Pygmy corydoras died

[MrsShrimp]

Hi, hoping someone could help please?
I had 3 Pygmy corys and 1 sadly died leaving another which I found floating on the surface yesterday. Wondering if it's the substrate damaging their delicate barbels although I can't see them as they are tiny. The substrate is Fluval Stratum. I also had 2 salt & peppers but one died. I think he definitely had damaged barbels. The bronze are doing fine as they are around 2 years old and have strong barbels.
I tried adding fine sand, failed when trying to rinse it and it ended up in the pond. Now I want to try Caribsea gravel which was recommended on this forum as it's fine with no sharp edges. Has anyone tried adding this or another type of sand/gravel to an already established tank?
Thanks for any advice anyone can provide.

 

[GaryE]

How long had you had the corys in question?

Barbel erosion caused by poor water quality is an issue. It doesn't kill the fish, but is a symptom of a broader issue. What's your water change routine?

I've never used brand name substrate, but I have added rinsed substrate to tanks many times with no problems. If you have an HOB, internal or a canister filter, turn it off while the sand is being poured to avoid loose pieces getting into the motor. Once the sand/gravel has safely landed, back on it goes.

 

[anewbie]

How hard is your water. Also pygmy really need a bigger group - they won't group with other cory and they are very shy to begin with so keeping less than 50 is a crime. Ok Ok at least 8.

They are very hearty in the right environment but have little tolerance for non-sense. I find them much more robust than their cousins hastatus (not sure why).

I was planning this 12ft x 5 ft x 18 inch aquarium and i keep thinking i should stock it with 300 pymgy.

 

[MrsShrimp]

How long had you had the corys in question?

Barbel erosion caused by poor water quality is an issue. It doesn't kill the fish, but is a symptom of a broader issue. What's your water change routine?

I've never used brand name substrate, but I have added rinsed substrate to tanks many times with no problems. If you have an HOB, internal or a canister filter, turn it off while the sand is being poured to avoid loose pieces getting into the motor. Once the sand/gravel has safely landed, back on it goes.

Hi, thanks for your reply. I've had them for about 3 months. I water change weekly using tap water and use Stress Coat to treat as it's very hard in my area. The PH level is 7.6.
Thanks for the advice. I didn't know about switching the filter off. Should I rinse the sand and then add it by hand?

 

[GaryE]

That's how I add it, cup by cup. I did that last week with a tank.

A pH of 7.6 isn't necessarily very hard. It's the GH and KH, or the ppm of hardness that matters. The local water supplier should have that data online.

3 months answers a key question as the fish from stores are often damaged by shipping or conditions. So that's not the key. As long as the weekly changes are between 25 and 50%, you may never know.

Changing the gravel may be wise. Most commercial aquarium gravels will create a slight haze unrinsed, for a day or two. I use swimming pool gravel, which where I live is close to sand and rounded, or actual sand sold for playgrounds, which is very messy. With the swimming pool gravel I added last week, the haze was gone in 36 hours, though I had to rinse the filters. You only turn them off for long enough to avoid getting falling grains pulled in. That can destroy the impeller inside the motor.

 

[anewbie]

Rather than fight your water i would go for hard(er) water fishes and just not force soft water fishes into hard water. I.e, forget the pygmy and seek something more suitable.

 

[GaryE]

Rather than fight your water i would go for hard(er) water fishes and just not force soft water fishes into hard water. I.e, forget the pygmy and seek something more suitable.

I would wait and see what the water actually is before jumping to conclusions. An alkaline pH doesn't necessarily mean hard water. And how hard matters. A quick googling of midlands uk water hardness gives 150ppm plus. At 140ppm in one of my houses, I had cardinals live very long lives, although they couldn't breed. I had Scleromystax and a few other rainforest species that could breed, and saw no effects of stress, or shortened lives in the fish I kept.

Pygmy corys bred there, a sign of something being right.

I wouldn't have kept tiny Betta species, licorice gouramis or the like at that house, but general Characins, and most Apistogramma lived long and prospered. Several Apistos bred readily with healthy fry.

 

[waterdog 0103]

I will add that I use fluval stratum, in my 60U which is about twenty gal. I also have a group of about a dozen pymies of which three are the standard ones and the rest albinoes they are all fat and very sassy. They love lieing on and digging in the substrate, which I must add is loaded with blackworms. I put them in there so none of my fish go hungry for any length of time.

 

[MrsShrimp]

That's how I add it, cup by cup. I did that last week with a tank.

A pH of 7.6 isn't necessarily very hard. It's the GH and KH, or the ppm of hardness that matters. The local water supplier should have that data online.

3 months answers a key question as the fish from stores are often damaged by shipping or conditions. So that's not the key. As long as the weekly changes are between 25 and 50%, you may never know.

Changing the gravel may be wise. Most commercial aquarium gravels will create a slight haze unrinsed, for a day or two. I use swimming pool gravel, which where I live is close to sand and rounded, or actual sand sold for playgrounds, which is very messy. With the swimming pool gravel I added last week, the haze was gone in 36 hours, though I had to rinse the filters. You only turn them off for long enough to avoid getting falling grains pulled in. That can destroy the impeller inside the motor.

I will add that I use fluval stratum, in my 60U which is about twenty gal. I also have a group of about a dozen pymies of which three are the standard ones and the rest albinoes they are all fat and very sassy. They love lieing on and digging in the substrate, which I must add is loaded with blackworms. I put them in there so none of my fish go hungry for any length of time.

Ok thank you. This is very helpful. The Carib Sea gravel has a treatment to add to the tank but this is when you are setting up a new aquarium so before adding fish. I have an established aquarium with fish so not sure if I can add this treatment. I really wanted my pygmies to thrive. I only have one remaining but want to get more.

 

[gimme30]

That treatment is to clear cloudy water, which it will do, at the expense of creating some sort of brown goo that will literally be EVERYWHERE in the tank. It isn't necessary and I wouldn't put it into an established tank.

 

[MrsShrimp]

That's very interesting actually as my substrate is the same. I definitely had one death which may have been caused by substrate or gravel. It was a salt & pepper cory and I couldn't see its barbels. It also had a red patch in its stomach area. I have white and black gravel in places on top of the substrate but I wouldn't say it had sharp edges.
The water is hard in our area. It's a right pain tbh!

 

[MrsShrimp]

Apologies I meant to quote the post by waterdog 0103

 

[MrsShrimp]

Good to know, thanks for this