I'm Worried

[This Old Spouse]

I am diligent with my water changes, and even do pleco poo suck-up with a turkey baster between cleanings. My stats are spot on: Amm 0, 'trite 0, 'trate 5ppm. But I still have a trili or two with stumps for barbels, and paler than the rest. I have longfin black skirt tetras with a near-constant state of fin rot that comes and goes but never gets serious and never bothers the fish. (They had a case of it when I first got them but it cleared up with some TLC).

What the heck am I doing wrong?? Should I move the trilis into my 15g or 29g? Probably not because that would overstock either one of those. Gah.

 

[OldMan47]

What are you using for a substrate?
Try removing a sample and rubbing it between your finger tips. If it feels anything but nice and smooth, that is one possible issue for the cories. Although many people will advise you to use sand for cories, things like builder's sand can be very harp even though the particles are small. Some of the best planting substrates are also very sharp for a cory's barbels.

 

[minnnt]

I use play sand for my cories and they're very happy with no issues at all. But i am swapping it for aquarium sand when i get around to starting my new project.

 

[This Old Spouse]

I use play sand for my cories and they're very happy with no issues at all. But i am swapping it for aquarium sand when i get around to starting my new project.

why are you swapping it?

I just did the rub-between-my-fingers test with my sand. Oh my God!! It's abrasive!! Now I'm in a panic ... setting up a retired 10g tank with play sand to transfer my cories while their barbels heal. Gad, I feel terrible. When I was working with the white sand it felt smooth and nice, but just now when I took it between my fingers and rubbed, I realized just how sharp it is.

Ugh.

 

[minnnt]

I use play sand for my cories and they're very happy with no issues at all. But i am swapping it for aquarium sand when i get around to starting my new project.

why are you swapping it?

Colour change and i just think the stuff from Unipac is excellent. Alot cleaner also. Hope your two pull through.

 

[Harlequins]

I have unipac sand in my 10gal and argos playsand in the main,and to be honest they're identical in colour and no noticeable difference with it...

Sorry to hear your cories still poorly TOS when you got it i thought builders/sandblast sand was abrasive...i started with gravel & learnt my lesson with that...

 

[minnnt]

I have unipac sand in my 10gal and argos playsand in the main,and to be honest they're identical in colour and no noticeable difference with it...

Sorry to hear your cories still poorly TOS when you got it i thought builders/sandblast sand was abrasive...i started with gravel & learnt my lesson with that...

I won't be going with the same colour as play sand obviously otherwise i wouldn't be changing!

Will either be going dark or maybe the natural mix or something like that...

 

[Fyurae]

I use creek sand I harvested myself. Smooth as glass.

 

[This Old Spouse]

I have unipac sand in my 10gal and argos playsand in the main,and to be honest they're identical in colour and no noticeable difference with it...

Sorry to hear your cories still poorly TOS when you got it i thought builders/sandblast sand was abrasive...i started with gravel & learnt my lesson with that...

I had read somewhere on the forum that someone used it with no problems. And, of course, it's beautiful and uniform and perfectly clean. I'm really miffed.

I use creek sand I harvested myself. Smooth as glass.

Now THAT'S a good idea! Already cleaned, too!

 

[This Old Spouse]

Here's a photo of the worst of the black skirt tetras that I think might have fin rot again, and a cory with a tail problem that I'm hoping is NOT fin rot. Suggestions?

And this one just because it's cute.

 

[Harlequins]

I have unipac sand in my 10gal and argos playsand in the main,and to be honest they're identical in colour and no noticeable difference with it...

Sorry to hear your cories still poorly TOS when you got it i thought builders/sandblast sand was abrasive...i started with gravel & learnt my lesson with that...

I won't be going with the same colour as play sand obviously otherwise i wouldn't be changing!

Will either be going dark or maybe the natural mix or something like that...

I forgot unipac do different shades,my bad

 

[minnnt]

Lol. The colour of the play sand is very nice, but it shows poo like never before, it get's disturbed very easily and tends to cloud the water a fair bit... Although at the minute the water is looking good i am still getting shut.

Thinking of getting the one called Senegal sand. Does look very good. Just waiting on the Rainbow Cichlids being taken off my hands and my new ex1200 external filter and then all will be good.

 

[Caprichoso]

I use play sand for my cories and they're very happy with no issues at all. But i am swapping it for aquarium sand when i get around to starting my new project.

why are you swapping it?

I just did the rub-between-my-fingers test with my sand. Oh my God!! It's abrasive!! Now I'm in a panic ... setting up a retired 10g tank with play sand to transfer my cories while their barbels heal. Gad, I feel terrible. When I was working with the white sand it felt smooth and nice, but just now when I took it between my fingers and rubbed, I realized just how sharp it is.

Ugh.

I posted a video on the forum about cories found in the wild living on gravel and sharp bedrock. Their barbels are fine. I have kept corydora for over 15 years on different types of substrates and the barbels are all long. One thing I would like to point out is that there was a time when I was under feeding my corydoras(I didn't realize that at the time) but I had switched food and didn't know how much to give. Their barbels started falling off! A bit of a fish expert I knew at the time came over to my house and he wanted to know how much food I was giving. I showed him and he looked at the cories and said they were starving and furiously rooting, trying to find food. I started feeding more and the barbels grew back. I think that as long as you feed them enough, and they aren't exposed to bacterial/fungus, then they should have long barbels. IMO it's not the substrate(within reason) you have to worry about as much as water quality and good food. I know someone is going to argue this but my results don't lie and I can only do what has worked for me for many years.

Best of luck with your cories, I know how frustrated you must feel!

Here is the link http/en.aquanet.tv...ious-substrates

 

[This Old Spouse]

I use play sand for my cories and they're very happy with no issues at all. But i am swapping it for aquarium sand when i get around to starting my new project.

why are you swapping it?

I just did the rub-between-my-fingers test with my sand. Oh my God!! It's abrasive!! Now I'm in a panic ... setting up a retired 10g tank with play sand to transfer my cories while their barbels heal. Gad, I feel terrible. When I was working with the white sand it felt smooth and nice, but just now when I took it between my fingers and rubbed, I realized just how sharp it is.

Ugh.

I posted a video on the forum about cories found in the wild living on gravel and sharp bedrock. Their barbels are fine. I have kept corydora for over 15 years on different types of substrates and the barbels are all long. One thing I would like to point out is that there was a time when I was under feeding my corydoras(I didn't realize that at the time) but I had switched food and didn't know how much to give. Their barbels started falling off! A bit of a fish expert I knew at the time came over to my house and he wanted to know how much food I was giving. I showed him and he looked at the cories and said they were starving and furiously rooting, trying to find food. I started feeding more and the barbels grew back. I think that as long as you feed them enough, and they aren't exposed to bacterial/fungus, then they should have long barbels. IMO it's not the substrate(within reason) you have to worry about as much as water quality and good food. I know someone is going to argue this but my results don't lie and I can only do what has worked for me for many years.

Best of luck with your cories, I know how frustrated you must feel!

Here is the link http/en.aquanet.tv...ious-substrates

That link doesn't work.

I'm confused now. Some of my cories have barbels that are perfectly fine, and others don't seem to have any at all, and some are somewhere in between.

In a complete panic I set up two 10g that I had, but had to buy heaters and other stuff to get them set up. Now that I'm over the panicking, I still don't know what's up with these fish!! I'm about to do another water change, for starters. I ordered some good algae wafers online (although they were eating these before, I'm going to feed the wafers more often.) Other suggestions for food for them? They also feed on the flakes that the other fish miss.

 

[Harlequins]

Cories enjoy a good varied diet,mine love the Nutrafin max sinking granules(designed or discus ) also feed them tetramin prima granules/mini granules along with usual flakes/bloodworm/bbs etc etc...Even though cories love wafers,they do enjoy other things has well...

Was their barbels short when you got them??