One Of 5 New Cories Not Looking Good

[drooke]

Hi all,

I recently bought some new cories after losing a Schwartzi. Since this I have bought some granular food TetraPrima granular and an API test kit. I ran the tests on Friday and have 0ppm of Nitrite and Ammonia, 40ppm of Nitrate and pH of 7.5. These parameters seemed okay, if a little high on Nitrate.

On Saturday I bought 2 Albinos and 3 Schwartzi to add to an Albino of 4 months or so. All have seemed fine and feeding. Got back tonight from work and one of the Albinos was on his back. He is still alive just, but not doing very well I don't think.

Does anyone have any ideas what could be causing this? I do hope the others don't go the same way.

 

[black angel]

test your tap water for nitrates and do water changes to get it down to that level. see if that helps any.

 

[drooke]

I've lost one of the Albinos overnight and the other new Albino is not looking good. The 3 Schwartzis all look quite happy. I think the two Albinos are fairly young compared to the Albinos, maybe this has an effect?

I'll be able to test the nitrate in the tap water tonight and do a water change. Will report back the test result.

 

[WILDER]

How long did you climatise the new fish for.
Once fish are on there backs they rarely make it.
Does he look pale or darker in colour.
Any red streaking or sores on his body.
What do his barbels look like.
Any otther corys resting to oneside.
Does the cory look bloated.

 

[drooke]

The fish sat in their bags for about 35 - 40 minutes to aclimatise. There's no red streaking or sores and the barbels look fine, the barbels on my older Albino are somewhat shorter than the new Albino's.

They don't look bloated no, however the Albinos look younger than the Schwartzis. The remaining new Albino was on his back and swimming upside down this morning so I don't expect him to last the day

 

[WILDER]

Did you keep adding tank water to the bag.
Always best to check bag water in ph and temp so you know how long to climatise new fish for.

 

[drooke]

I've tested the tap water nitrate level at 5ppm. Unfortunately the other new Albino has died today. The Schwartzis are still looking happy.

I didn't test the bag water pH level or get the temperature no. I didn't add the tank water to the bag either, I simply released the fish after about 35 - 40 minutes to aclimatise the fish to the temperature. I've always followed this process but now you mention it, I imagine that this sudden change could be a big shock. Could this be the cause do you think?

Any more advice gratefully received.

 

[drooke]

I've now lost a Schwartzi overnight. There's obviously something cories don't like about my tank.

I want to rehome the remaining 2 Scwartzi cories and my older Albino for their sakes. Does anyone have a tank that Cories do well in near Golcar, Huddersfield HD7 that could collect tonight?

 

[WILDER]

What was the ph of the store to your tank. Was the corys bought locally.
What nitrate test kit are you using. Did you leave the test for 30 minutes. Need to know if its 25 or 50.
It sounds like you didn't climatise them properly to me.

 

[black angel]

nitrates are a bit too high ..do water changes until you get it to under 20.

climating fish takes a while and should be done adding half a cup of tank water to the bag every 4 minutes and once full half empty the bag down the sink and do it again..never add transported water to the tank.

 

[drooke]

I'm using an API Master Test kit to test the Nitrate and followed the relevant instructions. The LFS labelled the tanks as pH 6.5 - 7.5, I'm not sure what the pH actually was in the tanks though.

I didn't aclimatise the fish as you've described, maybe this is where I've gone wrong. I haven't had any problems before with other types of fish, are cories particularly sensitive to this?

Thanks for the advice, I will keep in mind for future purchases.

 

[WILDER]

Corys are very sensitive to water quality.
Next time you buy fish test bag water in ph and temp.