Why does my cory keep wakin me up!!!!!!!

hI guys and girls this is not a funny topic!! lol o k so it is!! 1 of my cory cats keeps wakin me up in the middle of the night I don't know if hes sick or just gettin loads of air!! but with my panda cories they just fly up and hit the surface get air and come bak down my peppered cory hangs at the top of my tank only at night when its dark and the lights r off and slurps 4 air at the top!!!! all I hear is the water poppin!!! POP POP POP POP POP POP POP POP POP!! (hI'm puttin his mouth in and out of the water surface) constant 4 a long period of time!! when I turn my bedside light on he flies bak down!! any ideas??? why is he doin this is he sick gaspin 4 air?? hes really active other from at night when he does that!!

please help lol C W

 

He might be gasping for air. Do you use CO2 in your tank? The oxygen level goes down in the tank if you are using CO2 in your tank with plants. Plants breath CO2 during the day and oxygen at night.

 

Tell us a little about your tank. This will help us help you Size, water parameters, tank occupants, co2? Are all the occupants at the surface frequently or just the one cory.
Carol

 

I don't hav any plants! I don't use CO2!

its just 1 cory at night that is at the surface

I hav 2 guppies 1 dwarf red fire gourami 1 bristlenose suckerfish 2 rainbow neons 1 platy fry and 5 corys (2 pandas 3 peppered) size of my tank 17 gallons about 63 litres don't know the water perameters at the mo cause haven't got the test kit but the pH is fine 6.8-7

tired C W!!! lol

my m8 says hes cleanin his gills but the others don't do it!! hes started it again right now!! only when the light goes off and its dark he doesn't do it durin the day! ??? ???

 

maybe he's afraid of the dark  ;D just kidding! I really don't know all of mine make runs to the surface but they don't stay there. I have 8 in a 29 Gal. 2 pandas, 2 albino aeneus and  4 green aeneus corys. Is anythig floating on the surface he might be trying to catch? When corys go to the surface for air on the way down they usually expel a tiny bubble of air. Does he do that?

carol

 

there is nothin on the surface he goes up 2 the same place every time! I do notice them expellin a bubble on the way down just wish he wouldnt b so loud!!!!

 

Corys have the ability to go to the surface and take a breath of air, then it travels through the intestinal track where some of it is absorbed and the rest travels on out the anus. Thus the little bubble you see expelled. Maybe for some reason the bottom layer of water doesn't have enough oxygen for him at night. Try stirring the water really good(bottom to top) with your hand before you turn the lights out tonight. Worth a shot and just a thought.
Carol

 

yeah good idea cheers carol!

 

I just got some emerald cories and they don't wake me up because they seem to stay at the bottom. But when they were in the bag on the way they went to the top and and as they went back down they made a bubble. But the problem is the small one I think is a male and the other 2 are females but the male is smaller and the females chase him around is this normal?

 

Yeah their just playing, I have 10 of various kinds in a 29 G and they constantly chase from one end of the tank to the other.
Carol

 

Must be pretty loud, amazing for such a little fish. How close is the tank to your bed?

 

about 2 metres away from where I sleep or not even 2 metres

 

But the bad thing about the females chasing the male is that the females chase him away from the food and they are big and fat and he is small and skinny. Will this stop before he dies of starvation? And he seems to hide a lot but the other females come out and scavenge for food. I really worried about this male with him being so skinny.

 

Males are naturally much slimer than the females. corys tend to scavenge all the time, but if you think he's hungry try dropping food at opposite ends of the tank.
Carol

 

Never mind I found out he has gill lukes and he will be returned today to my lps.

 

I'm so sorry!!! How did you find out he had gill flukes?
Carol

 

His gills were red. he never moved, he didn't eat, he was breathing rapidley. So I return him and from what he said it sound like they weren't going to try and treat him they were just going to flush him.

 

boys a dear!!!!!!!

 

Craig what does boys a dear mean?

 

that's terrible basically its a phrase we use in northern ireland

 

Corys are strange and very playful. I have moss in my tank that I bought. It's very fluffy and airy and they like to crash into the middle of it at high speeds and just suspend themselves in it hanging. They have tought the other fish to do it and now all the fish like to crash into it and couch out on it. They don't do this to any of the other plants. It's like a fish bed. They love it and can nap in it for up to an hour at a time. Put some floating plants in the tank to keep them below and maybe they won't do that anymore. Alos maybe increase your oxygen by adding a larger filter or adding an airstone

 

i'm no pro but it almost sounds like he's stressed out have you checked out your water lvl's? i['d get your water tested and see if its all balanced out corys i've always found can be very finiky about their water quality atleast that's what i've noticed with personal experience but that's the most common thing with fish gulping for air is stress due to water quality but this is only my experiance...
or even try ading a bit of salt to your water cory's love salted water!! i've always found they do 10x better in brac water then Freshwater but hey take of this what you will man!

 

Actually I wouldn't advise adding salt to your water for corys. They are totally freshwater fish and really don't appreciate salt in their water.
Carol

 

my cory's in with my puffers in Brac water are doing and growing 10x more and are 10x better then my ones in Freshwater so.....

 

Kanadian I'm glad yours are doing well for you but it's not a general recommendation to keep corys in salt water.
Carol

 

I agree with Butterfly cories usually don't like salt. Same thing, I agree with butterfly on why he is coming to the surface, it's because he doesn't have enough exygen and it's not good. In the their natural habitat when there water gets murky and there isn't enough oxygen they swim up to the surface and take some from the air since they have that ability. Eventually he might die from lack of oxygen. I would do what Butterfly said or put an air stone in. Just my opinion

Austin