Spotted Cory Has Gotten Darker, Is Something Wrong?

[Starfishpower]

iv got a spotted cory in my ten gallon which i have been working on for the past week getting it planted. for about a week now his (or maybe her) colors have not been the same. usually ppl worry when their fish gets pale, mine got darker... spots specially. and he seems to be more skittish, that could be cause he's just got more energy. he's always been twitchy and a bit of a fraidy cat. i thought i would ask and see if this sounds like anything i should be worried about. it has occurred to me that this could just be that the planting and better lighting and what not is good for the fish and he's starting to look more like what he ought to, which is a little horrifying in the sense that if that's true i would feel really bad that i hadnt been properly taking care of him. iv been feeding him Hikari sinking wafers since i got him (or her) about 5 months ago. do they need something else in their diet? he is the only cory i have. they are ok by themselves right? i know they prefer the company of others but they can be alone right? or should i go get Odin a buddy or two? i probably wolnt get a large school for now cause he's in a small 10 gallon community and i dont want to over crowd. it can handle one or 2 more corys though easily.

 

[orange shark]

looks rather fat!

Fish's colour normally deteriourates (sp) if it is stressed, so maybe it's been stressed recently?

 

[Starfishpower]

could be, iv done some work to the tank so maybe he doesnt like all movement and stuff. idk. does he look that fat? how much should i be feeding? and should i get him some buddies?

 

[ICEEGRL]

More would help, but good luck finding them. I have 3 delphax and have been hunting more for almost 2 years. They are impossible to get. (around here any way...)
The fatness could mean he is a she... and getting mature. If you can find them I would definately get her atleast 2 more friends.
They do need a variety of foods. Mine eat a little bit of everything. They get a staple food and then something different to go with it every day. For variety I add fresh veggies, veggie flakes, algae waffers, shrimp pellets, shrimp flakes, earth worm flakes, tubifex worms, and many other things...
They need the meats and veggies. There are a ton of threads on here about what all they eat.
She will probably love the addition of plants to her tank. Most corys do...
Just a suggestion... they also really like having drift wood or coconut caves to hide in or under.
I hope this is helps.

 

[jollysue]

Mostly, Corys blanch out when sick or stressed. They lighten up and darken up when when the habitat is dark or light. They darken and get more colorful on a dark substrate, for instance.

I agree with ICEEGRL. I think that is a lady Cory.

She is probably skittish because f the messing in the tank.

But just to be safe: Who are her tank mates? Single Corys are more liable to stress out. Stress can affect their immune system, and then they can get sick.

 

[Starfishpower]

her tank mates are a banjo catfish, 2 black kuhli loaches, a bunch of ghost shrimp, and a baby senegal bichir (2"), there were others until just 2 days ago but they have been relocated (guppies and a betta). i do drop blood worms in there for the other fish but idk if she eats them. ya i havent found any others like her. the petsmart i got her from stopped selling them. id love to get some other variation of cory to befriend her but im not sure what kind to get. iv been told emerald greens but i dont like them. id like something spotted, and nonalbino. i am seriously upset that i cant get others of her own kind. for further info here's a link to my planted journal.

http/www.fishforums.net/content/Planted-...anted-Journal-/

 

[jollysue]

One of the schwartzi clan will do. There are several that will be closely related and resemble her.

Have you looked through planet catfish? Check with corys 4 u.

 

[Starfishpower]

i am horrified. i just went out on a corydora site to browse their index and see if i could find what kind mine is and i got this

http/www.corysrus.com/nc_gallery_co_1.htm

there are four corys just on that page alone that look like mine, two on the next. it could be any of them, and im sure theres more. how on earth am i supposed to do this??? what am i supposed to do, go to a university and have a biology professor ID her for me. this is ridiculous. someone should come up with a better solution to this problem. maybe i will. im seriously thinking i want my degree in marine biology because i love this hobby so much; so maybe i can do something some day in the next few years to help everybody out. so... since its evident that im not going to get my cory ID'd as far the specific scientific name goes i might as well go with getting some more that are as close as possible. Jollysue, you said any of the schwartzi clan will do.. thank you, i like those so thats a good option for me; i found one yesterday at a lfs that looks like it could be the same type - i.e. it is one of the many that look like mine but actually all have different scientific names - do you think that if the colouring is that similar that they will get along or should i just go straight for the schwartzi's?

 

[ICEEGRL]

I sent you a pm about where you might get the delphax.
I had the same problem in figuring out what mine was. I finally got someone that knows corys to tell me what they are. Yours looks just like mine. That is why I said c. delphax.

 

[jollysue]

They will get on. But it is possible to get them ID'd. I know at least 3 sites that would make a 95% to 100% correct try. But they are both forums! LOL

Register at the forum of the site you have just mentioned or at the forum of the thumbnails I suggested. Those are two of the places for a pretty accurate id. There are subtile difference that some very experienced Corydora enthsiasts will see right off.

I am now guessing you are in the States. Corys 4 U won't work. That's the UK.

 

[Starfishpower]

ok, ill definitely try those forums. no im afraid Corys 4 U will not work for me thanks though. im back from the lfs with my new fish. ill have pictures in a second. it's smaller than my first but there is def. a striking resemblance between the two. something's odd though. it has a barb, as in a spike, a defense mechanism which is the front spine of his dorsal fin. you will be able to see it in the pictures. i noticed it on the way home. at which point i realized that this was how how punctured a hole in the bag... twice! he went through 2 of those clear plastic bags before i decided to just have it tripled bagged and hope they dont all have holes in them i dont know if that means it is a different variation from mine or just a different gender. what do yall think?

 

[Starfishpower]

here's another pic

 

[jollysue]

I would say that the dorsal has been damaged so that the front spine is more exposed than natural. It could well have been from piercing things like bags.

Corys will stiffen when they are stressed and frightened. When they do that the fin spines stiffen and become piercing.

I do not swear that there is not a Cory species with an exposed front dorsal spine, but I don't remember seeing one.

 

[Starfishpower]

i thought of that. ill just have to nurse him back to health wolnt i.