Cory Looks Poorly

[KateW]

Hi Guys

Please help me out, I am very worried about my little corydoras trillineatus - I have two of them in a small community tank. Yesterday they were both fine, bumbling about on the bottom and resting together. Just a few moments ago I was looking for them in the tank, and one of them is hiding right in the middle of a (fake) plant, pointed straight down towards the bottom. I cannot see the other one at all.

I tested the water this morning as usual (one day later than normally would) and results were fine - pH 7.4m ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 40-80 (not unusual - the tap water has 40 nitrate to start with). I didn't notice the corys then but that is not unusual because they get a bit nervous when I mess with the tank.

So I thought the little cory was dead so I got the net to get him out, and he wriggled away. I tried to move the plant so he could escape if he was stuck, but he just stayed put. He isn't moving much at all.


The only thing that has changed is the addition of a dwarf gourami and a live plant this afternoon, but that was literally three hours ago. The gourami has settled in fine and the other fish (5 guppies, 3 neons) are behaving perfectly normally.

Can anyone help? I don't want my little cory to die and I have no idea were the other one has gone.

Any help would really be appreciated.

 

[walkers101]

get some more it sounds lke they are a little scared corys are very sociable and should be kept in groups

 

[KateW]

Scared as in a bit freaked out by the gourami?

I did originally have three corys but one mysteriously disappeared quite soon after I got them. I think I am pretty close to my stocking limit, so until I get a bigger tank - I'm working on talking him in to it - I don't think they can have nay more friends. The pair of them have been quite happy together until today

Also thank you for the quick reply, I do appreciate it.

 

[KittyKat]

Corys are schooling fish, they are considerably happier in groups of 6+. In smaller groups they can be quite unhappy and scared of the world in general.

 

[KateW]

Yes, I have seen this advice quite a lot on this forum - unfortunately LFS didn't tell me this. Perhaps I should have gone with a couple more corys today instead of the gourami.

I think adding any more at this stage would be overstocked for 35 litres?

Poor cory, I feel really guilty for freaking him out.

 

[KittyKat]

You are kinda bordering on overstocked here and your stock is not that great, especially for a beginner and a tank that size..You could try to keep going as you are (although even the gourami was pushing it), or maybe consider swapping for more suitable stock?

 

[KateW]

I am considering a bigger tank (maybe 150 litres or so) - apart from bigger water changes should be easier to look after, right? Obviously that has a lead in time, even with mature media from the current tank to kick start a cycle. Also we will be away for a fortnight in February. Although our house mate can feed the small tank while we are away, I think asking him to feed and monitor a cycling tank is a bit much.

Unfotunately I took lfs advice when setting up this tank and did a fish-in cycle (I had not yet found this forum) and although I didn't have any immediate casualties, I certainly know better than to do this again. This is the same lfs I was in today, were I heard the assistant telling someone to fill the tank, let it settle over night then put 5 neons in it 'to let the fish get used to the bacteria' and to then add more fish a fortnight later. I'm pretty sure those people left without any fish.

All the fish there do seem to be healthy - the tanks are always clean, I have never seen any dead fish there and all the fish do look healthy and shiny and behaving as you would expect.


What would you suggest would be a better stocking option?

 

[KittyKat]

I actually find larger tanks to be less maintenance than smaller ones, especially with my lovely new Eheim 3e filters as the pre-filter is rather good.

If I had a standard 35 litre tank, I would probably stock with some cherry shrimp and 6 ember tetras.. or 6 dwarf Corys and a Betta.. or 6 Boraras merah and some shrimp..

 

[Harlequins]

In theory upgrading to a larger tank would be a good move, basically if you transferred everything over including the filter,then the bio load should be the same.
assuming you would be getting another filter to fit the tank,you could either clone it using media from your cycled filter into the new filter,or run both together in the for around 6 weeks this would eventually cycle too.

What sex are your guppies,if all male,then that'll be fine,otherwise you will be overloaded with fry in time if you have females.

Up the neons to a good size shoal 8 maybe.they act differently in bigger groups.
corys 6 of the same.
Dwarf gourami could stay has a centre fish.

 

[KateW]

Unfortunately the cory who was hiding in the plant was dead this morning. His cory buddy is still missing.

I have just had all the fish out into the bucket and cleared out dead cory and gravel-cleaned and done a big water change, but no sign of the other one

This makes me feel terrible and like I should give up on the whole thing, but I really don't want to. I just can't figure out what happened to them - they seemed to be eating well, the water stats were good and the gourami surely hadn't been there long enough to do anything - he didn't go anywhere near the cory.

All the other fish look fine, and yes, the guppies are all male - I had been warned about them!

Another question, is it normal for the gourami to be picking bits off the bottom and spitting them out? Is he telling me he is hungry?

 

[KittyKat]

Unfortunately the cory who was hiding in the plant was dead this morning. His cory buddy is still missing.

I have just had all the fish out into the bucket and cleared out dead cory and gravel-cleaned and done a big water change, but no sign of the other one

This makes me feel terrible and like I should give up on the whole thing, but I really don't want to. I just can't figure out what happened to them - they seemed to be eating well, the water stats were good and the gourami surely hadn't been there long enough to do anything - he didn't go anywhere near the cory.

It is not uncommon for someone to have a bad start (trust me, my first go into fish was much worse than yours and back then, I didn't even know what "internet" was). Your first priority should be to make your current fish happy, then see how you feel about fishkeeping after that.

Another question, is it normal for the gourami to be picking bits off the bottom and spitting them out? Is he telling me he is hungry?

Fish have to do *something*, just sitting around in the middle of the tank would be quite boring, I imagine! Because of the way fish live in the wild, they are almost always hungry: unlike humans, they do not have an "I'm full now" feedback from tummy to brain.. it is possible for them to keep eating until they die of too much food. If you feed as much as they can completely eat in 30-60 seconds, twice per day, that is more than enough. I find that having plants and decor gives fish something more to do than spend the whole day looking for food.

 

[KateW]

Thank you Kat for your helpful advice. All the remaining fish seem to be fine, and the gourami is having a good look around the tank. He ate well earlier today so seems to be well settled in. I'll keep a close eye on them all and hopefully spot any problems a bit sooner.

I do have a new tank budget burning a hole in my pocket, but I think I will hold off until after my holiday and think about it again then.

Thank you all for your comments and advice, hopefully my next dilemma will end more cheerfully.