I'm Worried

[Proxo]

Will the barbels grow back? i've got a few with short barbels too.

 

[Louiseness]

Normally, yes. My cories were kept on (small, round) gravel in the shops but just had the two little 'moustache' looking stumps. Now they're on sand they have full sets of barbels

(no idea what's going on in the OP's case though sadly )

 

[Caprichoso]

The barbels will grow back as long as their mouth isn't too damaged already and if the problem can be resolved of why it's happening in the first place. I feed my catfish a combination of NLS sinking pellets and Tetramin Tropical Tablets. The NLS take awhile to get eaten, I'm still trying to get my fish used to them. The TetraMin break down very easily and you can see they vacuum up the food like crazy. I've fed my catfish Tetramin for so many years so I've been leery about switching to the NLS even though I know it's the best food you can get on the market.

@This Old Spouse, I would try increasing the water changes first and see if that does anything. I know it's hard not to panic when this happens but I personally feel that moving them out of their environment without knowing that the sand is causing the barbel problem would stress them out even more. Sorry the link didn't work, I'm not sure why. I posted the link on the forum in the catfish section if you still want to see it.

I think you are on the right track with the water changes. You had mentioned in you OP that your other fish are having fin problems(maybe bacterial) so that can also cause corydora to lose the barbels as well. After re-reading your original post, I personally would increase the amount of water changes. You could do 25% each day for the next week and then do 50% weekly. See how that goes. I think it's better to do that than switch tanks. Switching tanks is going to leave your question unanswered because you will have changed the substrate, bacteria and water parameters so if the problem resolves itself, you won't know why. Also, keep feeding them the same (for now) because I think that you have a water quality issue after looking back on the previous posts and thinking about it. Your fish should never have fin rot if the water params are where they should be.

Keep us updated and good luck

 

[minnnt]

The barbels will grow back as long as their mouth isn't too damaged already and if the problem can be resolved of why it's happening in the first place. I feed my catfish a combination of NLS sinking pellets and Tetramin Tropical Tablets. The NLS take awhile to get eaten, I'm still trying to get my fish used to them. The TetraMin break down very easily and you can see they vacuum up the food like crazy. I've fed my catfish Tetramin for so many years so I've been leery about switching to the NLS even though I know it's the best food you can get on the market.

@This Old Spouse, I would try increasing the water changes first and see if that does anything. I know it's hard not to panic when this happens but I personally feel that moving them out of their environment without knowing that the sand is causing the barbel problem would stress them out even more. Sorry the link didn't work, I'm not sure why. I posted the link on the forum in the catfish section if you still want to see it.

I think you are on the right track with the water changes. You had mentioned in you OP that your other fish are having fin problems(maybe bacterial) so that can also cause corydora to lose the barbels as well. After re-reading your original post, I personally would increase the amount of water changes. You could do 25% each day for the next week and then do 50% weekly. See how that goes. I think it's better to do that than switch tanks. Switching tanks is going to leave your question unanswered because you will have changed the substrate, bacteria and water parameters so if the problem resolves itself, you won't know why. Also, keep feeding them the same (for now) because I think that you have a water quality issue after looking back on the previous posts and thinking about it. Your fish should never have fin rot if the water params are where they should be.

Keep us updated and good luck

+1. Very good advice!

 

[This Old Spouse]

Thanks, Caprichoso. I'm doing small daily water changes now, and trying to keep the pleco poo monster at bay. It funny how I didn't notice just how much crap that pleco puts out until I switched to ivory sand! And now, even when I think I've got most of it up, when I add the water back in the poo comes flying from everywhere! Gah.

Anyway, all my fish in the 55g are acting normally. There's no furious rooting around for food by the cories or anything. And the "fin rot" on the black skirt tetras is fading. Honestly, they've had it since we first got them, and it comes and goes constantly. Maybe I should use that as a barometer for what's in the water and affecting the cories. My stats have always been dead on, so it's something else in the water, I think, that can't be measured with a pro test kit!

 

[Caprichoso]

You're welcome I hope it gets sorted and that your catfish find their whiskers again

 

[This Old Spouse]

I lost another trili this morning. Last night he developed mouth fungus, so I moved him over to the Q tank and added some melafix, but this morning he was gone.

What's baffling about all this is that some of the cories are just fine with no signs of anything troubling them. Then there are these trilis, and I seem to be losing one every few days.

I'm going to do another massive water change today. Any other suggestions?

 

[Caprichoso]

I've never had Trili's before but wonder, are they more sensitive than other corydoras? Are their ideal water parameters different from what you're providing? For instance, I've not had very good luck with Sterbai, yet all of my other catfish thrive.

 

[This Old Spouse]

I don't know, but another one was dead this morning. In the Q tank. After two days of expensive antibiotics. And the tank was cloudy.

So I did yet another massive water change and added a huge HOB filter hoping the rate of water exchange will keep the water crystal clear. I don't dare add another dose of antibiotics until this afternoon.

This is exhausing.