Julii Cory Acting Sluggish

hi! [EDIT: it is not dead. Still has gill movement and moved a little bit since I checked last a couple minutes ago.]

My Cory had been acting totally normal lately, but last night wasn’t scurrying around as much as normal. I fed & he perked up and ate for a while.

I came home from work today to find him sitting on the bottom of the tank. I dropped his sinking pellets down directly in front of his face but he just wiggled a bit and stayed in place.

This tanks water is testing well- nitrite/nitrate 0(ish- I need to get another full test kit, my cats knocked my glass viles over), pH is 7, water is a little hard but not too bad. Nothing more than it is normally.

I’m wondering if this tank could be overstocked? I have a small angelfish (1.75”) 2 guppies, and a tetra in a 7gal. I’m going to move the angel once it gets a little bigger.

I’ve also read he could have potentially not been getting all his nutrients because the gravel I have is kinda big, but he was always eating and I made sure he always had a good supply getting down to his level. It didn’t ever appear to be *searching* for food.

Any insight?

I do have a larger tank I could potentially transfer him into, but the water quality in that tank has always given me trouble so I’m hesitant to shock it even further and cause a death instead of avoiding one

 

What kind of cory is it? Some are hardier than others so that may be a factor. Cories like to school in groups of 6+ but that aside I’m afraid there may not be enough space for him in a 7gallon. I’ve read that people suggest at least 20gallons but if you have Pygmy cories you could get away with a 10gallon. I’m still just learning about cories but hopefully someone else can help you some more.

 

Oops! It’s a JuliI Cory- it’s pretty small though, less than an 1” at this point.

 

I’d say you’re definitely overstocked. However, if he’s alone that could very well cause health issues from stress. He needs friends for sure, but a 7gallon isn’t going to work out:/ And is your gravel sharp or jagged? They can do ok in smooth gravel but sand is preferred.

 

From what I’ve been told JuliI cories tend to be bred and not wild caught so their immune system should be solid. I think he may just be lonely since you usually need a group to see their playful behavior. However, you would need to move him into a bigger tank in order to get more. What water troubles have you had with your other tank?

 

The gravel is very smooth. It’s pebbles on top of very fine substrate sand.

Now I feel bad for keeping him alone! Maybe I will switch him over to the other tank and get him a friend.

The issue I’ve had with the other tank is high ammonia and nitrites. HOWEVER I recently did a major overhaul of the whole thing and it is now testing safe with no ammonia so I think it should be okay. The improvement in that tank has been extreme, I think I’m just nervous now because of the problems I had before. Gotta love that Texas tap water.
I only have 2 guppies and a Gourami in that 10G tank.

I really need to just consolidate and get a big tank but this is what worked out when we got them.

 

I feel ya! My source water has ammonia in it so I have to use filtered water. If you have other fish in the 10 gallon already I think you should move the Cory over and get him 2 friends to start with

 

Yep! I had to make the switch to filtered water as well. It’s more expensive but the entire condition of the tank has benefited from it, so it’s worth it to me.

Just moved him over but now that he’s in better light, I’m noticing some redness. Does this look normal or should I look into it more? For size reference that blue glass he’s next to is 1”wx1”h

 

Test your ammonia just to be sure. Red gills is usually from high ammonia

 

Okay. Tank I just moved him into is at 0. One I took him out of is at 0.25. Hopefully that fixes itself

 

Yes that should help

 

 

Yay! You should see his behavior improve with friends

 

Having friends will massively improve his happiness! I keep all the Cory that I breed in groups. Another thing you could consider long run is a better substrate (or just reducing the amount of large stones and giving them open areas of sand to chill on, they will naturally gravitate to it and check through the sand for food), as they could have gotten some small damage somewhere that caused them to fall ill. Let us know how the little guy gets on!

 

Thank you to all of you for your help! He’s already moving around more. I’ll update in a few days.

So.... the new one died.

I’m so confused.

The older one is still kickin’, he actually looks a little better today. His top fin and tail fin were droopy yesterday and today they’re standing straight up and he’s moving around. I’m about to test the water

Everything is fine but ammonia is back up from 0 to 0.5

I’m at a loss. I honestly have done everything I could think of and everything I’ve been suggested and this just keeps happening. I do regular water changes and have been taking MORE care to do MORE of them since this has been happening.

About 5 days ago I took almost everything out of the tank and did a very thorough clean. Changed the water to a different source, added Ammo Lock, cleared the carbon and zeolite out of the filter & replaced it with sponges. I have quite a few plants in the tank and now even have algae starting to grow after being told to try to get the plants to absorb more ammonia.

Other than draining the whole tank and filling it with completely new water from a different source and starting over, I really don’t know what to do at this point.

 

From what I’ve been told JuliI cories tend to be bred and not wild caught so their immune system should be solid. I think he may just be lonely since you usually need a group to see their playful behavior. However, you would need to move him into a bigger tank in order to get more. What water troubles have you had with your other tank?

They are C.trilineatus.

 

Hmm. I used Seachem prime to detoxify the ammonia in my tank and I added beneficial bacteria when I realized my source water was bad but I think someone with more experience will have to advise you for your next steps as I’ve never used Ammolock

 

To be honest in both pics I don't see really smooth substrate as you're mentioning.
What are you feeding exactly?

Corys are very sensitive for ammonia and nitrites.

C.juliI isn't bred, C.trilineatus are but not sure these are. The immunesystem of wildcaught often is better than bred ones though. The wild caught ones are more sensitive for waterparameters though.

 

To be honest in bost pics I don't see really smooth substrate as you're mentioning.
What are you feeding exactly?

Corys are very sensitive for ammonia and nitrites.

C.juliI isn't bred, C.trilineatus are but not sure these are. The immunesystem of wildcaught often is better than bred ones though. The wild caught ones are more sensitive for waterparameters though.

My LFS said their Juliis are bred and stronger than wild ones but it wouldn’t be the first time that an employee gave incorrect information

 

My LFS said their Juliis are bred and stronger than wild ones but it wouldn’t be the first time that an employee gave incorrect information

LFS's only sell mislabeled C.trilineatus.
Juliis are hardly bred but trilineatus by the thousands nowadays.

Mass breeding never did any good to fishhealth. On the contrary we are destroying the most beautiful fish by doing so.