m.brent.rowe

I bought three corys last year and one by one they've all come down with the same condition. Well I think they have at least. The first one died maybe in January or last December or so. Then i had another die a couple months ago. It couldn't swim well at all and had trouble staying right side up. So finally it died. Now my last cory is acting the same way. It just has started. Any ideas what this is? I really enjoy him and don't want to let him go without a fight.

Chief_waterchanger

What size tank?
At what temperature do you keep the tank?
What kind of substrate do you have? (A lot of cories will get infection in their barbels if kept in a rough substrate.)
I assume the tank has been cycled properly if you've had the fish so long? (Making sure you haven't recently swapped tanks or something.)
What kind of waterchange schedule do you keep?

m.brent.rowe

20 Gallon long
Temp is 77
Pea Gravel Substrate
Tank is a year and a half old so lol yeah it's cycled and in good shape from a readings standpoint. I don't use a lot of carbon though, just biological filtration and filter pads.
And I change about twenty five percent a week. And I changed it last on Sunday I believe. Sometimes it goes for two weeks but that's the most it's ever been.

Chief_waterchanger

The main problem I could see with the tank would be that often times with pea gravel substrate bits of uneatten food will get under some of the rock and decay.

A couple more questions, sorry, but maybe it will help us diagnose the problem.

Do you vaccuum the gravel?
How deep is the gravel?

Sand substrate works a lot better for corydoras; Specifically the pool filter sand (it doesn't cloud the water nearly as bad.)

m.brent.rowe

Yep I vacuum it where I put his algae wafers. The gravel is maybe an inch at it's thickest spot. Let me ask you this, do you think perhaps I'm overfeeding him? he doesn't look overweight honestly. I feed him half an algae wafer a day but he has to share with three otos. I dunno i've thought about just not feeding him for a day or two or putting the food where only the otos could get to it.

clinton1621

Corys are also more affected by high amounts of waste in the gravel, they will get bacteria, parasite, or even swim bladder problems from this... given that the tank is that old, I would guess that it needs a really good gravel wash to get all the old mulm and detritus out of it. This can be an issue even if all the readings look correct, where are your nitrate levels at??

Edit : Ninja'd again

m.brent.rowe

I don't even remember. I'd have to measure again in the morning. I'm about to hit the hay. I'll change the water in the morning but I'll check all my readings before I change it to see if they bely anything. Also just from my pov it looks almost like swim bladder problems. It doesn't seem to be anything else, he looks fine and healthy from the outside.

Chief_waterchanger

I agree with Clinton.

I doubt that you are really overfeeding him, but just that the food is going to get swished around and under some of the rocks and decaying, even minute amounts over the course of a year or more would make a big difference.

I would do a very detailed gravel vac'ing, but only do half of the gravel this time and then in a few days do the other half. You don't want to remove too much good bacteria.

m.brent.rowe

Alrighty will do. Just hope he makes it through all this. I really enjoy him. Thanks you guys I really really appreciate it.

clinton1621

No thanks necessary We're all glad to help out =)

m.brent.rowe

Well the little guy is doing better this morning

Chief_waterchanger

Glad to hear that. Cories can truely be some hardy little guys (and gals.)

m.brent.rowe

Well he was better and has flashes of his old self but mostly he's still just upside down a lot. He doesn't move much at all now which isn't exactly abnormal for him. I've fed him minimally and I've been changing a little water and doing vacuuming every other day.

m.brent.rowe

Well he died today. I dunno what it is really. I mean he's just like the others. Looks fine and healthy just this problem with staying right side up and then death. At least these last two were like that. The first one I just found dead. Oh well I guess that's one less fish I have to worry about in t he move although he was one of my favorites. I haven't bought any fish for a long time. None this whole year actually and now I just have the five left. But they all seem fine and healthy. This still just bugs me. Maybe they were a week breed or something. I've noticed that most fish I get from Petco haven't been so great.

Chief_waterchanger

Finding a good private breeder of the fish you would like to purchase is usually a good step towards getting higher quality livestock.

www.Aquabid.com is a good source, if you decide to go looking for more. (Please, if you use that site, read the negative and neutral feedbacks on a lot of the people. There is a specific corydoras seller that is a particularly bad person to deal with. I will PM that name to you if you would like.)

m.brent.rowe

Thanks if you could please do that. I'm basically through with the petco here. The closest other thing is a Petsmart about an hour away. But it's run better than most from what I've heard here and other places. All the fish I've gotten there have been healthy and hardy. Anyways I may stick with online breeders.

Chief_waterchanger

You have too few posts to receive PMs, but I used the e-mail link in your contact information. So you should have an e-mail sometime soon.