Injured Cory, Who May Have Caused It?

[kaivalagi]

Hi All,

As my tank has both cichlids and BN in it I thought this was the best place to ask

I discovered today that one of my 4 peppered cory is now missing his left eye This must have happened over night

It is now obvious that I need to either rehome my cory or move them into a fry tank but I would like to try and figure who may have caused this. Stocking is in my sig, with the male HRP also in the main tank now.

My first instinct would be the Port Acara I have, as he is a moody git, however he has been in a tank with the cory for a long time and never caused them any agro...he has grown quite a lot over the past month or so, so I can't rule him out for a change of aggression with the cories.

The most recent addition to the tank that could have caused injury is the male Bristlenose but I am not sure...he has grown a lot recently and is very territorial now when it comes to food scraps

Could it be my male BN that has done this or would my initial thought be more likely even though no problems existed in the past?

Also, if I move the cory I would like to increase the number of bottom dwellers replacing them...would adding some loach be a better option? Or just add a female BN instead?

The tank is 5ft and around 100USG

Thanks for any input

 

[BethK]

Can't see the BN doing it. Do you have many hiding places in your tank? Or any pointy/sharp objects?

 

[kaivalagi]

Can't see the BN doing it. Do you have many hiding places in your tank? Or any pointy/sharp objects?

Plenty of hiding places, I have cichlids

There are 2 cave areas and a massive piece of bogwood, plants scattered around too

Some of the slate is fairly jagged but I ground down any sharp edges off it before it went in, nothing would have done this.

I get the feeling that whoever did it, did it at night and quickly...the eye is just gone, cleanly done I might add...the cory is fine as far as being mobile and is eating, just can't see on one side now

 

[BethK]

I'd say one of the cichlids did it, poor cory

 

[Always Learning]

I'd say the BN.

They are quite aggressive when it comes to feeding as you are aware and mine used to go for the cories whenever they went near him, feeding or not. He went for everything else too for that matter and even now he is in with Malawi, he fears no-one. Only about 2.5" long too

 

[kaivalagi]

I'd say the BN.

They are quite aggressive when it comes to feeding as you are aware and mine used to go for the cories whenever they went near him, feeding or not. He went for everything else too for that matter and even now he is in with Malawi, he fears no-one. Only about 2.5" long too

My BN is a nasty piece of work, he is fearless...he'll scare off any of my cichlids including my very bossy adult HRP

The way the eye is just missing too suggests to me the sort of mouth action of a BN rather than a cichlid, sort of like it was sucked out of it's socket

I have also noticed extra blotchyness and extended pectoral spikes with him on and off a lot over the last couple of days too, which suggests he's in a really ticked off mood....

 

[Harlequins]

I would say cichlids,i'm sure it was inchworm who showed a pic of a cory missing an eye after a cichlid had attacked it.

 

[kaivalagi]

Okay so something is attacking the cory anyway, either a cichlid or the BN, what would be a good replacement bottom dweller?

Should I just get a female BN to go with the male? I can grow it out in my fry tank before introducing...

Or could I possibly go with some loach, would they be a little hardier with cichlids and BN in the same tank, again I could grow them out a little before adding...

What do you think?