One of my corys died today

[Anne L.]

So one of my 3 corys was dying today when I got home after work. He was floating upside down at the top of the tank, but was still breathing and trying to move.

I took him out and he was in really bad shape so I used the freezer method to euthanize him.

What could have happened? I did a water change yesterday like before and I know I did suck one of the cories up into the gravel siphon, but only about an inch or so. I don't know if it was the one that died or not.

There's always been one of the cories that didn't stay with the other two and I think it was him.

Water tests are fine, and all of the other fish seem fine. I got the three of them about 2 weeks ago from Walmart (I know, but they were the nicest fish around at the time).

What happened? :sad

[Anne L.]

Anyone?

[tomm10]

Its hard to guess at what could be the culprit if there were no visible signs of disease. With Wal-mart fish its not out of the realm of possibility that he was sick. I doubt the vacuum incident was the cause. If it had harmed him its likely that it would have given him a sore or a bruise that would have taken a while to show.

You mentioned he got sucked up an inch or so. Do you mean he made it past the siphon into the rubber hose and inch?

How distressed was he? Cories are sort of whacky and will sometimes cruise the surface upside down and do other weird things.

I don't really have any good ideas here, just thought I'd give you the bump.

Tom

[Anne L.]

Tomm10, he didn't make it past the siphon, he only went up into the siphon an inch or so.

He was definitely on his way out. We netted him out of the tank into a small bowl with some tank water and watched for a while. He didn't move, but lay on his side at the bottom gasping for air. He also seemed to have a few faint red marks on his underside.

This guy was the one who always seemed to be off on his own, and was never as active as the other 2 corys. So maybe he was sick from the get go.

The two other corys are active and just fine this morning. I'm going to leave them be for a while and see if anything else happens to the other fish before I restock another cory.

Poor little fishie.

[tomm10]

Not sure about the red marks. Sounds like he may have been sick before you got him. I would keep a real close eye on the other two and I wouldn't put anything else in there for a few weeks. It could take 3-4 or even more weeks for symtoms of disease to show up in the remaining 2 so play it safe.

Tom

[Anne L.]

Yes, I'm going to watch the fish carefully and not add anything for quite a while.

Will the 2 cories be happy together without a 3rd one? I know that 3 or more are a better idea, but the two I have seem to school and hang together anyway.

They have always been more active than the one who died, so hopefully they'll be ok.

Thanks for your help.

[tomm10]

They'd be better with at least one or two more of their kind in the tank but I think its more important at this point to make sure they're okay. They are the only ones in the tank, right?

Tom

[Anne L.]

No, I've actually got 4 harlequin rasboras and 3 glowlight tetras in there, too.

So I'm hoping no one else gets sick.

[tomm10]

Even more reason to monitor before adding another fish. Definitely keep close tabs on the rest but you'll probably be ok.

Tom

[Anne L.]

Yeah, I'm a little worried about the rest of the fish, but all I can do is keep a close eye on them and cross my fingers.

Would the water change have anything to do with it? I know that I put water conditioner in it and brought the temp up to the tank temp before adding it. I've only done this once before as the tank is fairly new, but I can't imagine why that would hurt the cories.

The tank is fully cycled, using the fishless method.

I guess crap happens.

[shewlett]

Check this web site out: http://www.corydoras.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/
This guy is really into corydoras catfish. His email address is ian@corycats.com and he does answer emails. He will want to know what species of corydoras you have. Even though the fish is gone it might be worthwhile trying to find out what did him in so you can be prepared if the problem resurfaces.

[Anne L.]

Hey, thanks, shewlett! I'll keep that website in mind if I have any more problems. Might be good to have a look in on it anyway; sounds interesting.

[tomm10]

Originally posted by Anne L.
Yeah, I'm a little worried about the rest of the fish, but all I can do is keep a close eye on them and cross my fingers.

Would the water change have anything to do with it? I know that I put water conditioner in it and brought the temp up to the tank temp before adding it. I've only done this once before as the tank is fairly new, but I can't imagine why that would hurt the cories.

The tank is fully cycled, using the fishless method.

I guess crap happens.

If you matched the temps and put water conditioner in the new water, really the only thing that would kill him (outside of weird foreign chemicals beingin the water) from a water change would be a pH swing. In reality though, a pH swing would cause all of your fish distress.

My guess is the fish was just sick to start. That's not hard to believe from a Wal-Mart fish. Sometimes stuff does just happen. I lost a pand a cory a couple of months ago...and I mean LOST. He was there one day and gone the next. Just vanished. I'm sure there's a logical explanation, I just don't know it :p

[Anne L.]

Tomm10, I checked the pH level as well on my tank, and it hasn't budged.

So I guess he was just sick. The other 2 little guys and all other fish are just fine tonight.

That's weird about your panda cory. Could one of your other fish have (gulp) eaten him? I know, bad pun, huh?

[tomm10]

Originally posted by Anne L.
That's weird about your panda cory. Could one of your other fish have (gulp) eaten him? I know, bad pun, huh?

Nope. The largest fish I had in there was a danio so there's no way he was gulped. My only explanation is he died and the rest of the fish and shrimp did away with his remains expediently. Either that or UFOs abducted him. :D

Tom

[tawnylane]

Tom

I too had a fish (long fin danio) just disappear. Actually had another one 'disappear' and spent about 20 mins SEARCHING the tank for it. Finally saw a little 'twitch' in this cheap plastic dusty miller that came with the tank. Poor danio had tried to swim through this very dense, not too flexible, medium leaf plant and got STUCK!! Had to reach in and spread the stems and away he went. Been about a week and all is fine. I fully expect to maybe find some remains of the first danio when I finally take out that plant:)

Just a strange little story...

Tonya