rg5141

One of my Peppered Corycats that I've had for about 6 mos. is not eating and hanging out on the bottom of the tank. He has always been small and never seemed to put on any weight. Now he is very thin, especially in his back half. There are no external signs of disease.

Water readings are 0 ammonia, 6 nitrate, 0 nitrite and I do regular weekly water changes of 30-40%. The Cory is in a 38 gal tank with:
2 other Corys
4 Platys
5 Black Phantom Tetras
5 Zebra Danios
1 young Angel fish (two weeks in the tank)

The tank has been running since Nov. 2008. Any help would be appreciated.

aquarist48

Hello rg....sorry to hear your fish isn't well. It sounds like it could be internal parasites. Let's see what some other members have to say.
I hope he's going to be alright.
Ken

rg5141

Thanks. I've had a few fish die over the months since starting the tank without any obvious explanation. One other was also a Cory. Are there often problems in fish due to breeding, or factors that come from where they originate? Like I mentioned, this guy never put on any weight. Maybe it was a parasite.

MizRamzi

The thing with fishes from an LFS is that we never know how old they are. Cory's live anywhere from 3 to 5 years. Ruling out water issues I too would lean towards internal parasites or they may not be getting a proper diet which could lead to other health issues. Do you have a QT tank? If so I would move them into it, and see how they eat and add a little garlic oil to increase their apatite. If your using a larger gravel substrate they may not be getting enough food. Personally I've had more success with my cory's in a well planted, sand substrate tank.

rg5141

Some good thoughts. I don't have a QT tank but it sounds like a good investment. The gravel is a medium size and the shrimp pellets can get lost in there sometimes, although the Cory's tend to do a good job getting to it most of the time. A bigger issue may be the Platy's who barge in and steal the shrimp pellets from those docile Cory's.

aquarist48

rg if you'll go to the top right hand side of this screen and do a search for quarantine tanks (QT), you should find some good ideas on how to make a cheap one. It doesn't have to be an aquarium.
Good luck,
Ken