kevline

Ok so about 3-4 months ago I bough 1 sterbai and 1 juli...both were dead with weeks. On Dec 27 I bought 3 more juli's...all are dead. What is happening? To my knowledge my water was stable. I had a 10g tank and the pH was around 7-7.5. Any suggestions on what I might be doing wrong? I've read that some can sensitive to the transition...

Nessie!!!

Did you cycle your tank first? Cyclying is a very important step to any fish aquarium.

Chief_waterchanger

Did you buy these fish from the same store? If so.. my simple advice would be to stop buying from them if you are having problems of that nature, unless it is you doing something.

Nessie's cycling question is a good one.
Also, how much were you feeding and what were you feeding them?
What size tank are they in?
What other kinds of fish and how many of each kind are in the tank with them?
Is there vegetable matter getting into their diets?
Are you using any medications and/or chemicals on the tank?

capekate

Hello Kevline and welcome to fishlore.
Sorry to hear about your cory cats not lasting in your tank. As mentioned above, did you cycle your tank first? You say to your knowledge your water is stable, but have you actually tested it yet? If you have, can you share those readings with us in order to better help you? How long has your tank been set up? What temperature do you keep the water at? Your PH level is a little high for them, but it shouldnt have been a real issue.
Corys demand an established tank and will not do well to use for cycling a new tank and yes they are sensitive in the transition. I have lost corys myself...

~ kate

kevline

Wow you're all awesome. Ok so here it goes. For the first two my tank was set up for about 2-3 months. The temperature is about 80, they were in a 10 gallon tank, I don't have the readings from my water so I'm out of luck on that one, and I was feeding them a combo of shrimp pellets and just flake food. As for their company there were 4 rainbows in there with them and no medications. Its just weird that on two separate occasions i've purchased them and they've all dies within a two week span.

Chief_waterchanger

Corydoras need vegetable matter in their diets, considerable amounts infact. Shrimp pellets and (I assume tropical) flake food doesn't contain the vegetable matter that veggie flake, veggie wafers, veggie pellets, slices of zucchini, etc would contain. That could be a contributing factor. 2 weeks is about the span of time for dietary issues to take a fish. If you have anymore or plan to get anymore make sure to include atleast half of their diet as vegetable food (veggie flake/pellets/wafers/etc).

capekate

How are the rainbow fish doing that were in the tank with them? Did they survive? Doing ok? Can you tell us what your water change routine is? Other than that, I really cannot see what is going wrong. Unless the 80* is too high for them?

~ kate

kevline

The rainbows are all doing fine...I've had them for about 10 months now. I change water about every 3-4 weeks. So all I have now are 3 boesmani, 1 neon rainbow and 3 siamese flying foxes. I bought the flying foxes at the same time as the corys but they seem to be doing really well. They all stay together and never seem to stop working.

Chief_waterchanger

You should be changing water atleast 20-30% per week.

susitna-flower

Hi, and WELCOME to FISHLORE

What kind of rainbows do you have? There is a vast difference in sizes here.

For a 10 gallon tank, you should stay away from adding corys. Your tank is probably already overcrowded, and since you should get at least 3 corys for them to be happy and not stressed, you would need a minimum of about 30 gallon tank.

It sounds to me like you need to test your water......Most folks here recommend the API Master Test kit. A little expensive but it will do hundreds of tests, and really is the only way you can be sure of your water conditions.

Corys are known to be like the 'canary in the mine', they will die before more hardy fish, if the water conditions are not good.

80 f is a very little above the general rule for corys. Most have ideal temperatures between 73-78 f , but some can go as high as 82, you need to determine the temp needs for the exact corys you but, next time.

I love corys, and know you will work this out, and enjoy having them, just have to work out the bugs...........

susitna-flower

OK, so your tank, with what you currently have should be AT LEAST 25 gallons. Without adding any thing else.

The bosemani rainbows grow to 4.7 inches, and are suppose to be kept in a larger tank - 60 gal min.

If you follow the recommended 1" adult size fish per gallon of tank, what you currently have needs a minimum of 25 gallon tank, without adding any thing else.