Lazy Cories!

[TallTree01]

Hi there,
So my problem is that a few of my cories are very very lazy.
I have 5 corydoras paleatus ( peppered cories ) and 3 of them act like ' proper cories ' he other two though not so much.

They do this. All day. Everyday. Even for the incentive of food they just sit.
Why do they do this? Even at night they exhibit this behaviour.
I'm beginning to worry about starvation to death for them.
Ammonia levels are 0 along with nitrites at 0. Nitrates hover around 20-40 and waterchanges are every week. I keep the temperature at 25 degrees c

Is there anything I can do to make them swim about more?

 

[Freedom]

Geesh!  Similar to what I am seeing, except it is all 10 of mine.  They just sit there, on the bottom.  Thing is, up till 2 days ago min were quite active.
 
I want to follow this thread!

 

[Lillefishy]

Corys tend to get lazier as they get older, they're usually more active in the evenings & at night, the only time mine get really active in the day is when they're spawning or when I've put live food in for them.
Every morning I see little dimples all over the sand from where they've been foraging overnight.

Forgot to say paleatus like cooler water, 25 is at the very top of their range

 

[Baccus]

The poor little dear looks rather thin, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but every time I have seen a cory get that thin they don't recover. I don't know if its internal parasites or some other issue.
Maybe try target feeding them defrosted bloodworms, or if you can get them live blackworms and see if they show any interest in that.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I was going to say the same thing Baccus. Very thin look, almost a bit of a curved spine. Strange.

 

[ShinySideUp]

I run my tank at 26.5 degrees (for my Clown loaches) and have seven peppered cories. All of them potter around all the time, mooching under wood, across the sand and occasionally taking a trip higher up around the filter inlet (tank oulet) where stuff gathers for them to browse through. They are certainly unaffected by the higher temperature. My water stats are fine although my nitrates are always high despite huge water changes every week, perhaps my cories like the fact that my tank is heavily filtered (FX5 plus an internal U4 for small particle removal). It is moderately planted. The substrate is three quarters 2mm gravel and one quarter fine sand (which is where the corys tend to spend most of their time).
I feed at different times as the mood strikes me: algae tabs, algae flakes, defrosted bloodworm, defrosted brine shrimp, catfish pellets, Discus food (don't ask, I got a large tub by mistake but everyone loves it) and New Era flake food.
 
The cory's are unconcerned by the mad antics of the Clown loaches at feeding time and are generally happy with all their tankmates which consist of Clown loach, rummy-nosed tetra, diamond tetra, black phantom tetra, SAE, BN catfish and at leaast fifteen Khuli loaches.
 
The above info is for Talltree for the sake of comparison that may or may not help with his own stationary cories.

 

[TallTree01]

Geesh!  Similar to what I am seeing, except it is all 10 of mine.  They just sit there, on the bottom.  Thing is, up till 2 days ago min were quite active.
 
I want to follow this thread!

Good to know mine is not a unique case.

Corys tend to get lazier as they get older, they're usually more active in the evenings & at night, the only time mine get really active in the day is when they're spawning or when I've put live food in for them.
Every morning I see little dimples all over the sand from where they've been foraging overnight.
Forgot to say paleatus like cooler water, 25 is at the very top of their range

I've only had them a couple months. Ill try lower temps. But why are the other 3 perfectly fine?

The poor little dear looks rather thin, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but every time I have seen a cory get that thin they don't recover. I don't know if its internal parasites or some other issue.
Maybe try target feeding them defrosted bloodworms, or if you can get them live blackworms and see if they show any interest in that.

Oh no! I feared parasites. They've been like this dice I got them but this is the first time I realized it wasn't not normal. Could they just be poor stock or breeding?
I'll definitely try dig up some bloodworms. I'll QT them if need be in a bucket.

I was going to say the same thing Baccus. Very thin look, almost a bit of a curved spine. Strange.

That's what I was thinking. Curved spines can be detrimental to a fish's normality in my experience

I run my tank at 26.5 degrees (for my Clown loaches) and have seven peppered cories. All of them potter around all the time, mooching under wood, across the sand and occasionally taking a trip higher up around the filter inlet (tank oulet) where stuff gathers for them to browse through. They are certainly unaffected by the higher temperature. My water stats are fine although my nitrates are always high despite huge water changes every week, perhaps my cories like the fact that my tank is heavily filtered (FX5 plus an internal U4 for small particle removal). It is moderately planted. The substrate is three quarters 2mm gravel and one quarter fine sand (which is where the corys tend to spend most of their time).
I feed at different times as the mood strikes me: algae tabs, algae flakes, defrosted bloodworm, defrosted brine shrimp, catfish pellets, Discus food (don't ask, I got a large tub by mistake but everyone loves it) and New Era flake food.
 
The cory's are unconcerned by the mad antics of the Clown loaches at feeding time and are generally happy with all their tankmates which consist of Clown loach, rummy-nosed tetra, diamond tetra, black phantom tetra, SAE, BN catfish and at leaast fifteen Khuli loaches.
 
The above info is for Talltree for the sake of comparison that may or may not help with his own stationary cories.

Hmm, this rules out temperature and that peppered are just lazy specues.





Thanks heaps for all this help everybody.
To me though, internal parasites seems to be the most likely explanation. Any other suggestions are welcome of course but if you have prior experience of such corydoras and managed to cure them, please comment.

 

[TallTree01]

Catfish has found a new place to rest.


But it's still breathing. Please advise!
If a mod sees this, now is probably a good time to move the ER sub forum please.

 

[Freedom]

Oh no, I'm sorry to see this latest update.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Catfish has found a new place to rest.


But it's still breathing. Please advise!
If a mod sees this, now is probably a good time to move the ER sub forum please.

(

 
 
Sad news is that once a cory starts floating, I've never been able to save it.  And for whatever reason, my peppered have done this more than other species.    And I couldn't tell you why.

 

[TallTree01]

No... It can't be true. There's nothing I can do.
Nothing on earth can compare to this feeling of helplessness.
Words cannot express this atrocity.
I pray for miracle.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

No... It can't be true. There's nothing I can do.
Nothing on earth can compare to this feeling of helplessness.
Words cannot express this atrocity.
I pray for miracle.

 
 
I'm not saying there's no hope... I'm just saying I've never been able to find a cure.

 

[Baccus]

I know the feeling of helplessness when this happens with corys, and it hate not being able to help with ways to try and fix it. You may have some luck if you can put it in a suspended net so it doesn't have to struggle to get to the surface, but the main issue I think is it starts with lack of eating for some reason.
I have a sneaky suspicion is it some how related to the same wasting problem that otocinclus often suffer from. Theirs is thought to start with being starved in transit and then lack of food they recognise in captivity and the otocinclus seem to loose their gut flora. If the corys are suffering a similar problem it would explain why they just lose interest in food and waste away. Most pet shops I have seen dump the corys in any tank they have handy and don't ensure that the corys get their share of food. So starving can start in transit from the breeder/ supplier and be continued on in the shop until death or sale of the cory. Short of having them eat other animals waste (yes droppings) then I can not think of any way of reintroducing suitable gut flora. Baby koalas, possoms and Kangaroos get their gut flora from eating their mothers droppings and cows and the like usually get it from mutual grooming ie licking each other.
 
Maybe if even if you cant save these poor corys a valuable lesson can be learnt from their passing, not that corys are hard to keep (in fact I have had most of my peppered for over 10years), rather that always ensure they are looking plump and active in the shops before purchasing, and if they are hanging about the surface as heart breaking as it is walk away from the purchase.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I know the feeling of helplessness when this happens with corys, and it hate not being able to help with ways to try and fix it. You may have some luck if you can put it in a suspended net so it doesn't have to struggle to get to the surface, but the main issue I think is it starts with lack of eating for some reason.
I have a sneaky suspicion is it some how related to the same wasting problem that otocinclus often suffer from. Theirs is thought to start with being starved in transit and then lack of food they recognise in captivity and the otocinclus seem to loose their gut flora. If the corys are suffering a similar problem it would explain why they just lose interest in food and waste away. Most pet shops I have seen dump the corys in any tank they have handy and don't ensure that the corys get their share of food. So starving can start in transit from the breeder/ supplier and be continued on in the shop until death or sale of the cory. Short of having them eat other animals waste (yes droppings) then I can not think of any way of reintroducing suitable gut flora. Baby koalas, possoms and Kangaroos get their gut flora from eating their mothers droppings and cows and the like usually get it from mutual grooming ie licking each other.
 
Maybe if even if you cant save these poor corys a valuable lesson can be learnt from their passing, not that corys are hard to keep (in fact I have had most of my peppered for over 10years), rather that always ensure they are looking plump and active in the shops before purchasing, and if they are hanging about the surface as heart breaking as it is walk away from the purchase.

 
 
Good stuff here Baccus... I'd add that it would seem that BN pleco fry are in a similar boat.  Wildbetta lost s batch of fry because her tank was 'too clean'.  Her next batch were kept in a tank with a fair amount of detritus on the bottom, and the survival rate was astronomically higher.

 

[TallTree01]

I noticed in the shop that most of the cories werre looking scrawny. I assumed this was normal. Apparently not though.