Help: Can't seem to keep Corydoras alive

kahuna · August 5th, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by alicem

Hi kahuna,
My water comes out of the tap @ 7.4 and within 4 hours raises to 8.2.
I'm told it has to do with co2 (or lack there of, I've forgotten which) that the water co. adjusts in the water
to keep the pH lower so it doesn't damage thier pipes.

Needless to say, I pre-condition my replacement water for partial water changes.
All my tanks sit at pH 8.1 to 8.2 High? yes, but stable.
I keep both panda and sterbae corydoras.

I did a little research on your cories:
Planetcatfish states your corydoras punctatus does better in a lower pH and is a very social catfish.
It will not only get along with other cats, but will do better with them.
So planetcatfish strongly recommends keeping them in a shoal with any corydoras.

Also, according to planetcatfish

the schwartzi species is still imported in large numbers,
so they recommend quarantine, especially if adding to groups in well established tanks.

As a suggestion, if you don't have access to a local breeder, I would try albino, emerald green or bronze corydoras.
They are bred from the same species, lean toward the higher end of pH (7.8-8.0)
and should be adaptable to your pH if you acclimate them carefully.

All cories are sensitive to water conditions at the bottom of the tank, so
gravel vaccing and doing partial water changes low in the water collum might help your cause.

How thick is the gravel in your tank?
2" should be plenty and will hold less debris and make gravel vaccing easer.
If you have alot and want to remove some, post that info and we can help you so you don't have mini cycle problems.

Be sure they get food. They do much better if not treated as scavengers, but are fed like other fish.
You could try adding sinking food after lights out... with the following disclaimer:
Since you have only 2 right now, don't accidentally over do it and pollute the tank.

I hope at least some of this helps you,
alicem

Thank you for all the great info. You actually hit on a couple things we discussed with our LFS. They suggested that the catfish were not getting enough of the food and initially we thought that was the problem. The Platy and the Dwarf Gourami are generally the first to the food dropped to the cories. We started dropping the shrimp pellets, algae wafers or veggie wafers right in the area the cories were hanging out and for approx. a month we did not lose a single cory. But out of the blue they started dying again.

We also discussed the gravel and feel we are ok with that. It is approx a 1 1/2" deep. We do 50 % water changes weekly, vacuuming 1/3 of the tank each week.

I think you probably hit the nail on the head with the cories that can tolerate higher ph, and of course acclimating them.

Kind of strange that so many people in Billings Montana are on well water and have very high ph but it is almost impossible to find the peppered, emerald or bronze cory.

Thank you again for your research it is greatly appreciated.

kahuna · August 5th, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by snowflake311

Omg I can't keep cory cats too. I also have lost 14 cory all seem to only live 1-2 weeks. I thought it was due to the bad batch at the store.

My tank is 55 gal planted sand ammonia 0 nitrites 0 nitrates 10 ph 6.5 I have soft water. I talked with another person on a site. I think there might be something in my water that effects the cory something I can not detect maybe copper zinc something. I bought 3 schwartz and only have one left it's been 2 weeks.

I'm trying to find other fish keeperss in my town and see if anyone has had the same problem. Because like you I keep up with
MY water changes and sand cleaning. It just does not make sence that I can't keep them but can keep rams medusa pleco and spawn blue acaras.

So I feel your pain.

Unfortunately I can relate to your pain also. I originally was not that interested in any catfish but decided as a scavenger it has a benefit to the tank. When I did get the original 6 cories I realized that they were awesome little fish and I also soon realized that their shyness required extra feeding.

Now I have really grown to appreciate this little fish and would very much like to have at least 6 healthy ones. After the many great posts I believe I should have done more research on the ph requirements on these little guys.

Thank you all.

alicem · August 8th, 2009

Quote:

Kind of strange that so many people in Billings Montana are on well water and have very high ph but it is almost impossible to find the peppered, emerald or bronze cory.

I searched around for clubs too, nadda that I could find either...

If you are willing to risk it, is there any way the LFS can get some in for you?

According to planetcatfish these are all pH 8, except noted:
Brochis splendens (green cory)
Corydoras acutus (black top cory)
Corydoras eques (Horsemans cory)
Corydoras reynoldsi (Bumblebee or Reynold's cory)
Corydoras seussi (Seuss' cory)
Corydoras agassizii (Spotted cory) there were several named "spotted cory"
Corydoras brevirostris (spotted cory) pH 7.8
Corydoras venezuelanus (Venezuela's cory) pH 7.8
Corydoras lamberti (C009)
Corydoras blochi (C032)
Corydoras aurofrenatus (CW005)

There were some with just the "C" number names which might work, but I was too lazy to look though them.

Before you order any fish, let's think about this...
There may be some metal/minerals (or something) in your well water that the cats don't do well in...
Have you ever had any other catfish, plecos or anistrus?

Another possibility would be to call the health dept. and see if they would test your water for more than what you can at home, like metals and minerals.
Since it is from a well, they probably would. I'm sure they'd have specific directions for drawing water from your faucet.

If they won't do it, ask them if they have any suggestions?
Would they have any publications on local ground water/aquifer conditions?

There is an extension center from the University of Illinois in the town up the road from me,
that is pretty accomodating in terms of agriculture and environmental stuff.
We are a heavily farmed state and that directly affects our ground water.

Any universities around your area with a chemistry or biology dept. that may have some interest in testing your water?

Just tossing ideas out here.

alicem

acidpope · August 8th, 2009

I've kept Corydoras Aeneus (these are the natural version of the aformentioned Albino). They were my first fish and I purchased them in a group of 5. Everything seemed fine, then after a few days 1 died. A few days later another died. After that it was fine for a year (one just died this week, no idea why, bringing me down to 2). To get back to the first two that passed away, I have a strong feeling they were not getting enough food. I'd suggest gambling on the side of over-feeding a tad for cory's and cleaning the tank and changing the water a little more often if you use gravel (if you have sand you'll be able to see the uneaten food and adjust feeding volume off that). Once I did this I stopped losing them.

kahuna · August 12th, 2009

Thank you all for the great advice. I went to my lfs on 8/8/09 and purchased 6 little bronze cories. So far they seem real healthy and they seem to have drawn out the 2 remaining cories. But as stated before, the other 12 cories generally lasted @ least 2 weeks.

Just a note on the food. We do believe that there is a possibility the first couple cories might not have been getting enough food. They are extremely timid and my platies are extremely aggressive in regards to food, but I am confident the cories are getting sufficient food now.

These little guys seem to be much more active and visible...we will cross our fingers.

alicem · August 13th, 2009

Fingers are crossed in Illinois.

alicem

ps,
Don't forget, with extra feeding, keep the water stable and clean and the substrate vac-ed.

uprightandlocked · September 8th, 2009

How are your little cories doing? Are they all doing well, I hope?

karennik · September 20th, 2009

OMG I too am having problems with my cory's. I love them. I've had my 29 gal tank for about a year now and had 6 neons (just died, one at a time over the past month), 5 blood fin tetras, 5 checkerboard split tail tetras, and 3 cory's. Two of the cory's have died one at a time. They exhibit the same behavior, and now the 3rd one is doing the same thing. They were active, eating and appeared happy, then for no reason one will start trying to swim to the top of the tank, but not be able to get there. The cory will spend all day trying to get to the top. It looks like he's tiring himself out to get to the top of the tank. I change the water about once per month, RO water, so no additives. The temp stays around 78, PH around 7.2, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and 0 nitrates (not sure if that makes since after reading a few posts). I have an under gravel filter and a carbon filter on the tank. Oh yeah, my cory's are green corys.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

dvc_r · September 20th, 2009

Quote:

I change the water about once per month, RO water, so no additives

If you are changing your water once a month your nitAtes can't be zero.

One: Either you got a false reading. Try it again, making sure your mixing the bottles and test tube as directed (especially bottle #2!).

Two: the bottle is expired. Check the lot number, a seven digit number stamped on top of the bottle. The last 4 digits of the lot number is month/year of manufacturer. Test kits expire 2 year from that date.

Three: Are you using ONLY RO water? If so you need to replenish some of the minerals (calcium, sodium, potassium, and magnesium) back into the water. I use Kent RO conditioner. Or you can mix some tap water, but the ratio can vary greatly. I've read some use 2 gals RO/One gal tap. I only use 12 gals RO to one gal tap, just enough to keep the water stable.

Four: your UG filter should be fine but how often do you replace your carbon (I'm assuming from an HOB filter. You may not need to put any carbon in if your tank is well established (but that's another thread).

Well that's a start... oh and by the way: Welcome to Fishlore!

griffin · September 20th, 2009

those numbers do sound a bit odd. while they are possible if you have a heavily planted tank, it doesn't sound like it in your case?

otherwise, i mostly agree with dvc_r.

and welcome to fishlore!

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