Two Deaths In Two Days......coincidence?

[kalm2kaos]

Hey all
I have a 15 gallon, 2ft by 1 by 1.5, temp is 74, ammonia is zero,nitrites are zero and nitrates somewhere between 10-20.

Tank contains 5 WCMM and 6 pepper corys, yesterday one of the pepper corys died,no idea why,no external signs of damage or infection,shape good and all fins intact. Then earlier today I knew my little BNP was fine and dandy coz I saw him stuck to the front glass, went out for a few hours,came back and the poor little fella was rolling around in the current definitly deceased!

All the other fish appear healthy and active and I am at a loss as to why I lost these two in two days.

Can anyone offer any thoughts?

TIA
Paul

 

[WILDER]

Added any new fish to the tank lately, corys are very prone to bacterial infections, that's why it's best to do a gravel vac twice a week, as if they eat rotten food they will become ill.
Check the barbels are they going thin or short, has any of the fish gone pale or darkened in colour.

 

[kalm2kaos]

All the corys are fairly new (last two weeks),but little BNP had been in the tank quite happy for the last month. As to the corys being prone, I was aware they weren't the strongest of fish, so am prepared to accept it was dodgy when I got it, and it was just one of those things (still fairly new to this) but the plec death got me wondering, as hadn't heard of many problems with them,wondered if there might have been a reason,or just bad luck? I dunno...Got me a bit bugged,hate losing any fish, they are my surrogate family,without the emotional baggage

 

[kalm2kaos]

Anyone??

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

How often do you clean your substrate and how? Is it gravel or sand? How often and what do you feed your fish and how much roughly? Were the cories barbels/whiskers completely intact

 

[kalm2kaos]

Substrate is gravel,about 5-8mm, 20% water change twice a week using a syphon hovered over the substrate so it moves the gravel a bit.
Food is a mix of flakes,granules, algea wafers and a wide variety of frozen foods. Usually feed dried in the morning and frozen in the evening,but not overfed.

Cory looked totally intact, but when alive didnt move much in the last few days of its life. I didn't worry about this as I dont watch them 24/7 and thought I was just catching it during a quiet time.

BNP was 100% healthy as far as I was concerned, but died during the 3 hours i was out last night........

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Was the BN plec a small one? Lack of activity from the cory may indicate an internal infection.
They were both of healthy weight and not skinny at all?

 

[kalm2kaos]

BNP was small,maximum 2 inches

Cant tell what is a healthy weight for such a small fish,but was active and hogged the algea wafer all to itself til it had had its fill

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

How long has you had these fish? Small/baby plecs can be quite fragile at first until they have grown a bit.

 

[kalm2kaos]

Cory was about two weeks in the tank,BNP about two months

 

[WILDER]

Some water changes on the tank, you could add a bacterial med with losing two fish.

 

[mark.w.jones]

Substrate is gravel,about 5-8mm, 20% water change twice a week using a syphon hovered over the substrate so it moves the gravel a bit.

Get yourself a proper gravel vac, theyre only about £5.

When cleaning your gravel you need to push the plastic tube right to the bottom of the tank allowing it to fill up with gravel then lift it up and away from the bottom once the gravel level in the tube gets too near the top. You will be amazed at how much crap gets deep down into your gravel. This is why some people prefer a sand substrate as all the crap stays on the surface so is easier to get rid of.

You may have a lot of decaying food in your substrate if just hoovering the surface a little with a siphon tube which might account for your problems.

 

[kalm2kaos]

syphon has an end diameter of a couple of inches,and I do shove it into the gravel to agitate it,