hi all last night i noticed 1 of my sterbai was just lieing there sort of on its side swaying with the flow of the water woke up this morning and it was dead any ideas?

all the others are fine very active and always swimming around the tank as all my other fish are 2 he was fine yesterday morning but like this on the evening

water stats are

ammonia 0
nitrites 0
nitrates 20-25
ph is always 7.4-7.6

no visible damage 2 him/her and like i said was healthy as far as new earlier in the day.

the only thing i noticed last night when he was just lieing there was that his face whiskers(not sure wot there called lol maybe babel) was not out they where like
against his face looking very sorry for himslef.

very upset as these are my favoutite fish along side my sailfin plec any help would be appriecitive


thanx

jen

EDITED: also how agreesive are angels not sure if this could have been a possibity or even maybe siver dollars but SD's are very placid dont normally bother anythink the angels on the other hand are not so much aggresive but i have seen the chanse a few fish from time 2 time

This post has been edited by JenCliBee: Jul 4 2008, 08:21 AM

Sorry for your loss. Hope the others are still OK.

yeh the others seem fine that y i was so baffled about this 1 dieing out of the blue

thanx for the message


jen

It’s either water quality or a bacterial infection. Since the other fishes are ok I would say the sterbai had an internal bacterial infection. Unfortunately with catfish it can be difficult to spot internal disease problems because they often don't show any symptoms and then just suddenly up and die for no apparent cause. Monitor the rest of the fish over the next few weeks and if any more die then treat the tank with a broad spectrum anti bacterial medication.

Maybe do a daily water change and gravel clean for a week. Dirty gravel can cause a lot of problems to bottom dwelling fish. The water changes and gravel cleans will also reduce the bacteria and other pathogens in the tank reducing the chance of another problem occurring.

cheers will do as u say was thinking of treating the tank with a bacteria med anyways just in case.

thanx for the reply

jen

i had the same thing happen to me a couple of weeks ago straight after a w/c
i lost 3 but the other 4 were ok
i no that some cories can poison themselves if they feel threatend or get to stressed

Angels can be too aggressive. Corys will die from stress. But if the Angels are bothering them all will show it and be hiding I think.

Corys who are already in distress can be stressed by the water change.

This is why Cory people keep Cory only tanks, because their behavior is so different when there are no percieved threats. I put a trio of sword tails in a Cory community tank and they have stopped spawning and stay on the bottom looking up.

Cory lovers in general do not recommend any Cichlids with Corys. I do allow for Angels and apistos with some Corys. Sterba and bronze are the 2 that are usually recommended. Angel keepers recommend them for clean up, but Cory People in general are not thrilled with it. Some Cory people are adamant. Inchworm is.

On the other hand as ColinT said it may be tank trouble. Check everything and do tank maintenance on the filter, gravel, plants etc. Spring clean.

Self poisoning is somewhat rare. It seems to favor some Corys also and occurs mainly I believe in bags and enclosed spaces. People talk about it, but it is like TB, spoke of more than seen. Other kinds of poison are more likely, such as Colin's suggestions. You might want to run fresh carbon in the tank to be sure there are no toxins.

This post has been edited by jollysue: Jul 4 2008, 09:59 PM

none of the cory's hide they are always out day and nite swimming around very happy even splitting up quite often ive herd this is because they feel comfortable with the tank that they will seperate due 2 feeling safe not entirely sure about this not a cory eggspert

ive never seen the angels even go by the cory before was just a thought beens there's nothing else in my tank that would really be aggressive 2wards them the angels arnt agreesive as such they just tend 2 chase fish away from food from time 2 time ive never seen them actually attack any fish but theres always a chance when im not there so was just a thought

thanx

jen

Chased Corys are threatened.

They don't have to be bitten to feel threatened. I added more ideas in my first post while you were responding.

I just got 6 new Corys. Three died from stress in the tank. All parameters were perfect and the trip was good. These particular Corys are reputed to not travel well. Fortunately I got 3 who have settled in and one appears to be a female.

no sorry when i ment fished chased i ment the other fish ive never seen the angels go by the corys at all and i ment chased off food not chased round the tank lol

not sure it would be toxins i would of imagined it would affect less hardy fish before the cory's again no expert but i was under the impression it would have affect the other fish first i think its more likely a bacterial problem like colin said but will do the carbon and water changes anyways just incase better 2 be safe than sorry

thanx again for the replies peeps


jen



This post has been edited by JenCliBee: Jul 4 2008, 10:18 PM