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pygmy cories die every couple months


Lemon
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so I have had really bad luck with pygmy cories what I mean is one would get a swim bladder issue seem fine for 1-3 weeks then die(not sure if its the one with swim bladder issue that dies)

my water parameters are normally 

ph7.8-8.0

ammonia 0

nitrites 0

nitrates 20-40

gh 300

kh 150

could it be because I don't gravel vac that often(for the plants and so I don't suck up stuff from my root tabs)?

 

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30 minutes ago, quirkylemon103 said:

so I have had really bad luck with pygmy cories what I mean is one would get a swim bladder issue seem fine for 1-3 weeks then die(not sure if its the one with swim bladder issue that dies)

my water parameters are normally 

ph7.8-8.0

ammonia 0

nitrites 0

nitrates 20-40

gh 300

kh 150

could it be because I don't gravel vac that often(for the plants and so I don't suck up stuff from my root tabs)?

 

Have you medicated them? Your water is hard and they are soft water fish. What are the parameters of your source water?

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38 minutes ago, Mmiller2001 said:

Have you medicated them? Your water is hard and they are soft water fish. What are the parameters of your source water?

no i don't medicate normally unless I see issues with them water is what I mentioned 

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Just now, quirkylemon103 said:

no i don't medicate normally unless I see issues with them water is what I mentioned 

Okay, it's possible they have some internal problems going on which is causing the slow die off. Also, the hard water could be causing enough stress to also cause the slow die off. My recommendation, Paracleanse or API General Cure treatment and slowly start softening your water. 

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Agree with @Mmiller2001 that medication would probably be the best solution just to rule out any disease.

As far as hardness is concerned, I have read many articles showing corydoras even pygmy corydoras can thrive in hard water. Their nature environment can have many swings in the parameters. Most fish can acclimate to it. I have them in 300ppm hardness with no problems. I would recommend slow drip acclimation when you get them. This will help them acclimate much easier to your hard water if it is different from the LFS. I slow drip acclimate all my fish and have had a lot of success doing it. 

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I can't get my hardness and ph down I've tried before but it always goes back up even if I change water with ro water I think its because of some pea gravel I added with realizing it would change the water chemistry(when I did that I had no idea rocks could change water chemistry I also didn't understand what kh would effect ph)

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30 minutes ago, quirkylemon103 said:

I can't get my hardness and ph down I've tried before but it always goes back up even if I change water with ro water I think its because of some pea gravel I added with realizing it would change the water chemistry(when I did that I had no idea rocks could change water chemistry I also didn't understand what kh would effect ph)

Ah, yeah, that's a bummer. People will say "stable is better" or something along those lines. But from my short time in the hobby, re-creating their natural habitat is the long term solution to stability. I fully believe there's a big difference between "surviving" and "thriving". A few generations raised in tap water doesn't undo thousands of years of evolution. It blows, but making a substrate change now might set you up for success with these fish.

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1 hour ago, Mmiller2001 said:

 re-creating their natural habitat is the long term solution to stability. I fully believe there's a big difference between "surviving" and "thriving". A few generations raised in tap water doesn't undo thousands of years evolution.

Great points! Long term stability is much better. If we can recreate their natural environment it is a much better solution. 

I would make sure you have some good places for them to hide out as well. They will feel more secure and less stressed. 

Edited by Garren
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24 minutes ago, Garren said:

Great points! Long term stability is much better. If we can recreate their natural environment it is a much better solution. 

I would make sure you have some good places for them to hide out as well. They will feel more secure and less stressed. 

they do have good places to hide 3 medium(6-8 inches) cattapa leaves 12-14 inch piece of driftwood and some plants

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