Both Cory Cats Died

[chilledtim]

Hi all,

My girlfriend got 2 cory cats about a week ago, they both seemed perfectly happy but both died suddenly, the 1st one 3 days ago, ive just fished the second one out, im not going to tell her its died and try to sort the problem and repace them without her noticing (buy 4 tell her i only got 3 and one of thems her original one if you follow.

30 gallon 3ft tank
3 medium angel fish
10 tetra
a small species of pleco
3 x-ray fish.

temp 29 oC (im turning the heater down for her, could this temp have killed them?)
nitrate: 1 (low)
nitrite: 50 (highish)
hardness (very high)
PH: about: 8 (high)
Carbon hardness: medium

i want to try and get this tank sorted for her asap coz i want to get her afew special fish as part of a valantines prezzy.

many many thanks

Ps i stress this is my girlfriends tank, im a subtropical/coldwater fish keeper at the moment, tropical tanks arnt my speciality.

 

[WILDER]

Nitrite should be 0.
Very sensitive to water quality corys.

 

[doresy]

Hi all,

My girlfriend got 2 cory cats about a week ago, they both seemed perfectly happy but both died suddenly, the 1st one 3 days ago, ive just fished the second one out, im not going to tell her its died and try to sort the problem and repace them without her noticing (buy 4 tell her i only got 3 and one of thems her original one if you follow.

30 gallon 3ft tank
3 medium angel fish
10 tetra
a small species of pleco
3 x-ray fish.

temp 29 oC (im turning the heater down for her, could this temp have killed them?)
nitrate: 1 (low)
nitrite: 50 (highish)
hardness (very high)
PH: about: 8 (high)
Carbon hardness: medium

i want to try and get this tank sorted for her asap coz i want to get her afew special fish as part of a valantines prezzy.

many many thanks

Ps i stress this is my girlfriends tank, im a subtropical/coldwater fish keeper at the moment, tropical tanks arnt my speciality.

I'm hoping that your nitrite and nitrate stats. are the other way around Nitrite should be zero and what is your ammonia?

 

[chilledtim]

her test kit doesnt do ammonia, nop the no2 and no3 were the right way round

 

[WILDER]

Bad water quality.
How long has the tank been set up.

 

[chilledtim]

2 months

 

[WILDER]

Has the tank ever cycled.
If so is she doing a gravel vac.

 

[chilledtim]

yes cycled, she does gravel vac alittle bit not much tho.

so i gotta lower the hardness (addative i guess) and sort out the nitates, something like water safe to begin with?

she did add a load of plants to the tank 2 weeks backs, dont no if thats relivant

 

[WILDER]

She needs to be doing a gravel vac once a week.
Plecs are massive waste producers.
Sounds like the tank want's a gravel vac, remove the ornaments as the waste builds up underneath them.
Is the tank cloudy.
http/semperficichlids.freewebsitehosting.com/tanks.html

 

[chilledtim]

the tanks crystal clear, the plec is only about 2.5" long and was only put in 2 weeks ago along with the plants.



your being a fantastic help.

 

[paulf]

turn the temp down to 24c as well, 29 is far too hot and not needed

 

[WILDER]

The tanks saying not cycled.
The only time you ever touch the gravel is when ammonia and nitrite is 0, then when you start to do gravel vacs.
Is she touching the sponges in the filter.
Also what filter is she using,.

 

[doresy]

her test kit doesnt do ammonia, nop the no2 and no3 were the right way round

I'm not convinced....however if your nitrites are 50 ppm then they should be ZERO as should be your ammonia. Your nitrates should be 40ppm or lower. You should not add any more fish and do a 30% water change and test again

 

[chilledtim]

fluval 3 i think or 4?

gotta dash (ment to meet a mate half hour ago), il check back on this thread in the morning.

thansk for your help tho

 

[aquaticadmirer]

I would suggest you buy an ammonia tester and check that, because ammonia is extremely toxic to fish. Nitrite (NO2) should always be 0. Also very toxic to fish. Nitrate (NO3) can be a little higher and is less toxic, but should be below about 40. Most fish prefer a pH of about 7.0, but can acclimate to other pH's, as long as the change is not too drastic and the pH is not that far away from 7.0.

It's most likely that the water quality is the reason for the cory's deaths. There's really no "quick fix" for fish tanks unfortunately. First I would test your tap water to see if it has optimal conditions for fish (pH around 7.0, hardness), and if it is then just start doing weekly water changes (with gravel vac) of about 25%. This will slowly get your tank back to optimal conditions, and will prevent it from going bad by removing waste.

In the meantime, test your ammonia. If it's high you'll need an ammonia neutralizer in addition to a nitrite neutralizer.