What's Killing My Cories?

[Ani]

I'm having a problem with my cory Jullis. I bought 12 of them about 3 months ago but one by one they keep 'disappearing' from the tank - that's to say that I can't find any bodies. They just vanish! I presume they are dying and are being munched by my snowball plec but haven't seen any signs of aggression towards the cories by any of the other fish. My tank is 90 gallons and is well-planted, with rocks and bogwood pieces (has been running about 10 months) all the water stats are normal and my other fish are OK. Tank mates are 6 diamond tetras, 6 cardinal tetras 6 red eye tetras, 9 platies, 3 pearl gouramis and a snowball plec. The floor of the tank is sand and rounded gravel. I am feeding the cories a mixture of pellets and algae wafers.

Does anyone know what might be happening? I think I only have 5 cories left now. They are REALLY timid and only come out when they have to

 

[Inchworm]

Can anyone help Ani out here?

 

[Vegan Peaches]

This might sound like a stupid question, but have you checked your filter / area surrounding tank / under bogwood / in the sand ? Fish bodies can be very allusive, and I've found the bodies of fish I'd lost a long time ago behind the tanks and under hollow decorations. If you can find a body, you might be able to determine what happened (sharp edge on a piece of wood or something). Are the cories the only fish that are dying? It could also be bad stock from your LFS.

 

[SnowJob]

Plec eating dead Cory maybe?

Mine muches on anything left at the bottom, including small shrimps and dead fish...

Or maybe some have somewhat burried themselves in the sand.....90 Gal tank, not easy spotting half burried cory.

Hope this helps any.

 

[Mr.September15]

Plecs are carnivores? I never knew that...

 

[SnowJob]

Omnivores to be exact....at least most species available at LFS are.

Meaning that they can eat plant matter as well as meat based foods. But as far as I know they won't chase down fish or anything.....unless its fry

But if you have a dead fish at the bottom, bet you $5 your plec will be munching on it if you leave it there long enough.....mine does anyway.

 

[trace1]

hi
we got about 5 jullis a while back & i don't think they lasted a week
water was perfect & everything they just died, but they were in a 28uk gallon so were far easier to find. so maybe they just died also & your plec ate the bodies overnite. hth

 

[Mr.September15]

Omnivores to be exact....at least most species available at LFS are.

Meaning that they can eat plant matter as well as meat based foods. But as far as I know they won't chase down fish or anything.....unless its fry

But if you have a dead fish at the bottom, bet you $5 your plec will be munching on it if you leave it there long enough.....mine does anyway.

Hahahaha. Well then how big does a tank have to be to have a plec in it? I always wanted one but never knew anything about them so I didnt bother getting one for my tank.

-Arrowhead

 

[clunkster]

quote arrowhead Hahahaha. Well then how big does a tank have to be to have a plec in it? I always wanted one but never knew anything about them so I didnt bother getting one for my tank.

it all depends on which one/ones you get as they range in size. ani you say you have a mixture of sand & gravel do you clean it ?

 

[Inchworm]

Hahahaha. Well then how big does a tank have to be to have a plec in it? I always wanted one but never knew anything about them so I didnt bother getting one for my tank.

Big enough to house one of these:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=12780&hl=pleco

 

[Mr.September15]

Dont they come in dwarf sizes? I've seen those at the LFS lots of times but that one seems extremely unpleasent to have in a tank. It looks like a zombie fish.

 

[clunkster]

if you want one of the smaller ones then look at getting pecoltia pulcher at 6 cm or pecoltia pulcher which is slightly bigger at between 10-14 cm or look at the otoocinclus family