emmettbaby
Fish Fanatic
NOTE: I type a lot. I try to give all the information I can, because I hate reading forums where people don't give anything they do that could be the source of their problems. But if you need more details, don't be afraid to ask and I may be able to find the answer somewhere in my house... Moving on.
Okay, so I have a few questions. I'm new to this forum so I'm not sure if these questions have been answered elsewhere. If they have then I'm sorry, if you point me in the direction of that particular post, it could save you all some writing. Just so you know, I'm not used to actually having to monitor fish and tank elements, I was more of the "put the betta in a bowl, feed, and change the water" type of person, but I want my fish to live like Mandy (Oscar explained below) and I'm tired of everything dying.
Ummmm there were more questions than I had intended so just pick a number or two to answer I guess (please put the number of which question you're answering thankies!)
Tank- 29 gallons
1st = Background = originally bought- 3 red tetra things (forgot name, one died first night probably from stress or it was just sick, other two lived for over a week, got the these next three fish then all died), two sailfin mollies (also died shortly after the tetras started dropping), and one corydora named Ed (store said it was a julii but i don't know) who is still kickin'.
Question = Are Corys hardy little fish or did I just get lucky? Something said they we "armored" but I didn't think they had scales so what why are they called armored?
2nd = Background = no idea if tank's been "cycled" since I hadn't even heard of this until after I bought these fish I used to just set it up and leave it alone for a day or so then put fish in it. This had always worked in the past. The reason I had always lost fish was because I used to buy from the walmart near me (no petshop
) and their fish were always diseased and died. BUT I did manage to save one oscar and transferred it to a new tank using previously stated method of tank preparation (bought three... I know what you're thinking, but I didn't know they ate eachother) but Mandy died in the big Kentucky ice storm this past year. ANYWAY my mom wanted some fish so we got new ones (stated in number 1).
Question = Did I again just get lucky transferring Mandy to the new tank without "cycling"? The luck thing seems to not be the explanation since all of the fish labeled "Mom's pets" keep dying even though they're in the same tank as my Cory
3rd = Background = Tank was set up with about 5 fake plants, whisper carbon filter (says 20-40 on it... other than that, I have no idea), rougher looking black and pink gravel (washed like everything else without soap), two tubes run along each side of the tank and pump air into the water, they used to have carbon filter snap ins, but those are gone. We bought the tetras along with a LIVE PLANT, they lived for a while, got the other 3 fish, along with THREE MORE live plants. Things started dying. I took each one out the day I found it (except one of the sailfins... I REALLY did think it was alive but come to find out it had been dead a couple of days and was just on the bottom, looking alive)
Pictures of the tubes and plants (sorry only have pics of the remaining two plants)
side air tube
Question = What the heck happened? From what I've read, I think it might have been a "spike" of nitrite or something. But I have no idea.
4th = Background = Okay so everything's dead, except Ed. Mom's upset and wants answers, I don't know what to tell her because I don't know why they started dropping like flies about three to five days after we bought them. I thought it was because we had too many plants and didn't know how to take care of them (we didn't do as many water changes or something, idk) so we removed two plants, did about a 30% (very rough there) water change. Now Ed looks great I think, he's (and I'm not sure if it's a he but just go with it until I know) a light-brown-colored-pencil color with deep black lines and spots. But he's CONSTANTLY swimming up and down and from side to the other of the tank.
Question = Some say this is normal (the swimming thing), others say Corys are bottom dwellers that occasionally come up to the top. Ed does it all the time when the light is on in the tank (light off= no to little movement). Is this normal for a solitary Cory? (see question # for more info with his new shoal or whatever)
5th = Background = Ed lived (YAY!) after I changed the water and took two of the four live plants out. He started looking better (went from a almost white with light black spots to the pretty color in question 4). But still swimming like a psycho. I waited over a week and he didn't get better. I thought the reason Ed won't stay still long was that maybe he was stressed SOOOOO I went and bought two more Corys for him. Mom bought two scissortail rasboras at the same time. We put them in the same bag and all are now in the tank with Ed (we did do the bag in water thing). As soon as I cut the bag and the fish entered the water, Ed swam up to them and now all three Corys around the tank like crazy. They have been cleaning (or sucking on, or trying to eat, or what ever they do that involves their mouths in contact with surfaces) off everything from the glass to the rocks and under the plants for about 8 hours now? I'm not sure what's up so I fed them about two hours into their little spastic cleaning fest. And I'm not sure if it's actually cleaning because they mostly just run up and down really close to the sides of the tank then all pile under one of the plant leaves (not sure what kind of plants they are store said they were janet craigs? but aren't those big houseplants? Pictures above) But they won't stop and I think it's freaking mom's fish (scissortail rasboras) out because those two are barely moving until one of the Corys come close then the rasboras swim away.
Question = Are the rasboras stressed or is that normal for them? The plants are doing well (growing big root systems). Why are the Corys moving and putting their mouths on everything?
6th = Background = Ed (my first cory) has been in the tank with rough rocks longer than the other two and his whiskers or whatever seem to have shortened? I heard you were supposed to keep smooth gravel or sand in the tank with Corys.
Question = Will Ed's whiskers regenerate if I move him and the other two Corys to a tank with smooth rocks or sand or something good for them? It doesn't look like it affects him in any way yet, they are still normal size looking but the other "new" Corys' whiskers look longer. Maybe just genetics, or something I did?
7th = I want to move my three Corys to another tank, I would be downsizing from a 29 gallon to a 10 gallon. I could monitor this tank and would put a smoother bottom in it than the rough gravel in the 29 gallon. And I'm also going off to college next year so I need a small tank to take them with me.
Question = Is this even a possibility? Can three (and just three) Corys live in a 10 gallon tank and be happy/healthy/breedable etc.
8th = Background = The first cory I got looks has a light-brown-colored-pencil base (is that the word?) and has a dark black spots/lines over his body and tail fin. I've had him for over two weeks. The other two I boughtt today (August 29, 2009) are kind of transparent. The look more white with black lines and spots on their bodies and tails. I also noticed there were pinkish red bands going from one set of gills along their bellies to their opposite side. It looks like it's just under the skin, there's no inflamation or oozing or cuts, just these red areas. These two also go up to the surface and I guess get air. One website I looked on said that it could be ammonia poisoning or something? My first Cory does NOT do this or have the red/pink area. I haven't seen him go up to the surface and stick his mouth above the water like the other two, but he does run up and down the sides of the tank (see questions 4 and 5 i think).
Question = What's wrong with them, the other fish (the one Cory and two scissortail rasboras) don't have the red areas which makes me think it was something wrong with the petstore's tank? Is there any way I can help the two Corys? Will the areas dissappear and will their color begin to deepen?
9th = I've been getting some mixed messages since I have been looking on different websites about my Corys. I've kind of narrowed it down to julii or trilineatus but i don't know. The store said julii but some websites says that's not it, others say that right. Since they won't stay still for me to take any form of a recognizable picture (working on it) I'll describe them the best I can.
Ed (first Corydora)
Base Skin Color = looks like a the colored pencil labeled "light brown"
Markings = rich black in color
Head = can see some spots, but mostly looks like a "maze" of lines that curve around his face and down most of his body
Tail Fin = looks like broken rings starting at the base of the fin and going to the tip
Other Fins = mostly black dorsal fin while remaining fins have a light brown tint (though mostly transparent) and no black markings
Body = "maze" really becomes apparent from gills back to beginning of actual tail fin. Dark black line runs in the middle of body from where tail fin begins to little over halfway to gills
Whiskers = cute
The other two (purchased August 29, 2009)
This may be misleading because I think they're sick or something but I'll put what I see
Base Skin Color = kind of transparent and appear to be faded or something. They look almost white right now
Markings = kind of black/really dark grey in color
Head = one has more spots on head than lines. other a has more even mix. spots and lines go from head down but become more and more spaced out and fewer. By the time you get to the tail fin, the lines have reduced to mostly spots and there aren't very many left
Tail Fin = definite rings (four or five, they won't stay still long enough to count) going from base of tail fin out to tip
Body = "maze" obvious right after gills but then disappears to dots and lines as you look down the body. Black line still runs in the middle of body from where tail fin begins up about half the body
Other Fins = mostly black dorsal fin while remaining fins have that white tint and transparent look with no black markings
Whiskers = cute
Okay, so I have a few questions. I'm new to this forum so I'm not sure if these questions have been answered elsewhere. If they have then I'm sorry, if you point me in the direction of that particular post, it could save you all some writing. Just so you know, I'm not used to actually having to monitor fish and tank elements, I was more of the "put the betta in a bowl, feed, and change the water" type of person, but I want my fish to live like Mandy (Oscar explained below) and I'm tired of everything dying.
Ummmm there were more questions than I had intended so just pick a number or two to answer I guess (please put the number of which question you're answering thankies!)
Tank- 29 gallons
1st = Background = originally bought- 3 red tetra things (forgot name, one died first night probably from stress or it was just sick, other two lived for over a week, got the these next three fish then all died), two sailfin mollies (also died shortly after the tetras started dropping), and one corydora named Ed (store said it was a julii but i don't know) who is still kickin'.
Question = Are Corys hardy little fish or did I just get lucky? Something said they we "armored" but I didn't think they had scales so what why are they called armored?
2nd = Background = no idea if tank's been "cycled" since I hadn't even heard of this until after I bought these fish I used to just set it up and leave it alone for a day or so then put fish in it. This had always worked in the past. The reason I had always lost fish was because I used to buy from the walmart near me (no petshop
) and their fish were always diseased and died. BUT I did manage to save one oscar and transferred it to a new tank using previously stated method of tank preparation (bought three... I know what you're thinking, but I didn't know they ate eachother) but Mandy died in the big Kentucky ice storm this past year. ANYWAY my mom wanted some fish so we got new ones (stated in number 1).Question = Did I again just get lucky transferring Mandy to the new tank without "cycling"? The luck thing seems to not be the explanation since all of the fish labeled "Mom's pets" keep dying even though they're in the same tank as my Cory
3rd = Background = Tank was set up with about 5 fake plants, whisper carbon filter (says 20-40 on it... other than that, I have no idea), rougher looking black and pink gravel (washed like everything else without soap), two tubes run along each side of the tank and pump air into the water, they used to have carbon filter snap ins, but those are gone. We bought the tetras along with a LIVE PLANT, they lived for a while, got the other 3 fish, along with THREE MORE live plants. Things started dying. I took each one out the day I found it (except one of the sailfins... I REALLY did think it was alive but come to find out it had been dead a couple of days and was just on the bottom, looking alive)
Pictures of the tubes and plants (sorry only have pics of the remaining two plants)
side air tube
Question = What the heck happened? From what I've read, I think it might have been a "spike" of nitrite or something. But I have no idea.
4th = Background = Okay so everything's dead, except Ed. Mom's upset and wants answers, I don't know what to tell her because I don't know why they started dropping like flies about three to five days after we bought them. I thought it was because we had too many plants and didn't know how to take care of them (we didn't do as many water changes or something, idk) so we removed two plants, did about a 30% (very rough there) water change. Now Ed looks great I think, he's (and I'm not sure if it's a he but just go with it until I know) a light-brown-colored-pencil color with deep black lines and spots. But he's CONSTANTLY swimming up and down and from side to the other of the tank.
Question = Some say this is normal (the swimming thing), others say Corys are bottom dwellers that occasionally come up to the top. Ed does it all the time when the light is on in the tank (light off= no to little movement). Is this normal for a solitary Cory? (see question # for more info with his new shoal or whatever)
5th = Background = Ed lived (YAY!) after I changed the water and took two of the four live plants out. He started looking better (went from a almost white with light black spots to the pretty color in question 4). But still swimming like a psycho. I waited over a week and he didn't get better. I thought the reason Ed won't stay still long was that maybe he was stressed SOOOOO I went and bought two more Corys for him. Mom bought two scissortail rasboras at the same time. We put them in the same bag and all are now in the tank with Ed (we did do the bag in water thing). As soon as I cut the bag and the fish entered the water, Ed swam up to them and now all three Corys around the tank like crazy. They have been cleaning (or sucking on, or trying to eat, or what ever they do that involves their mouths in contact with surfaces) off everything from the glass to the rocks and under the plants for about 8 hours now? I'm not sure what's up so I fed them about two hours into their little spastic cleaning fest. And I'm not sure if it's actually cleaning because they mostly just run up and down really close to the sides of the tank then all pile under one of the plant leaves (not sure what kind of plants they are store said they were janet craigs? but aren't those big houseplants? Pictures above) But they won't stop and I think it's freaking mom's fish (scissortail rasboras) out because those two are barely moving until one of the Corys come close then the rasboras swim away.
Question = Are the rasboras stressed or is that normal for them? The plants are doing well (growing big root systems). Why are the Corys moving and putting their mouths on everything?
6th = Background = Ed (my first cory) has been in the tank with rough rocks longer than the other two and his whiskers or whatever seem to have shortened? I heard you were supposed to keep smooth gravel or sand in the tank with Corys.
Question = Will Ed's whiskers regenerate if I move him and the other two Corys to a tank with smooth rocks or sand or something good for them? It doesn't look like it affects him in any way yet, they are still normal size looking but the other "new" Corys' whiskers look longer. Maybe just genetics, or something I did?
7th = I want to move my three Corys to another tank, I would be downsizing from a 29 gallon to a 10 gallon. I could monitor this tank and would put a smoother bottom in it than the rough gravel in the 29 gallon. And I'm also going off to college next year so I need a small tank to take them with me.
Question = Is this even a possibility? Can three (and just three) Corys live in a 10 gallon tank and be happy/healthy/breedable etc.
8th = Background = The first cory I got looks has a light-brown-colored-pencil base (is that the word?) and has a dark black spots/lines over his body and tail fin. I've had him for over two weeks. The other two I boughtt today (August 29, 2009) are kind of transparent. The look more white with black lines and spots on their bodies and tails. I also noticed there were pinkish red bands going from one set of gills along their bellies to their opposite side. It looks like it's just under the skin, there's no inflamation or oozing or cuts, just these red areas. These two also go up to the surface and I guess get air. One website I looked on said that it could be ammonia poisoning or something? My first Cory does NOT do this or have the red/pink area. I haven't seen him go up to the surface and stick his mouth above the water like the other two, but he does run up and down the sides of the tank (see questions 4 and 5 i think).
Question = What's wrong with them, the other fish (the one Cory and two scissortail rasboras) don't have the red areas which makes me think it was something wrong with the petstore's tank? Is there any way I can help the two Corys? Will the areas dissappear and will their color begin to deepen?
9th = I've been getting some mixed messages since I have been looking on different websites about my Corys. I've kind of narrowed it down to julii or trilineatus but i don't know. The store said julii but some websites says that's not it, others say that right. Since they won't stay still for me to take any form of a recognizable picture (working on it) I'll describe them the best I can.
Ed (first Corydora)
Base Skin Color = looks like a the colored pencil labeled "light brown"
Markings = rich black in color
Head = can see some spots, but mostly looks like a "maze" of lines that curve around his face and down most of his body
Tail Fin = looks like broken rings starting at the base of the fin and going to the tip
Other Fins = mostly black dorsal fin while remaining fins have a light brown tint (though mostly transparent) and no black markings
Body = "maze" really becomes apparent from gills back to beginning of actual tail fin. Dark black line runs in the middle of body from where tail fin begins to little over halfway to gills
Whiskers = cute
The other two (purchased August 29, 2009)
This may be misleading because I think they're sick or something but I'll put what I see
Base Skin Color = kind of transparent and appear to be faded or something. They look almost white right now
Markings = kind of black/really dark grey in color
Head = one has more spots on head than lines. other a has more even mix. spots and lines go from head down but become more and more spaced out and fewer. By the time you get to the tail fin, the lines have reduced to mostly spots and there aren't very many left
Tail Fin = definite rings (four or five, they won't stay still long enough to count) going from base of tail fin out to tip
Body = "maze" obvious right after gills but then disappears to dots and lines as you look down the body. Black line still runs in the middle of body from where tail fin begins up about half the body
Other Fins = mostly black dorsal fin while remaining fins have that white tint and transparent look with no black markings
Whiskers = cute
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=271928&hl=
Be that as it may, C. trilineatus is a very nice cory to have.
