Hi there, I have had a school of 7 bronze corys in a 38 gallon tank for about a month and a half now. They are in with 7 peppered cory cats and I just added a school of 12 diamond tetra last night. Unfortunately two of my bronze corys have died and I am not sure why. I am hoping folks on here might have suggestions for me so I can avoid anything else happening.
My tank is planted and fully cycled. I did a fishless cycle over a span of 3.5 weeks with API starter bacteria added in. I tested water parameters throughout that to be sure the tank was cycled. I keep the tank at 76 degrees F. The bronze corys have never shown signs of stress. They are very active and have actually been spawning regularly in the tank. Yet somehow I am down to 5 now.
I thought one that I found between some river rocks maybe got itself stuck there and couldnāt get out. So i filled that space in some with gravel and sand substrate from another area in the tank to try and block the crevices better. Yet i lost another cory two days ago.
Now I am wondering if I could be under feeding? I try to feed light to avoid making a mess and screwing up my water parameters but maybe itās too little? For the original 14 corys I fed 3 hikari bottom feeder wafers in morning and at night, so 6 total each day. Is this too little? There is also a juvenile BN pleco that picks at those wafers too.
Also I tested my water again today and yesterday before a water change and everything looked good. Nitrates at 20 ppm before my water change, no ammonia or nitrites detected.
Also the second to die was a large breeding female I had watched lay eggs in the past couple weeks.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
My tank is planted and fully cycled. I did a fishless cycle over a span of 3.5 weeks with API starter bacteria added in. I tested water parameters throughout that to be sure the tank was cycled. I keep the tank at 76 degrees F. The bronze corys have never shown signs of stress. They are very active and have actually been spawning regularly in the tank. Yet somehow I am down to 5 now.
I thought one that I found between some river rocks maybe got itself stuck there and couldnāt get out. So i filled that space in some with gravel and sand substrate from another area in the tank to try and block the crevices better. Yet i lost another cory two days ago.
Now I am wondering if I could be under feeding? I try to feed light to avoid making a mess and screwing up my water parameters but maybe itās too little? For the original 14 corys I fed 3 hikari bottom feeder wafers in morning and at night, so 6 total each day. Is this too little? There is also a juvenile BN pleco that picks at those wafers too.
Also I tested my water again today and yesterday before a water change and everything looked good. Nitrates at 20 ppm before my water change, no ammonia or nitrites detected.
Also the second to die was a large breeding female I had watched lay eggs in the past couple weeks.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!