Floating Cory

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AcidCookie

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Halppp

So
ph:7.4
GH; soft
Temp 74
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 0-1

None of my parameters have changed since having this little peppered Cory for 4 months. He's done great.
2 recent changes to tank:
-weekly addition of seachem flourish (about a month)
-addition of 2 more corys (wrong ones that my husband picked up - they have since been returned)

I had 2 peppered corys. After the addition of the leopard corys, one started this weird floating thing. At first I thought he was just getting air. But then he started to just hang on top of the plant or use the plants to anchor him down. He died.

My second little guy is now doing the same thing. He has since been quarantined. He looks fine, no white spots, scales are great, no fin rot.

Im very new to the hobby and still learning about all the different fish diseases. I just read about bloat? how can I treat this?
 
Could you try and get your actual gh, and kh, from your water suppliers website? If you can't spot what we need, post the link and we can look.

Also please can you post your tank dimensions and how long it has been running with a list of the other fish.

In this case it might help to know what you feed the fish.

Thank you.
 
Could you try and get your actual gh, and kh, from your water suppliers website? If you can't spot what we need, post the link and we can look.

Also please can you post your tank dimensions and how long it has been running with a list of the other fish.

In this case it might help to know what you feed the fish.

Thank you.

Yes,
so the GH and KH are both 0
Tank dimensions: 25.88" x 10" x 18.25". its 13 gallons.
I have a aqueous 20 hang on filter that has been altered with bio beads and sponge.
Live plants- basic beginners plants; jave fern, anubias, vallisneria, and an unknown.
Running for 4 months with 2 zebra danios, 7 CPDs, 3 red shrimp, and a lazy assassin snail ( with about 10-15 nuisance snails).

the fish get basic tropical fish flakes.
 
Last edited:
Do you have an in house water filtration system or a ro system (aka culligan, etc)? Having a kh of zero means your ph can be majorly fluctuating in your tank because there is no stability at zero kh. Have you been monitoring the ph in your tank? While most corydoras prefer soft water they donā€™t do well if ph is constantly changing in their tank. I would monitor the ph in your tank in the morning and before night and see if there is a significant difference. Also corydoras like shrimp pellets, and they will also partake in algae wafers among other sinking foods. They may not be getting their share of food/nutrient if your other fish are consuming all the flake food before the corydoras can get any - and they should be getting a varied diet. I would do the ph test and pick up some Corydora food like shrimp pellets and algae wafers with protein.
 
Do you have an in house water filtration system or a ro system (aka culligan, etc)? Having a kh of zero means your ph can be majorly fluctuating in your tank because there is no stability at zero kh. Have you been monitoring the ph in your tank?

The kh is just the way its always tested. I thought that was weird too. I do monitor my pH every week when I do water changes.(and was doing daily tests when I was cycling) but I'll start doing morning and night after the next few weeks to see if that's something I need to monitor more closely.

Also corydoras like shrimp pellets, and they will also partake in algae wafers among other sinking foods. They may not be getting their share of food/nutrient if your other fish are consuming all the flake food before the corydoras can get any.

This is something I've been wondering about recently since my danios are so food aggressive. I get so overwhelmed when Im at the fish store. I'll go tomorrow when I don't have my kiddo and can brows and read. Definitely should get some sinking waffers either way, the shrimps can use those too yea?
 
I have observed that behaviour when corys are being bullied. Peppers are a bit like Labradors in fish tanks, they want to be friends with everyone and don't recognise it if their attentions are unwanted.

Danios should be in groups of at least 6 (so should corys). If there are not enough they can get stressed and take it out on tankmates. I don't have enough info to say this is the problem but that would be my first guess.
 
I totally agree with that. I think when my husband brought home the wrong corys (the new leopards were HUGE compared to the peppered) they stressed the little guys out. I quickly returned them, but I think the shock was there. Thats why I'm wondering if the flourish combined with stress could cause a problem. The leopards were from a very established aquatic store, but it just seems so coincidental that I wonder if they picked up a 'bug' ?
 
Any chance of a picture and short 30 second video of the fish?
If the pictures are too big for the website, set the camera's resolution to its lowest setting and take some more. The lower resolution will make the images smaller and they should fit on this website. Check the pictures on your pc and find a couple that are clear and show the problem, and post them here. Make sure you turn the camera's resolution back up after you have taken the pics otherwise all your pictures will be small.

If the video is too big for this website, post it on YouTube and copy & paste the link here. We can view it at YouTube. If you are using a mobile phone to take the video, have the phone horizontal so the video takes up the entire screen. If you have the phone vertical, you get video in the middle and black on either side.
 
I totally agree with that. I think when my husband brought home the wrong corys (the new leopards were HUGE compared to the peppered) they stressed the little guys out. I quickly returned them, but I think the shock was there. Thats why I'm wondering if the flourish combined with stress could cause a problem. The leopards were from a very established aquatic store, but it just seems so coincidental that I wonder if they picked up a 'bug' ?
Actually I meant the danios could be bullying the cory. But if you added fish without being quarantined it is possible that something was introduced. If you can post a video as Colin suggested it may give someone a clue.
 
Concerning the GH and KH at zero...that is not a problem provided you stay with soft water fish species. The pH will establish itself as a result of the biological system, and will (should) remain stable going forward once this occurs. Water changes (50-65% once every week) will work toward this stability. However, there are a couple of things to note.

First, we need your source (tap) water parameters to compare to the tank, for GH, KH and pH. I would expect the GH and KH will both be zero in both tap and tank water, but it is the pH I'm interested in. I will explain more when I have the numbers. When testing tap water for pH, you must out-gas the CO2 to obtain a more accurate reading. This is not necessary with pH tests of aquarium water, just the tap water. Let a glass sit 24 hours, then test.

The CO2 issue is also related to the tank water pH fluctuating (if it is). CO2 produces carbonic acid which lowers the pH. This can occur in tap water which is why ytou need to ensure the CO2 (if any is present) is out-gassed before testing. It also occurs in every aquarium with fish, although the GH/KH can serve to buffer the pH depending upon the level. Here it is zero so the tank will become more acidic. This is not necessarily bad or dangerous. Your pH test numbers will help us with this.

The pH will naturally be at its lowest in early morning, meaning after the period of total darkness and just before/as the tank lighting comes on. At the end of the "day" period when the tank lighting goes off, the pH will be at its highest. This diurnal fluctuation occurs more in planted tanks than non-planted, and it occurs in nature in the habitat waters. It is not a problem, fish are well able to deal with this because it is gradual (both increasing and decreasing is slow over several hours) and only once every 24 hours. Your pH tests will tell you/us what is occurring here.

I said soft water fish will generally be OK with the lwoer pH, but you have some fish (the CPD) and possibly the shrimp that may not. But let's sort out the GH/KH/pH before we go too far out on a limb.

As for the cory problems, this could be fluctuating pH, but as you are not deliberately targeting the pH (meaning, adding substances to alter it), at least I assume and hope you are not, this is not likely. It is more likely that the new fish introduced a pathogen which killed them and the existing cories. I am not aware of fish recovering from swimbladder failure due to some protozoan, shock, or whatever, but if Colin says they can, no argument. But from my discussions a few years ago with a marine biologist trying to help me with an internal protozoan also causing this, I was told no.

BTW, all species of cory will get along, there was no stress or shock to the existing cories; probably quite the opposite, and the more cories there are, whatever the species together, the happier they will be.
 
Ok so First thing,
Sadly the Cory (my husband names him bobber) died in his triceratops head, 4 nights past.

The pH will naturally be at its lowest in early morning, meaning after the period of total darkness and just before/as the tank lighting comes on. At the end of the "day" period when the tank lighting goes off, the pH will be at its highest. This diurnal fluctuation occurs more in planted tanks than non-planted, and it occurs in nature in the habitat waters. It is not a problem, fish are well able to deal with this because it is gradual (both increasing and decreasing is slow over several hours) and only once every 24 hours. Your pH tests will tell you/us what is occurring here.
.

I have been testing my pH (and some other parameters) daily - since Wednesday.
The pH is ALL over the place!! Ive had to do emergency water changes twice!
Im sure its been doing that would probably flex down or up but Its so scary too see those high or low numbers especially after you have a fish die.

Tap water: GH: 0 KH: 0 pH: 7.5

Tank:
GH: 0
KH: 0

pH:
9/11 pm: 8.3- emergency water change
9/12 am: 7.4
9/12 pm: 6.0 - 1 tsp baking soda
9/13 am: 7.2
9/13 pm: 7.5
9/14 pm (missed am): 8.4 - emergency water change
9/15 am: 7.5

what is going on!? Typically when I check pH its when I do a water change. but now I'm all paranoid. My levels had been stable back in April (when I was checking daily) and I have noticed some fluctuation around water changes but nothing this drastic!

Edit to add: My ammonia, nitrites and nitrates have been stable- 0,0, 0-5 respectfully
 
First thing, those numbers for the source water are exactly what I expected, and that explains why the pH will readily fluctuate.

Second, on the pH...leave it alone. As I detailed previously, it will settle out and establish, and bee stable once it does. You have very soft water so only soft water fish species will work. They will appreciate a slightly acidic pH, so please do not use baking soda or other so-called buffering products. You do not need them, and they will only make things worse for the poor fish.

The pH in the tank should never be above the level in the tap water, and it will lower here over days. Let it.
 
Second, on the pH...leave it alone. As I detailed previously, it will settle out and establish, and be stable once it does.
The pH in the tank should never be above the level in the tap water, and it will lower here over days. Let it.

So if it spikes should I just leave it alone? Has it been cycling like this for 4 months? Should I do less water changes - like not every week?
 
I was wondering if your ph might be fluctuating with your zero kh! Having low kh increases changes in ph and when drastic ph changes occur you get whatā€™s called ph shock. Which is not a good thing for your fish. Iā€™ve read in some fish articles that people with a low kh can maintain a more stable water chemistry with more frequent water changes. Iā€™ve also heard that you will want to avoid overstocking as co2 output from fish can drastically lower ph stability as well. Byron mentioned to stop using baking soda. I see you used it when it was at 6 ph to raise it up, have you been using baking soda this whole time? By adding baking soda you could be making the drastic ph changes so drastic and be the cause of ph shock. If thatā€™s the very first time youā€™ve added baking soda and your monitoring shows drastic ph changes prior from morning to night then I believe your kh is to blame. Listen to Byron and stop adding it. Monitor the ph, keep doing frequent water changes.
 

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