60 ppm
KH 0 ppm
pH 7.0
ammonia 0 ppm
nitrite o ppm
nitrate 60 ppm

i just finished a 20% water change
thanks for your time

 

[Inchworm]

Hi cmfoggy

Looking for clues as to what might be wrong with your corys, I found this thread:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...p;#entry1886633

What happened to your neons? Are you treating the tank for ich? Ich meds are not good for corys and other scaleless fish. Do not use it unless you are very certain your tank is infested.

I would suggest doubling up on your water changes to get the nitrate level down. Have you tested your tap water to see what level it has naturally? High nitrates could be causing your fish to "flick," so the sooner you get that down, the better, even though that's not terribly high if it were the only thing going on here.

I would be more concerned about the meds, the two aggressive fish, and the high temperature. 26 degrees C. translates to 78.8 F, which is high for bronze and albino C. aeneus and for the peppered cory. C. paleatus.

The most common cause of sickness and death in corys is from various bacterial infections. The corys may be resistant to bacteria living in the tank until they become stressed out by any of a number of factors. Some of them could be ammonia or nitrite readings, or too high nitrate levels in the tank. Low oxygen levels (which can be caused by high temperatures especially if there is not enough water circulation at the top of the tank), over feeding, aggressive tankmates, basically anything that would make the little fish uncomfortable or the water polluted.

Even though the sharks might not be actually aggressive at this point in time, it wouldn't surprise me to find out the the corys can sense potential trouble with them. Please try to re-home them as soon as possible.

I hope you can get this situation straightened out quickly. Good luck to you.

 

[cmfoggy]

Hi cmfoggy

Looking for clues as to what might be wrong with your corys, I found this thread:

[URL="http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...p;#entry1886633"]http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...p;#entry1886633[/URL]

What happened to your neons? Are you treating the tank for ich? Ich meds are not good for corys and other scaleless fish. Do not use it unless you are very certain your tank is infested.

I would suggest doubling up on your water changes to get the nitrate level down. Have you tested your tap water to see what level it has naturally? High nitrates could be causing your fish to "flick," so the sooner you get that down, the better, even though that's not terribly high if it were the only thing going on here.

I would be more concerned about the meds, the two aggressive fish, and the high temperature. 26 degrees C. translates to 78.8 F, which is high for bronze and albino C. aeneus and for the peppered cory. C. paleatus.

The most common cause of sickness and death in corys is from various bacterial infections. The corys may be resistant to bacteria living in the tank until they become stressed out by any of a number of factors. Some of them could be ammonia or nitrite readings, or too high nitrate levels in the tank. Low oxygen levels (which can be caused by high temperatures especially if there is not enough water circulation at the top of the tank), over feeding, aggressive tankmates, basically anything that would make the little fish uncomfortable or the water polluted.

Even though the sharks might not be actually aggressive at this point in time, it wouldn't surprise me to find out the the corys can sense potential trouble with them. Please try to re-home them as soon as possible.

I hope you can get this situation straightened out quickly. Good luck to you.

i forgot to mention the tetras, they are still there and look fine.

i am not treating for ick yet as im not sure that is what it is as there is not one spot on them.

i am doing 20% water changes every 3 days, or should i be doing them every day.

what would be a good temp for the corys, about 24

there is a heap of circulation in the water so i cant see that being a problem.

i might go back to the lfs and ask if they can take back the sharks, i bought the silver shark about 2 weeks ago and the albino red finned about 6 months ago, so i dont quite know their policy on that but no harm in asking i guess.

thanks for your time and help inchworm

cheers

 

[jollysue]

I am so glad that Inchworm responded. My first response to your post though was to the sharks, the nitrates, and the high temp. I was not certain about the particular sharks, never having kept them, but in general I do not recommend them with the shy Corys. Alos the temp and nitrates are boarderline. But putting the borderline things together--sharks, temp, nitrates--it could push the Corys over the edge. I also would look at the possibility of skin irritation from prior ammonia or nitrates combined with high temp as a possibility for the flicking.

I hope you get it figured out. The pale Cory not eating is most likely in trouble, but better conditions could turn it around quickly.