Lifespan Of A Cory

[snazy]

Sorry to hear that. It's horrible.
If the rest 4 are active then it is a good sign. Is there any possibility that they might have been sick maybe?
Unfortunately in your case there are so many reasons for this happening that it's impossible to tell.
Hope the worst is over and there are no more deaths

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Thank you Snazy, I hope the worst is over as well. I do not want to lose anymore. I love my fishies.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Different cory species have different lifespans. Some live only several years and others may live 15 or more. I had old sterbais. They were a gift as proven breeders I got in 2002 from a breeder who had them for a number of years. The last one died a couple of years ago. I figure they were well over 10 years when they died. Big and fat guys too.

My best guess is there was a parameter change involving TDS as mentioned above. Not so large as to be completely fatal but large enough that some could not handle it while others did. The very old and the very young are always more susceptible. The pH change was not all that large.

 

[Mowbz]

Had this problem myself recently with the Pygmaeus. Had 5 die randomly over 2 days post putting them in, leaving one. All looked the same as they did when i put them in. I think the acclimatistion of Corys needs to be researched.

Ive found that anything less than 1 hour is not good at all. If you can do it over 2 hours its better, 3 hours is really good. The first lot got an hour, all died bar the one. Second lot of 6 got 2.5 hours, and they're swimming round my tank with the "spare" from the previous bactch still, no problems. Very actvie little things, and love their newly planted tank.

How long did you drip acclim them for?

 

[Dieses Madchen]

It took about an hour to an hour and a half. Can't remember exactly how long, but it wasn't less than an hour. Now you said all yours died...how long after adding them to the tank did they die? I've had mine for 3 weeks.

 

[Mowbz]

It took about an hour to an hour and a half. Can't remember exactly how long, but it wasn't less than an hour. Now you said all yours died...how long after adding them to the tank did they die? I've had mine for 3 weeks.

5 of 6 dead within 24 hrs. The 6th is still in the tank with the new 6, making 7. The new ones were from exactly the same batch as the first . Just as well have been the same 6 fish, hence my confusion, and immediate suspicion it was something i did.

Had a chat with the guy in the shop (NOT your normal LFS, one man band and looks after his customers VERY well. If anyone is in my area, ill tell you where to find him) He said try acclimatising for longer. He said when he's doing his bits and peices on delivery day the fish can be left for upwards of 3 hours to acclimatise as he's so busy, and thats how long the Corys were left as they went into his tanks. I did the same (minus half hour or so) and they've been perfect ever since.

I think true acclimatisation takes weeks, not hours. But since thats not really feasible in the hobby, its a case of making it as long as you can.

The above, could be why its taken so long.

 

[IcQb]

Some Cory's excrete toxins when stressed.
Since during travel, most are stressed, they can quickly poison the water and themselves.
every time i've gotten cory's, the one or two weakest died. The rest is fine after a few days.

My suggestion for transporting cory's; Ask for a second bag of water to go with the one that has the cory's.
When you get home, change them to the new bag and start acclimatising them in that one.
Also i'm going to try to add active carbon to the bags the next time i get new ones, to counter and absorb the poison.

 

[snazy]

I recently purchased 6 corys online. They were shipped to me the same day they had arrived in the shop so I wasn't expecting too much because of the extensive stress of double shipping.
The ammount of water they came with was about 2-3 litres max in total inclusive of the extra couple of small bottles of water on the side that were added with the shipment. I put all that and the fish in a 16 litre bucket and started drip acclimatization. It took an 1 hour and 40 minitues for the bucket to fill up with tank water via the drip tube. I wasn't sure how long to acclimate for and the corys were very still at first . By the time the bucket filled up, they were swimming more lively. I had the bucket covered with a towel to keep them in darkness, but I sneaked a few looks . I then tested the Ph and it had equaled with the tank water one so I netted them and dropped them in the tank.

There was about 0.25 ammonia in the water they came with and the Ph was way lower than mine.

It's been a week now and they are ok so far although they were a bit confused trying to school with the guppies and a platy at some stage

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Well, so far I havent had any more deaths. THe rest are still very active.

 

[Flubberlump]

Glad to hear that.

 

[Harlequins]

Personally i wouldn't attempt to alter the ph,if the skunks are doing ok leave alone, nothing stresses fish more than a fluctuating ph.

My ph is 8 and my cories are doing fine with it.

Sorry to hear you lost 2 skunks - could have been a mixture of stress & old age...

 

[Dieses Madchen]

I agree harlequins. I have made no attempt to alter. I've killed an entire tank doing that when I was new at this. I left it as is, and hoped for the best.