Lizsport500 Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 Hello, I am having a difficult time keeping corys. I have tried panda corys and recently the julii. I never see any of them swimming oddly or ill, my Cory count just goes down after 1-2 months. I do have one Panda Cory that I have had at least 8-10 months. I have a heavily planted 40 gallon community tank that is under stocked with rummy nose tetras, platys, red cherry shrimp, and a bristlenose pleco. I do weekly water changes: pH close to neutral, nitrates kept ~5-15 (that works best for my plants), I bought 3 julii 2 months ago and there were still 2 last week but I think I am down to one. Maybe corys just don’t do well in my tank? I feed frozen foods, sinking algae wafers, sinking shrimp pellets. Any advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 Have you watched them eat to make sure they are getting enough food? I've heard Cory say that corydoras can come in underfed from the fish store/distributor/the wild and sometimes they get outcompeted for food. I guess if you're feeding sinking foods you're already watching this to make sure they get enough...but definitely watch them eat for a few days, if you haven't already. Do your other fish look healthy? Maybe the corys are not coming to the LFS healthy? They also like to be in groups (like, at least 6 I think)...so perhaps it's a bad combination, like they are coming in to the LFS is less-than-optimal condition, then not getting enough food, and also stressed from not having enough buddies? Not sure...interested to here what some more experienced cory keepers will say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizsport500 Posted December 24, 2020 Author Share Posted December 24, 2020 Hi, thanks for your reply. The first time I bought the Panda corys I bought 6 or 8. When I only had 3-4 left I bought 3-4 more. Only one Panda has survived and has gotten pretty big over the last year! I added 3 julii. I wanted more but since the survival rate was so low I didn’t. They looked very healthy in the store and always looked healthy at home. None of the other fish bully them and all other fish look great. I do drop sinking food into the tank but I can try dropping them in hours after I feed the frozen food and when the tank is darker. I would love to have 6-12 corys if they survive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn T Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 Definitely try feeding after lights out. I don't have cories at present, but when I did, I fed them after I shut off lights for the night and headed to bed. They don't compete well with other fish higher in the water column for food, and night feeding avoids that issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 Corys are omnivores. I'd try some fast sinking high protein community pellets. My pandas like the Extreme Nano pellets and Hikari Micro Pellets. I overfeed in the evening so plenty gets to the bottom. It's always gone by morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted December 25, 2020 Share Posted December 25, 2020 What substrate are you running in their tank? Sharp substrate can rip their barbells, leading to infection ... sickness... death. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizsport500 Posted December 25, 2020 Author Share Posted December 25, 2020 Thanks for the advice everyone. I will see if feeding after lights out helps! @Fish FolkI have flourite in 2/3 of the tank and gravel in the the other 1/3. I always drop food above the gravel side (best area for viewing!), the sinking food lands on the gravel but the frozen food disperses. I have wondered if flourite could be the problem. If so, could I add sand or gravel as a topper? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted December 25, 2020 Share Posted December 25, 2020 16 minutes ago, Lizsport500 said: I have flourite in 2/3 of the tank You can tell if it’s hurting the corys just by examining their barbells. If they look worn down, you might be having problems. But if not, it may well be something else entirely. Do a comprehensive water test on your tank plus any water you do changes with. I doubt you can “cap” the fluorite. Finer substrate always ends up on the bottom. We used eco complete on a Cory tank, and it trashed their barbells. They kept dying off. We use a fine stone now - virtually like sand. Attached a photo of our Cory breeding tank. It’s NOT pretty 😂 But that’s what they like for making babies. We’ve got about 40 bronze corys in here — 30+ are 2-week, and 4-week old fry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizsport500 Posted December 25, 2020 Author Share Posted December 25, 2020 @Fish FolkMy lone julii has stumpy barbells but my lone Panda Cory has super-duper long ones! I have some areas where I can try changing the substrate which would cover at least 1/2 the tank... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Posted December 25, 2020 Share Posted December 25, 2020 Please search the site and watch some video's about corydoras substrate before you spend a bunch of time and money changing substrate. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now