Cory Dying?

[Fintastic!]

I think one of my pepper cory's is dying. He has been just lying still on his side all day. His gills are moving but that's it. He's only a young little fella. I can't help but blame the rainbows. They're bullies and are going back to the shop. I've tested the water and all seems fine. Do I just leave him and see what happens?

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

I have seen this with my Corys more than once, and they are in perfect conditions. I have thought I would find them floating belly up in the morning only for them to be swimming around absolutely fine the next day! I have no idea why they do it. Not saying that your fish is fine, but if the water all looks good and the substrate is nice and clean, then give the little fella a day and he may well surprise you, just like mine have. Good luck

 

[Fintastic!]

Thanks for that Devoted. Hopefully the poor little fella might be ok though I'd be surprised. I just tested the water again and the Ammonia is .25 but it always reads that no matter what I do. I use the api kit and I heard this happens with that one sometimes. My ph is 7.6, Nitrite is 0 and my Nitrate is .80. Is that high for Nitrate? I'm assuming it is and it's usually 0 or 40 at the most.

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

Nitrate should be less than 50 really. Can you change about 50% of the water without to much hassle?

 

[Tizer]

water temp?

 

[Fintastic!]

I'll do a water change then. The water temp is 26. My heater is set at 18 (lowest it will go) and I have two thermometers that are reading 26. If it's too high do you reckon I should switch off the heater?

 

[nicoleandthebee]

How strange, one of ours is doing the exact same thing! He seemed ok earlier on today though now he's just on his side

 

[Caprichoso]

Thanks for that Devoted. Hopefully the poor little fella might be ok though I'd be surprised. I just tested the water again and the Ammonia is .25 but it always reads that no matter what I do. I use the api kit and I heard this happens with that one sometimes. My ph is 7.6, Nitrite is 0 and my Nitrate is .80. Is that high for Nitrate? I'm assuming it is and it's usually 0 or 40 at the most.

Is that the ammonia reading you get straight from the tap? What kind of de-chlorinator are you using?

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

I'll do a water change then. The water temp is 26. My heater is set at 18 (lowest it will go) and I have two thermometers that are reading 26. If it's too high do you reckon I should switch off the heater?

That temp is fine, mine are in a tank at 30C. I wouldn't change the temp. Fingers crossed

 

[Fintastic!]

The ammonia reading is from the tank. I did a 50 percent water change yesterday but this morning our cory was definately dead. I have no idea what happened to him. The other fish seem fine. Thanks for all your help guys. I hope your little guy is ok Nicole.

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

The ammonia reading is from the tank. I did a 50 percent water change yesterday but this morning our cory was definately dead. I have no idea what happened to him. The other fish seem fine. Thanks for all your help guys. I hope your little guy is ok Nicole.

Sorry to hear that

 

[Caprichoso]

The ammonia reading is from the tank. I did a 50 percent water change yesterday but this morning our cory was definately dead. I have no idea what happened to him. The other fish seem fine. Thanks for all your help guys. I hope your little guy is ok Nicole.

Sorry for your loss.

You still need to test your tap water to find out if you have naturally occurring ammonia. Also, it would be beneficial to know if your tap water contains chloramine. You stated that no matter what you do, you cannot get ammonia below 0.25. It would be helpful to you to know if this is because of your tap water or if something in your tank is causing the ammonia(un-cycled tank, not enough filtration, over feeding, too many fish, etc).

 

[Fintastic!]

Ok, Caprichoso, I'll check the tap water tomorrow as that's something I've never done. I read somewhere here that with the api testing kit some of them give that reading even if no ammonia is present.

 

[laura120381]

i once read an article in pfk about corydora suicide. it seems this happens a lot...i can't remember what it said the reasons were though!! not very helpful i know. perhaps you could google the article?? good luck

L

 

[Fintastic!]

Crikey! I'm bad enough without my poor fish topping themselves!!!