Sick Habrosus?

[karawr]

Hi all,

I think I have a sick habrosus and I'm not sure if there's anything I can do.

He is in a 20g with x10 C. Habrosus, x8 Black Phantom Tetra and x1 Bulldog Plec. 0 Ammonia and Nitrite.

I just came home to him today lying curiously still on a log... hardly moving at all. I got nervous so I touched him with the fish net and he tried to scurry away but it was a really pathetic attempt.

I've also noticed he hasn't got any barbels. I use sand and I've got malaysian driftwood and some smooth rocks, and all the other cory barbels are fine so I think he was maybe born (defect?) this way or was injured somehow?

Is there anything I can do or just hope for the best?

Thanks.

Edit: He's not moving at all. I just found him lying on his side but still breathing so I propped him up on his tummy and he didn't even do anything.

 

[karawr]

He died. I'm suspecting it was starvation due to no barbels.

Hard to tell my nitrate level but I'm 99% sure it's under 10ppm. Definitely under 20, though. Using API test kit; it's so hard to tell the differences in the orange.

What should it be at?

 

[Harlequins]

Sorry to hear you lost your habrosus

Unfortunately,no barbels can lead to their death...It could have possible picked up a bacterial infection through its barbels...keep an eye on the others,
your nitrate is fine

 

[Tizer]

my nitriates are about 70, i doubt you have to worry about that in the slightest

 

[karawr]

Thank you... so sad about losing him. This was the first little batch of fish I got that got me super interested in the fish keeping industry. I've lost fish before but I don't know, this one is extra sad...

I will definitely keep an eye on the other cories, but they do seem to all be doing well which is great. There are a couple of very plump ones so lol.

When do cories start breeding? I think they are maybe 5 months old max but one or two of my cories looks very fat and I'm wondering if it's fatness or if I'm lucky with a pregnant cory!!

 

[Tizer]

Im pretty sure juvies need to reach an age of at least 9 months before breeding occurs, its hard to say as they are all different.

 

[karawr]

I have another sick habrosus. I really don't know what I'm doing wrong. Ammonia and nitrite are zero, and once again all the others seem fine...

It looks like fin rot to me but I have no experience with it and don't know much about the disease, so... sorry the picture isn't that great.

I have some brown sludge going on in my tank I really don't know what it is. Posted in the planted as I thought it was algae, but they think it's just crud... I have no idea where this is coming from as it's only started recently.

 

[coldcazzie]

when was the last time you cleaned your filter?

 

[Inchworm]

And when was the last time you vacumed your substrate? From the picture you posted, I can't even tell what it is.

 

[karawr]

I clean my filter with tank water monthly. Since this brown crap has shown up, I've been cleaning it out every week (I've only done this 2 times now).

There was a lot of brown sludge in the filter which I washed out. And now the sponges and biomedia aren't covered in sludge anymore so I'm going to leave the filter alone as far as cleanings go. I've also put in some filter floss and so far I've noticed a good change.

I vacuum my substrate (sand) weekly.

But any comments on the cory? He died, I expected as much. But I'd like to prevent this from happening to my other fish. They all seem healthy though, so far...

I'm going to increase water changes but how many should I do a week? And until when? Do I need medication?

 

[coldcazzie]

I'd be doing 50-70% changes every other day until all the funk cleared, and be cleaning the filter every other change. Give it 10 days and see how things look. Clean water solves a lot of problems.