Not active cory's

Hello all,

I have a question about my cory fish.
The other day I purchased 3 Albino Cory's will be getting 4, and put them in my 5 gallon tank, this tank has sand (Caribea Natural), live plants, and drift wood I boiled for days, I allowed the tank to sit for a couple of days, while adding the stuff I got from my Fluval ChI .. The stuff that makes the water safe & the bacteria adder, I believe.

I do realize I should've cycled my tank a lot longer 3 weeks, or so, but I thought I was gonna buy the stuff that cycles the tank in 3 days but never got the chance but will be soon.

My 3 albino's are the only one's in the tank, with the a working heater.. I noticed ever since I got them yesterday, they were slightly active, exploring a bit, but now they just sit down at the bottom of the tank, and don't move (they're not on their sides)

They don't shuffle the sand or anything, I dropped in 3 shrimp pellets, I believe they did eat some of it since I found the pellet in pieces... Or, it just turned into pieces because of the water.

I am going to be upgrading the tank to a 15 gal in a day or two, or so...

Are they like this? Or, are they dying...
Please help, thanks.
I should've never been impatient.

 

You need a way of measuring the water condition best test kit is a liquid kit (apI is popular) they work out cheapest in the long run. The tank water may not be healthy and cycling is not a case of just leaving the water in the tank. Research the nitrogen cycle and do regular water changes using a dechlorinator and matching the temps. Would recommend using tetra safe start to speed it up or prime to de toxify the harmful waste. I will let others on here tell you tank sizes and group sizes but don't rush on the 15 it may be too small still.

 

I will buy a kit. So when using the dechlorinator, do I let the water sit for 30 minutes.. Till it matches room temp? Or no?

Thanks by the way.

 

I put it in a (fish only) bucket with dechlorinator and then leave till the matched water temp usually with a heater but that's not always practical room temp will be close enough just add slowly. Would recommend at least 20% daily, more if possible
Edit: Sorry bucket used for fish water only, don't remove the fish

 

Theyre probably stressed because of the tank size

 

Another question, so, if I do daily water changes (every day) maybe 10 - 20%.. Will my tank still cycle?

 

Yes, the bacteria will only grow on surfaces and none is stored in the water, 20% is a minimum I would start with a 40% change as the ammonia is probably already too high, when you have a test kit you are looking to keep ammonia and nitrite under 1.0 on the readings, at the moment with no test kit and not doing any water changes the fish are stressed and possibly not going to survive.

 

Not wanna be rude but if I was put in a telephone box with my wife and daughter I wouldn't move and eat as well I think.
Corys are very sensitive to ammonia / nitrites, so this is not the way nor the fish to cycle (I hate fish in cycles btw).
Why cycling if there is a 15G (still rather small) on its way ?

 

Update, so one of the cory cat fish died, I knew he was gonna die or, she, because when I got that cory, it was very pale, the other cories were a nice pink, this one was pure white, and lived alone in one of the aquariums, even in the bag never moved much.

After that cory passed away, the other two became super active, now they're constantly digging through the sand, moving all over the place, following each other every where in circles, and playing with their reflections. They've been non-stop active!

Will definitely be upgrading them to a 15 gal soon.

 

Update, so one of the cory cat fish died, I knew he was gonna die or, she, because when I got that cory, it was very pale, the other cories were a nice pink, this one was pure white, and lived alone in one of the aquariums, even in the bag never moved much.

After that cory passed away, the other two became super active, now they're constantly digging through the sand, moving all over the place, following each other every where in circles, and playing with their reflections. They've been non-stop active!

Will definitely be upgrading them to a 15 gal soon.

Hate to tell you, but even a 15 gallon is still to small. You will need to get a 20 minimum.

 

Guess I'll get a 20 Gallon than, I use to have a 55 Gallon, and multiple 20 gallons, but my brother sold them off for no reason to his friends who offered $5 for them, but any who, sure.