Cory Barbels Gone ...

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Fishy_7

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I have a group of assorted Corys in my tank, all doing well except one who has lost its barbels. It had what looked like fungus growth over the end of its mouth soon after I bought it. I treated the tank with an anti-fungus treatment, which seems to have cleared the fungus but now, it is completely barbel-less.

The poor thing just looks very lost without them. It is often alone somewhere in the tank away from the group. When it is feeding time, it will go towards the food but a lot of the time, completely miss it even though it has swam over the pellet, flake etc.

Is this fish doomed or will the barbels eventually grow back? with about 7 other cories in the tank, any food at the bottom does not stay for long and it is very hard to direct food torwards it as it misses it!

Thanks.
 
Yes, I have heard that cories can grow their barbels back providing water conditions are kept pristine (so regular water changes a must).

What type of substrate do you have? If it's gravel, this can cause problems for cories as they are always foraging around on the aquarium bottom - sand is a better choice for them as it's kinder to their skin and barbels.

Athena
 
Unfortunately for the cory they do use their barbels to hunt & find food,this will hinder the cory somewhat and may end up starving to death.
Barbels can grow back a little,but not to their proper size has long has you keep the water quality & substrate cleaning spot on this will aid in their growth.

What substrate do you have?
 
The substrate is relatively fine gravel. I have kept Cories for a number of years, this is the first time I have come across something like this.

Thanks.
 
Like Athena said, barbels on corys can grow back but the water must be kept clean. If the water is slightly dirty then it will slow down the rate of repair and can lead to infections.

Sand is prefered by corys as it is nicer on their barbels (it doesn't wear them down as much). Saying that they can live on gravel so long as it is small and not sharp. But gravel traps more dirt and that can lead to more infections, so it is recommended they have sand. It may however, take a while for the barbels to grow back. Hope that helps.
 
To make the barbels grow back faster and protect them from infection you shoud get stress coat plus. It helps fish repair fins skin and other injuries because it has aloe vera. I have used it many times and it always does well at repairing my corys injuries.
 
To make the barbels grow back faster and protect them from infection you shoud get stress coat plus. It helps fish repair fins skin and other injuries because it has aloe vera. I have used it many times and it always does well at repairing my corys injuries.

Thanks for the tip, will look for some this weekend
 

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