Strange C.habrosus Deaths

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noodles

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Hi,

Just a quick question that probably no one will be able to answer, but you never know! I have a shoal of 6 habrosus, been in my tank for a couple of months, and over the last couple of days I have lost 2 of them, they were the smallest 2, and they hadnt seemed to have grown as much as the others, which I had put down to them being male. No visible sign of any disease at all. Have not checked water params yet, but did do a partial water change just in case yesterday. The remaining 4 look mighty happy still.

Only thing is that I did notice a spot of fungus on one of my oldest platies (unfortunately he is coming to the end of his lifspan I belive) a couple of days before the deaths and treated the whole tank for fungus.

Any habrosus experts out there that might shed some light or give me a pointer in investigating possible causes? I have seen that there are 3 left in my local fish shop and was going to snap them up this week, but dont want to introduce them if there are problems in the tank.

Cheers.
 
A bad reaction to meds is always a possibility. I have lost as many fish to meds as I have saved probably. Reasons for hospital tanks.

I was told that a frequent cause of loss of the small mini Cories is starvation. A major importer and Cory supplier told me this when mine all died off one by one. :dunno:
I started with 25. Didn't do well with them. :(
Thought I might try again someday.
 
Only thing is that I did notice a spot of fungus on one of my oldest platies (unfortunately he is coming to the end of his lifspan I belive) a couple of days before the deaths and treated the whole tank for fungus.


how old is the platy?
 
Only thing is that I did notice a spot of fungus on one of my oldest platies (unfortunately he is coming to the end of his lifspan I belive) a couple of days before the deaths and treated the whole tank for fungus.


how old is the platy?

just over a year in my tank, but was full size when purchased. I have a feeling they were quite inbred though as the next generation of babies have not been a very good quality at all. some nasty shapes and features!

but back to the cory's, I think starvation maybe something to do with it, the ones that died were very small, and had not grown at all since I had bought them (i put this down to them being males) where as the others have got considerably bigger.

I went back to the lfs and bought the last 3 in the shop a few weeks back so now have 7 healthy ones. Although again, 2 are still very small. but fingers crossed they will thrive.
 
Hi,

Just a quick question that probably no one will be able to answer, but you never know! I have a shoal of 6 habrosus, been in my tank for a couple of months, and over the last couple of days I have lost 2 of them, they were the smallest 2, and they hadnt seemed to have grown as much as the others, which I had put down to them being male. No visible sign of any disease at all. Have not checked water params yet, but did do a partial water change just in case yesterday. The remaining 4 look mighty happy still.

Only thing is that I did notice a spot of fungus on one of my oldest platies (unfortunately he is coming to the end of his lifspan I belive) a couple of days before the deaths and treated the whole tank for fungus.

Any habrosus experts out there that might shed some light or give me a pointer in investigating possible causes? I have seen that there are 3 left in my local fish shop and was going to snap them up this week, but dont want to introduce them if there are problems in the tank.

Cheers.

Actually i think this is a case of internal parasites in the corys- sometimes fish can carry internal parasite infestastions for a long time in them, fish affected by these internal parasites tend to become skinny/underweight looking and not grow as much as non-affected fish as the parasites use up all the nutrition the fish recieves in its body.
Bloo had a similar case of internal parasites quite a while back with some loaches, i think you should read Bloo's thread;

http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...ernal++parasite
 
Actually i think this is a case of internal parasites in the corys- sometimes fish can carry internal parasite infestastions for a long time in them, fish affected by these internal parasites tend to become skinny/underweight looking and not grow as much as non-affected fish as the parasites use up all the nutrition the fish recieves in its body.
Bloo had a similar case of internal parasites quite a while back with some loaches, i think you should read Bloo's thread;

http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...ernal++parasite

you know what? I think you are right! The last batch of 3 I bought, 2 have grown nicely and are as fat as the originals, the 3rd never grew and I found it dead this morning. Case closed! cheers.
 
corys have the ability to create a toxic mucus and sometimes this builds up and kills themselves.
granted this is more often seen when the fish are transported in bags than in an aquarium, but it can happen.
 
I just read about this in an articles by Ian Fuller, Frank Schafer with posts from Bryan Epstein on another forum: Cory suicides. It happens in small enclosed spaces like bags and show tanks. It is not known which species are capable of it, but speculated it is the showier with the spiniest fins. I understand it is an excretion from behind the gills or pectoral fins. Not much is known yet, and it is rarely observed. When the excretion is released there is a foam that appears at the top of the bag or container. I can't post a link because it is another forum.

I doubt that mine had parasites, as they were from Bryan and he quarantines his fish for several months and treats them before shipping. He is the one that said due to their size and small mouths they often die of starvation.
 
corys have the ability to create a toxic mucus and sometimes this builds up and kills themselves.
granted this is more often seen when the fish are transported in bags than in an aquarium, but it can happen.

The release of toxins is something that most if not all Corydoradinae Catfishes are capable of. Basically it is a defence mechanism that is released when the fish is being predated on. This would not under normal circumstances happen in the aquarium, unless the Corys were kept with large aggressive fish.

C. habrosus are a little sensitive to poor water conditions and should be given regular weekly water changes. The idea that small Cory species are prone to starvation is a little far fetched. Corys in general have fairly small mouths and they are for the most part filter feeders. All Corys should be purposely fed and not just relied upon to clean up after the other tank mates. If there are greedy tank mates, the tip is to feed the corys after light out, crush a little flake and moisten it then it will sink straight away and not sit on the surface. Catfish tablet foods (not vegetarian types) are good because they also sink quickly and break up into tiny particles.

Jollysue,
The treatment used by your Cory supplier is one that is not allowed to be used on food fish and the reason for this is that the treatment actually poisons the parasite and when it dies it releases toxins, which are absorbed into the fishes body tissues, these could possibly cause problems to the fish long after they have been sold to you. This is a treatment that is banned here in the UK because of that very reason.

Ian
 
What treatment is that? I have Cories from Bryan that I have had for a couple of years and they have done well and been healthy. I have lost very few over the few years and that was usually due to my poor judgement. I would not venture to say how Bryan treats his fish, but they have been very healthy. I was simply saying that I doubted that the dwarfs I recieved died from parasites.

I am reading a mixed message regarding the dwarf's competition for and ability to get food successfully.
 
The treatment that Bryan advocates and uses is Prazipro. It was as far as I know developed from an animal wormer, in animals the parasites, when killed (poisoned) are passed out with the faeces and any toxins that the dying parasite releases goes the same way. In fish the toxins can end up in the body tissue. The fact that it is banned for use on food fish tells you that there are possible health problems associated with the product.

Bryan's statement about Dwarf's being prone to starvation is somewhat missleading. They are not. They just need to to be housed and fed in a manner suitable to there size, which basically means keeping them in as near natural environment as possible, with like or similar sized tank mates and fed appropriate sized foods.

An example of the right type of environment would be over a substrate of very fine smooth grained sand, which they will constantly sift through extracting tiny food particles. Keeping them over gravel inhibits their natural feeding habit and food particles even if they reach the substrate, very soon sink down between the pieces of gravel and out of reach. This in itself can lead to several other problems, but I don't wish to go into those here, it is easy to see how with plenty of food going into the tank small Corys could easily go short.

It is not my place to tell people how they have to set their tanks up, because that is their personal choice, whether it be a substrate of pink and purple pea gravel with an array of plastic ornaments, or flour fine sand with bog wood and live plants makes no difference to me. I try my best to provide people with information based on the natural requirements of Corys.

Ian
 
My presentation of what Bryan said may have been misleading. I believe he meant that they often starve for the very reasons you state: because new owners don't set up and care for them correctly. I believe he was being gracious to me, his customer.

As far as the differences between allowed medications in the States and those in the UK. I now have a better understanding, and I know that medication, etc., used for the hobby are often not to be used on food fish. Still many of these medications are used here, and I am glad I have access to them. I have not yet attained the level to be able to avoid all use of meds. And I would at this point rather have parasite free fish in my aquarium. I believe you are correct. I think Bryan uses Prazilpro.

That may explain why we in the States have less problem with parasites, and I get lots of warnings from Brits to watch for them but seldom from Americans.

I learn more all the time from you. :)
 
Interesting discussions here that i have started!

So the fact that out of a batch of 9 introduced into my tank over a period of a couple of months (6 first, 3 later) resulted in 3 not growing at all from when they were introduced from the LFS and eventually dieing suggests what?

The other 6 are all seemingly happy and fat! As far as I am aware all 9 came from the same batch in the LFS. I can understand that perhaps the last set of 3 may not have got enough food in the LFS, as they definitely grew very quickly when I bought them, and so the one that died out of the last 3 could have been hungry for a period of time which is never good.

But generally in my novice opinion this sort of behaviour suggests that the 3 deaths have come about by some disease or parasite meaning that they never put on any weight and eventually died with no visible signs of illness. They have plenty of food (I did watch carefully that they all ate since this post), suitable substrate, healthy water and living conditions I believe.

Any other thoughts?
 

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