Corydora Catfish Acting Weirdly??

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Anyak13

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I have a 29 gallon semi-planted tank. We cycled the tank then put in fish about 3 weeks ago. We put in 2 albino corydoras and 3 peppered corydoras and only realized that they had to be in groups of 4+ of the same type after we got them. By then it was too late, and due to the covid-19 situation, we weren't able to exchange or rehome the fish. The weekend after that, we put in 6 tiger barbs. All of the fish are juvenilles and the corydoras and barbs are all smaller than 2 inches. Most of the barbs are a bit bigger or equal in size to the corydoras. There was a bit of fin nipping and I noticed that almost all of the peppered corydoras fins showed some tears + damage. Both of the albino corydoras fins were also a bit nipped but considerably less. The barbs only chase the peppered corydoras around. I thought all of the fish were getting used to each other, but this morning, I found my smallest peppered corydora dead. He was alive last evening, but I checked this morning and his eyes were pecked out and he was lying motionless at the bottom of the tank. The two albinos are fine but my other two peppered corydoras seem sort of traumatised. One is hiding behind the filter and not moving and the other is stuck on the upper side of the tank under one of the plant leaves (also not moving). I feel horrible and they seem really pathetic. I'm not sure what to do, considering I can't return them back to Petco where they would have a larger school and I don't really want to get more corydoras and subject them to the same suffering.
I'm also not sure why the corydora died because the tiger barbs didn't seem to gang up on them and bite him. They usually only bit him if he was close to them and sometimes even ignored him. The fish's dead body also didn't really seem to be torn up or eaten and all of the fish were ignoring it in the morning.
Another problem is that I'm not sure the corydoras are getting enough to eat. I thought that the tiger barbs wouldn't bother with the food that falls to the sand but they're actually a better clean-up crew than the corydoras and leave almost nothing for them to eat. I've tried putting in a bunch of food so that some falls to the bottom and even tried spot feeding at opposite sides of the tank. Nothing worked. It doesn't help that the corydoras seem almost blind and often swim right past food. The albino corydoras are often a lot more active and end up at least getting a morsel or two. But the peppered corydoras hide most of the time and I'm concerned that they're not getting enough to eat. What should I do??
 
Tiger barbs are aggresive & in my opinion should not be kept with slow moving fish like Corydoras or any thing with long fins, Tails etc etc
You may get away with it in a huge tank but even then i would be a bit worried.

Tiger Barbs with no doubt will nip Corydoras fins & chase them around to the point of death
Corydoras are most of the time slow moving fish & they take a lot of time searching the substrate,Plants & decor for food. Its no doubt in my mind they will absolutely not come out while the barbs are in there

My honest opinion is they have killed the Corydora(s) & i would be seriously considering which species i wanted to keep & taking the others back/selling/giving them away or whatever

The Corydoras do an excellent job of cleaning up but they will not come out & probably are not getting anything to eat due to the barbs. Corys have small mouths so cannot eat as fast as other fish.

Sorry its prob not what you wanted to hear
 
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Thank you for your input! I've heard similar things but I don't think I can give the corydoras away now in the current situation for the reasons mentioned above. And I don't think I can just let the peppered catfish die at this point without doing anything. They were fine for about a week, I'm not sure why they're suddenly hiding. Is there really nothing I can do to help the peppered corydoras??? It's really sad to see them desperately wedged in between the filter and the glass tank wall.
 
Make up some caves using rocks in the center of your tank, hopefully they will hang out in there. Put an algae disc in the cave to encourage them
 
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i can guarantee that as soon as the barbs are removed the Corys will come out
Which ever species you decide to keep i would advertise them on Social media & when you know the buyers/takers are on route just hang them on the gate post, So you dont have any contact, Obviously i dont mean hang them on the gatepost but you can get my meaning
 
If you can, move the cories to their own tank until you can sort out the barbs. Make sure it is suitable for them.
 
Make up some caves using rocks in the center of your tank, hopefully they will hang out in there. Put an algae disc in the cave to encourage them
I put in a really big piece of driftwood that they can sit inside but only 1 of them used it. I checked up on the tank an hour later and one of the corydoras was dead (again with its eyes pecked out). I never see the tiger barbs bully the corydoras enough to kill them; its always just a speedy nip if they get too close within range. The 2 peppered corydoras were also acting really weird before 1 of them died. They were unusually lethargic and stuck in one specific place. Can corydoras die if other fish from it's school die??? I didn't see any other things that could have caused their death (other than maybe extreme stress or not getting enough food). My 2 albino corydoras are as active as ever and remain mostly unbothered by the tiger barbs. I feel so lost on what to do and only have 1 peppered corydora left. It seems on its way to having the same fate as its other two friends. I partially covered up the entire to the driftwood with a few plants to discourage the barbs from swimming into it but didn't want to risk putting an food disc in there in case it attracted the tiger barbs. They can find food in the tank no matter how well I hide it. I think my main question at this point is why only the peppered corydoras are suffering and dying and the causes of their deaths.
 
Because these are new fish I just wonder if it isn't just a case of pH shock. 6.2 is rather low if you are adding fish.
 
Because these are new fish I just wonder if it isn't just a case of pH shock. 6.2 is rather low if you are adding fish.
Ohhhh... That seems like a good theory. But it's been a little more than two weeks since the fish have been in the tank and the only species affected is the peppered corydoras. Even the albino corydoras and tiger barbs and fine and active.
 
Ohhhh... That seems like a good theory. But it's been a little more than two weeks since the fish have been in the tank and the only species affected is the peppered corydoras. Even the albino corydoras and tiger barbs and fine and active.
It all depends on what tanks they were in originally.
 
Tiger barbs are very hardy and don't really give a stuff. If the albinos are aeneus hardy. Then the peppered paleatus not so much.
 

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