Cory Cats Die -- Otos Are Fine

[125gJoe]

The 10 gallon I have is doing great with 2 new Guppy frys..
The Guppies are healthy, but this is the 4th Cory Catfish (speckeld) that has died. I'm not sure of the scientific name, but it's a common catfish. I have had these catfish in the past and they have been very hardy to say the least. They were small, about 3/4 inch..
I also got to Otos (true Otos) at the same time, and they are thriving.

The water parameters are fine.
Any ideas on why the Catfish died? The first two died 3 weeks ago.

I have Java Ferns attached with rubber bands.... While typing this, I wonder if the rubber could be toxic to the Catfish..(?) :confused:

This is very strange to me, -- seems like the Otos would have been first to go..

[OrionGirl]

I've been told that cories are some of the worst shippers around--they're often sent with pure O2, and this burns their gills when they gulp at the surface. I know I've had several cories that died within ~2 days of arrival--and usually the entire shipment dief off. Could be something similar here--hard to say for sure. I doubt it's the rubber band--I've had them in my tanks for weeks on plants, with established cories, and never seen any problem.

[125gJoe]

OrionGirl,
WOW..
I got mine from PetSmart and they do 'inject' "air" in the bag.. It might be pure O2.. Is it? I'd be kinda surprised as I thought it was more for show than real O2..

[OrionGirl]

I really don't know what PetCo uses--ask next time, and see if they will forego doing it. I've only bought ghost shrimp and plants from them, and noticed the same thing. Never really thought much about it with them. Hmmmm.

[rich]

for some reasons the only casualties of the new tank have been my school of albino cories. started with 5, now im at 3 and one of those are looking bad. all the other fish are fine and dandy. water chemistry is fine and stable. wish i knew what was doing it.

[yhbae]

Same experience here - the only ones I managed to kill so far are the cories. It all happens within a week after introduction to the tank (even when fully cycled). At first, I thought it was because panda cories are especially sensitive but there must be other reasons.

Even the blue rams are doing great, so there must have been something wrong with their condition at the arrival time...

[125gJoe]

There seems to almost be a trend here with dead or dying Cory Catfish...!

As I remember, before I got the 80g Discus tank, Cory Cats where about indestructable! These little fish took some of the worst stuff that could happen. Now -- Otos are tougher?? It's way too hard to believe. :confused:

[fisherman]

Joe, what's your temp? I had a heck of a time with cories dying until I reduced my temp from 80F to 77F. Doesn't sound like much but it seems to matter to them. I haven't lost a cory since.

[125gJoe]

The 10 gallon is around 76 to 78 degrees F....

[Bittabit]

Funny my tank is cycling and I have an albino cory that is a real trooper. He seems to be doing fine. I got him from my local fish guy and he is great, maybe he treats the fish better.

[Dragon_Lord_Tia]

my cories never seem to die when i get sick if a type i usually wait till a few die off but they havent in about 4 months and when i put new 1s in their they seem fine and this is my comunity tank my most neglected tank of them all:eek:

[caseyt]

sure enough, joe, one of the three albinos i purchased at petsmart last week was swirling at the top of the tank when i got home tonight. perfect water parameters and all. i'm chalking it up to a weak fish.

[125gJoe]

Originally posted by caseyt
sure enough, joe, one of the three albinos i purchased at petsmart last week ..........
Guess it could be a weak strain of catfish out there these days! It's still real strange to me, as catfish seemed to be very stable/hardy fish..
The catfish I got weren't Albino, but spotted and looked very active. The PetSmart here usually has decent, clean tanks. I did see the Albinos, and they looked like the same size as the spotted cats - again, maybe a weak strain... That is sad... :confused:
-----------------------------
edit:
I do need a few catfish clean-up crew...
Looks like I'll wait, and try elsewhere...

[rich]

yeah it is sad. it struck me as kinda odd that the cories would be dying when the apistos are thriving.

[mrbigisbudgood]

I just jumped on to see if anyone has seen a Cory turn more pink than normal and get all lethargic. He didn't get excited like normal when I came to the tank to feed today. I've had him for a year and he'd always been healthy. Odd that it seems like alot of other people are having trouble with them too. :(

Any ideas.....OnionGirl....anyone?

[travelinman1969]

I just put in 2 small corys last week, from petsmart, in my 10 gallon and no problems. What's the water values. I run mine about 6.8 and 80 alkalinity (acidic). My fish are doing fine. I got one I bought about 3 months ago, at the time he was about MAYBE 1/2 inch, he is now an inch. He is in my 5 gallon with 4 neons and 3 platties. I have a total of 5 and haven't seen any of these problems. I have had the 2 albinos for more than a year in the 10 gallon and seemed that they were overworked so I added the 2 new ones.

[yhbae]

For me, they only died within a week. Once they get past this stage, they are super-hardy. I guess they are more senditive to transportation than most other species.

Even the blue rams survived on me...