1 dead Corydoras habrosus

Tank
What is the water volume of the tank?
120l/31.7g
How long has the tank been running?
1 month + 1 week
Does it have a filter?
Yes, Aquael turbo 1000 at about 60%power with aeration. Sponge and media chamber.
Does it have a heater?
Yes
What is the water temperature?
25•c/77f
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.)
~100 varied neocaridina
2 juvenile bristlenose plecos
6 Corydora sterbai
12 Corydora pygmaeus
4 Corydora hastatus
6(now 5) Corydora habrosus
4 male guppies
A ton of bladder snails I’ve been trying to pick out every day.
Maintenance
How often do you change the water?
1x/week
How much of the water do you change?
~20%
What do you use to treat your water?
Tetra Aquasafe
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water?
Vacuum the sand

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish?
Yes
What do you use to test the water?
JBL Test kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0-0.1 depending on time of day
Nitrate: ~20
pH:

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? 2x/day
How much do you feed your fish? 5 tetra water mix, 1 JBL Tabis, half a pinch of dennerle shrimp king colour. Eventually 1 tetra pleco algae wafer.
What brand of food do you feed your fish?
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods?
I believe Tabis contains freeze dried food.
Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish?
1.5weeks
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms?
Today
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms?
One dead Corydora Habrosus this afternoon, one lying in shrimp food plate with clamped fins and breathing fast, one out and about but clamping fins when staying still.
Have you started any treatment for the illnessnot yet, bought sera baktopur and omnipur.
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase?
No
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all?
Yes, it used to be as active as the other fish.

Explain your emergency situation in detail. (Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now)
Been losing a couple of shrimp a day for the past week, chalked it up to stress or maybe temp variations during the day. This afternoon found the dead Cory - it was belly up on the substrate, looking pale and colorless, nothing more that caught my attention. Also noticed that some of the remaining Habrosus look strange - clamped fins, a bit pale. No red spots.
Any help would be much appreciated, this is my second tank, first large one and I’m a newbie, very much freaking out about this.

 

How to Lower Nitrates in Your Aquarium | TFH Magazine

Your nitrates aren't INSANELY high, but they aren't ideal. Try using something that will buffer the nitrates. When you start a new tank, the bacteria can be overwhelmed. I usually fix this by putting in a spider plant, or other water-loving plant, into my HOB filter or in a netted hydroponics pot. Make sure it doesn't shed leaves/roots into the water that will rot and create more problems.

You didn't give your pH. That's necessary to know if your bacteria are thriving:
The Role of pH In The Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle.

Personally, I'd to daily or every-other-day 20% water changes until my tank settles down and the nitrates go down.

 

Thank you very much for replying, I apologize for not responding sooner - I got a bit overwhelmed with what was going on in the tank and ashamed for causing trouble to the fish.
I’d been following the levels on the nitrate test I have and it said that was fine. I have since bought some filter media to help capture nitrates. I also have a lot of plants in there and will do more water changes to keep levels down. I’ve also bought a nice gravel vacuum, hoping that it can help by removing the food residue. I’ve been only vacuuming during water changes and always few live that’s not enough to go over all of the substrate properly.
Because they fish and shrimp were doing so poorly I ended up treating the tank with Sera Omnipur, which worked out greatly: only one more dead shrimp since Friday night and most of the affected fish (3 Habrosus and one pygmaeus Cory) are acting normal again. One Habrosus is in the isolation box because the shrimp had started grazing on it. It’s still hanging on and not getting worse... but also not getting better. I do hope I treated in time for it to eventually recover, but at the same time am kind of prepared for it to pass?
I’ve also realized that my Sterbai had been flashing for a while, and now they are not which can only be good.
Thanks for pointing out that I missed the ph, and sharing the link. It’s been pretty consistently 7,4-7,6 which seems to be acceptable for bacteria and Corys thankfully.
Sorry for the wall of text, it’s been an overwhelming weekend.

 

C. habrosus are often sold quite young and are very sensitive to bacteria imbalances in a tank at that age. The tank is not yet really established after a bit more than a month, so it's very likely due to this. I wouldn't add them to a tank less than 4-5 months running.

Please stop vacuuming the sand. If you do that it takes ages until the tank is really established. I would also leave some mulm and not remove everything. (Cycled is not established)

It's also not a good idea to keep that many species Corydoras (with an s, this is not a plural-s) together, especially not a big species like sterbai together with the dwarf species. The likelihood the dwarf species are not getting enough food is high.

Also toss the omnipur, it's not catfish-safe, although the instructions say something different, while bactopur will likely nuke your tank at that stage. You won't need either.

Can you post a picture of the tank?

How much do you feed your fish? 5 tetra water mix,

You mean wafer mix? That stuff is just filler (grains, cereals, fish meal).

1 JBL Tabis, half a pinch of dennerle shrimp king colour. Eventually 1 tetra pleco algae wafer.

Also all not really good for Corydoras.

Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods?
I believe Tabis contains freeze dried food.

The tabs contain fish- and crustaceanmeal, not freeze dried.

For a balanced diet for Corydoras get tabs mainly with crustaceans and not with algae. Corydoras are technically carnivores, not herbivores. Also frozen foods like artemia and cyclops should be offered. Tubifex and other real worms (not bloodworms those are junk), are a good addition to their diet.
For the plecos you can offer fresh veggies, though.

About the waterchanges: 20% a week doesn't dilute much. 50% a week is a good percentage to actually change something about the nitrate levels.

Overall, in my opinion, what you are experiencing is the usual start complications within the first 3 months of a tank.

 

Thank you very much for all the info. All the advice is much appreciated. Is it ok if I add some more questions to clarify? There is SO MUCH info going around and it’s really hard to filter what’s good advice without any experience. If not ok just ignore me!

About separating Corydoras species: would it be ok to maintain the Habrosus and Pygmy/Hastatus together? I would have to add them to a new tank, though, as I don’t have any established ones available. Would it be preferable to add to new tank, use tetra safe start and frequent water changes in the beginning or leaving as is for now until the other tank is at least properly cycled?

About not vacuuming the sand: should I still try to get the “visible ” every now and then? Or just leave it? I have noticed that in a few spots there is a “black layer” and read that these things should be removed. Is that not true? *visible confusion*

About the omnipur: oh s***, I even called their hotline to ask and was reassured so it’s already been in the tank since Friday night. Should I remove it ASAP? With water changes and activated carbon? Will this harm my tank? Everyone (that wasn’t looking too well) is looking better now, should I still worry??

About 50% water changes weekly: is that a must with Corys? Is there a way to minimize that? I keep shrimp in the same tank and large weekly changes are not recommended (again, info found online, not sure if reliable).Do I have to ditch the shrimp? If separating the dwarf Corys from the Sterbai I won’t have an extra tank available.

About feeding: would it be possible to share one example of appropriate tablets? I’m feeding these based on a) what the Sterbai were eating for 3 years at the previous owners and b) what the previous owner and the store were feeding the dwarf Corys. I will arrange for more frozen foods (not bloodworms! could you share something about why they’re bad? I want to really try to understand what’s good for them and why) but it would be much more convenient if there were tablets I could also use.

Also attaching a current picture of the tank - it’s missing the lava stones, Java ferns and moss because I wanted to be able to see everyone while things weren’t going well.
Edit: weird colour is courtesy of omnipur.

 

About separating Corydoras species: would it be ok to maintain the Habrosus and Pygmy/Hastatus together? I would have to add them to a new tank, though, as I don’t have any established ones available. Would it be preferable to add to new tank, use tetra safe start and frequent water changes in the beginning or leaving as is for now until the other tank is at least properly cycled?

Never said you have to move them asap. Just cycle a new tank and add them then. No need to rush. Rushing things is the worst thing in aquatics.

About not vacuuming the sand: should I still try to get the “visible ****” every now and then? Or just leave it? I have noticed that in a few spots there is a “black layer” and read that these things should be removed. Is that not true? *visible confusion*

A good layer of mulm is essential for a balanced and stable tank. Vaccuming sand is nonsense, because the stuff that often ends up in the cravisses in gravel is staying on top of sand. It only looks gross, but it is just the normal waste of a tank. If it's mostly leftover foods, remove it. Same for dead leaves of aquatic plants. Mulm from decomposing leaf litter is great, though. Fish waste itself is a mixed bag. You feed high protein, you want to remove much of it until a healthy layer of mulm has formed. After that no problem at all. But it is a long and sometimes bumpy ride until you are there.

About the omnipur: oh s***, I even called their hotline to ask and was reassured so it’s already been in the tank since Friday night. Should I remove it ASAP? With water changes and activated carbon? Will this harm my tank? Everyone (that wasn’t looking too well) is looking better now, should I still worry??

As you would likely have noticed ill effects from it on the cories, it seems to be ok this time. Still: Why use it in the first place, when you had a loss from unknown causes during the first weeks of a tank with newly added fish? Only use meds when you know what is going on and if you have no idea what is happening do waterchanges and wait until specific symptoms show up.
And yes, you remove meds with an 80% waterchange and put active carbon in the filter for 24h. The colour may not go away for over a week, but that's normal. The waterchanges and active carbon will harm your tank less than the meds.
Decide yourself whether you want to leave the med in or not. As you have no losses to report it's seemingly safe for now.
After the meds are gone, add either alder cones or IAL (indian almond leaves).

About 50% water changes weekly: is that a must with Corys? Is there a way to minimize that? I keep shrimp in the same tank and large weekly changes are not recommended (again, info found online, not sure if reliable).Do I have to ditch the shrimp? If separating the dwarf Corys from the Sterbai I won’t have an extra tank available.

In my opinion it's a must for every tank, though a well established on can easily take two weeks without a waterchange. But your tank is far away from that point right now. And the amount and frequency of waterchanges is not linked directly to the fish or shrimp you keep. There are some niche-types of fishkeeping where this is different, but that is irrelevant for you.
I'm beginning to ask myself what crappy websites you use as an information source.
Shrimp and fish will definitely be doing better with more frequent and bigger waterchanges. Just make sure the parameters (temp, GH, KH, pH) are similar to what you have in the tank.

About feeding: would it be possible to share one example of appropriate tablets? I’m feeding these based on a) what the Sterbai were eating for 3 years at the previous owners and b) what the previous owner and the store were feeding the dwarf Corys. I will arrange for more frozen foods (not bloodworms! could you share something about why they’re bad? I want to really try to understand what’s good for them and why) but it would be much more convenient if there were tablets I could also use.

I have no special recommendations for brands, but look at the ingredients of any prospective fishfood: If it contains fishmeal, grains (wheat, corn, gluten is fine as a binder), soy and/or yeast, it's low quality. Also the ratio of protein to fats is often 4:1 which is too low, 2:1 or 3:1 is the better alternative. Too low fat means the fish have to get their energy from protein, which leads to deficiencies and can lead to a negative net energy balance.
Bloodworms have mainly exactly that problem: The ratio of protein to fat is bad. There are also other reasons like relatively high amounts of heavy metals in many samples. If you speak German I can look whether the magazine articles are available somewhere on the net.

Yeah... well... convenient is a nice to have in the hobby, but not really a frequent thing.

Also attaching a current picture of the tank - it’s missing the lava stones, Java ferns and moss because I wanted to be able to see everyone while things weren’t going well.

Put back in all the stuff. Taking away hiding spots is making the stress levels worse.

Also something you might want to think about: Guppies need quite hard, high pH water, Cories the opposite with soft and acidic water. So longterm I'd divide that too. But your choice. It's not killing the fish, just not optimal conditions.

 

I don’t see a problem with your tank. Maybe to many corys. But your reading are fine. Since when did 20ppm of nitrate become insanely high? Like so many other fish corys are known to die for what seems no reason. Being the pygmies are doing good your tank is good. 50% water changes weekly will keep the tank healthy. Yes put back the stuff you took out.

 

Again, thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to respond! I'm beyond grateful for all the advice.

And yes, you remove meds with an 80% waterchange and put active carbon in the filter for 24h.

Must the carbon be removed after 24h? I bought Blue Life Clear FX Pro to add to the filter and instructions say it can be used for 4 months. I'm wary of instructions now.

After the meds are gone, add either alder cones or IAL (indian almond leaves).

I always have an IAL in the tank, adding a new one when the old one is about 75% gone! Yay for one good advice from before!

I have no special recommendations for brands, but look at the ingredients of any prospective fishfood: If it contains fishmeal, grains (wheat, corn, gluten is fine as a binder), soy and/or yeast, it's low quality. Also the ratio of protein to fats is often 4:1 which is too low, 2:1 or 3:1 is the better alternative. Too low fat means the fish have to get their energy from protein, which leads to deficiencies and can lead to a negative net energy balance.

Yeah... well... convenient is a nice to have in the hobby, but not really a frequent thing.

After many hours looking for available food without fillers, I am shocked at how difficult it is to find anything. Fluval bug bites and Omega One shrimp pellets seem to be the only decent ones. (hope it's ok to mention brands, I'm not recommending them or anything, just venting my frustration at everything else). I've even looked at many freeze dried foods and protein to fat is like 8:1. Do you have any recommendations/sources on how to build a menu for the fish? Since convenience is not an option, I'm about to go nuclear and try to do the best.

Put back in all the stuff. Taking away hiding spots is making the stress levels worse.

Thanks, doing that today. How do I get the fish poop/food residue/eventual dead shrimp from under the cave, rocks, moss without stressing the fish out during water changes?

Also something you might want to think about: Guppies need quite hard, high pH water, Cories the opposite with soft and acidic water. So longterm I'd divide that too. But your choice. It's not killing the fish, just not optimal conditions.

Will look into that for the future, after smaller tank is cycled and pygmies are there.

 

To help get the messy bits out from caves and around plants that the vac cannot reach, go to the supermarket or hardware store and buy the longest turkey baster that you can find.

Spot clean the substrate with that each and every water change. It can be done without the need to shift anything about and the fish take little if any notice of you doing it. Sand substrate can also be puffed to stop it compacting under caves and trapping nasties like rotting food or plantlife too. Cheap and cheerful....and very very handy

 

Must the carbon be removed after 24h? I bought Blue Life Clear FX Pro to add to the filter and instructions say it can be used for 4 months. I'm wary of instructions now.

Just remove it after 24-48 hours. It can only absorb a certain amount of things and as it absorbs everything absorbable it will be saturated at one point and just sit and even slowly leach the stuff it absorbed again.

I always have an IAL in the tank, adding a new one when the old one is about 75% gone! Yay for one good advice from before!

In your tanksize you can easily add up to 5 whole leaves at once and for their full potential leave them in untill completely decomposed. I just add a handfull of leaves every 2-3 weeks.

After many hours looking for available food without fillers, I am shocked at how difficult it is to find anything. Fluval bug bites and Omega One shrimp pellets seem to be the only decent ones. (hope it's ok to mention brands, I'm not recommending them or anything, just venting my frustration at everything else). I've even looked at many freeze dried foods and protein to fat is like 8:1. Do you have any recommendations/sources on how to build a menu for the fish? Since convenience is not an option, I'm about to go nuclear and try to do the best.

It's absolutely ok to mention brands, most often I'm just sitting a continent apart most people here on the forum so it's hard to recommend any brands that ain't available to me or vice versa. Bug bites have changed the formula to more grains, but are still within what I would call decent ratios of ingredients. In freeze dried products the protein/fat-ratio is indeed like that, which is due to the freeze-drying process.
I think on Ivan Mikolji's youtube channel there was lately a video about how to mix your own fish food, by one of the venerable old legends of fishkeeping. Found it very interesting and informative.

Thanks, doing that today. How do I get the fish poop/food residue/eventual dead shrimp from under the cave, rocks, moss without stressing the fish out during water changes?

Unless it's spots with mostly rotting fishfood I don't clean the bottom of my tanks. My fish are pretty good in cleaning up themselves by foraging on all levels of the tank after feeding. I feed very small amounts usually, so the leftovers are only a few bites. My Apistogramma picks between and even under the leaf litter and chews sand, the pencilfish hover between the floating plants the same way and whatever ends up free floating in the water my cardinals will go for.

Will look into that for the future, after smaller tank is cycled and pygmies are there.

Excellent!

 

Just noticed this in one of the "healthy" Habrosus. Red blotch disease/condition? I'm thinking the omnipur nuked my filter. Please help? How do I fix this?

 

Na, the underside is just often almost translucent. Definitely not red spot disease, that would look different. Also, where should the pathogen suddenly come from? Keep an eye on it, but don't panic.

The filter is nuked if you get either ammonia and/or nitrite readings over 0.5mg/l (=ppm). Unless you have readings like that the filter is still running.

 

Keep an eye on it, but don't panic.

Thank you. I was visibly doing just that.
Readings are not above that value. Filter is ok then. Will take a deep breath. Sorry.

 

No need to apologize. Breath and carry on.

 

No need to apologize. Breath and carry on.

Hey! Just wanted to thank you for all the help, it was a scary time, I was freaking out big time and my lack of experience was leading to a major case of itchy hands. Your no-nonsense advice helped tremendously.
The tank is back to normal, all fish are fine except for the Habrosus who passed. I think medicating was the right choice at the time, since no more shrimp deaths have happened and no more flashing from the fish.
I've started feeding bug bites and the Sterbai are spawning like crazy. There were even some eggs from the Hastatus