Hello Everyone,
Our 55-Gallon tank finished cycling about 2 months ago and we added six(6) Corydoras Aeneus. A week later we added four(4) Lapidochromis Caeruleus and four(4) Microgeophagus Ramirezi. After about a week an a half all of the inhabitants of the tank appeared to be getting along just fine. We then decided to add four(4) Pseudotropheus Demasoni. All fish in the tank were 1" - 1.5" in size when addedd to the tank.
A week ago we noticed that one of the Corys was not active, but just laying on a plant leaf. Upon closer examination we found that his tail fin was almost completely gone along with portions of his dorsal fin. We removed him from the tank an put him in a quarrantine tank that we have set up. Three(3) days later, we found another Cory in the same spot with nearly all of his tail fin gone. We thought it might be fin rot disease at first, but none of the other fish showed any signs of losing fins then, or now.
We assumed (but never saw) that the corys were getting nipped at by the newest inhabitants (Demasonis). We removed all of the Corys from the tank(55G) and found that three(3) of the six(6) had some form of fin damage. All three(3) of them died we suspect from the shock of being chased and nipped at. The three(3) that died also happended to be the ones that have grown the least since we purchased them. The other three(3) are not as active in the smaller (5-gallon) tank as they were in the large tank. They are eating and they look ok, but they are not darting around as they did in the larger tank. I wanted to let them grow some more in the small tank and then place them back in the larger tank hoping that with more size, they might be better able to defend themselves better.
Are we taking the right course of action? We are open to any and all suggestions to help me to save these fish and keep them healthy. We were told that we could keep Corys with the other inhabitants of the tank. Is there anyone else who is successfully keeping this combination of fish in a community tank? Thanks in advance for all of you help.
Our 55-Gallon tank finished cycling about 2 months ago and we added six(6) Corydoras Aeneus. A week later we added four(4) Lapidochromis Caeruleus and four(4) Microgeophagus Ramirezi. After about a week an a half all of the inhabitants of the tank appeared to be getting along just fine. We then decided to add four(4) Pseudotropheus Demasoni. All fish in the tank were 1" - 1.5" in size when addedd to the tank.
A week ago we noticed that one of the Corys was not active, but just laying on a plant leaf. Upon closer examination we found that his tail fin was almost completely gone along with portions of his dorsal fin. We removed him from the tank an put him in a quarrantine tank that we have set up. Three(3) days later, we found another Cory in the same spot with nearly all of his tail fin gone. We thought it might be fin rot disease at first, but none of the other fish showed any signs of losing fins then, or now.
We assumed (but never saw) that the corys were getting nipped at by the newest inhabitants (Demasonis). We removed all of the Corys from the tank(55G) and found that three(3) of the six(6) had some form of fin damage. All three(3) of them died we suspect from the shock of being chased and nipped at. The three(3) that died also happended to be the ones that have grown the least since we purchased them. The other three(3) are not as active in the smaller (5-gallon) tank as they were in the large tank. They are eating and they look ok, but they are not darting around as they did in the larger tank. I wanted to let them grow some more in the small tank and then place them back in the larger tank hoping that with more size, they might be better able to defend themselves better.
Are we taking the right course of action? We are open to any and all suggestions to help me to save these fish and keep them healthy. We were told that we could keep Corys with the other inhabitants of the tank. Is there anyone else who is successfully keeping this combination of fish in a community tank? Thanks in advance for all of you help.