Cory Cat's Dying

[Roan Art]

Just to mention it. If your sand substrate is kinda sharp it wouldn't be too out of character for a cory to cut it's barbels off while scrounging around. Once that happens the wounded area could then become a breeding ground for bacteria leading to fish death. I can't say that this is what happened, but it is possible.

This is entirely untrue. I've kept my cories in Flourite for ages and they have *never* hurt their barbels.

Bad water conditions cause barbel damage, not rough substrate.

Roan

 

[Roan Art]

Rockbellab,

Are you STILL using that bottled water? I thought we went through all this with your oscars.

What's going on?

Roan

 

[TKOS]

This is entirely untrue. I've kept my cories in Flourite for ages and they have *never* hurt their barbels.

Bad water conditions cause barbel damage, not rough substrate.

Roan

I agree with Roan here. I use sharp peastone gravel and my cories have never had any problems, after many years. Most fish aren't silly enough to rub their faces on substarte hard enough to wear down their whiskers.

 

[New2Fishees]

no the sand in my tank is super fine ... soft .... wouldn't damage the barbels like that. There is nothing sharp in the tank .... I made sure of that because I researched the types of fish I wanted to add prior to making a decision on the substrate and decor for my tank. ......

And the danios don't seem to bother any of the fish ... I have 7 of them .... small variety : Zebras, Spotted and White. They seem to just keep to their own kind .... chasing and having fun. They totally leave the other fish alone. No sign of fin damage on any of the fish in the tank. Plus ... they are a LOT smaller than any other fish in the tank ..... so they seem to keep to themselves.

I am just wondering if my cories had damaged barbels when I got them and I just really didn't notice since these were the first ones that I have ever had?? .... and then they starved? Don't they need their barbels to 'sense' food in the tank?? Or am I wrong?????

 

[aquarob]

This is entirely untrue. I've kept my cories in Flourite for ages and they have *never* hurt their barbels.

Bad water conditions cause barbel damage, not rough substrate.

Roan

This is an incorrect statement. Certain substrates can and will damage bottom feeders. A good example that comes to mind is "Black Beauty". Basically, its iron slag and, if you have ever tried to wash it, you know it will cut you if you try to use your bare hand to stir it. Most of the time, the substrate isnt the concern but saying rough substrate will not cause damage to bottom feeders in a blanket statement like that simply isnt the case.

 

[Roan Art]

This is an incorrect statement. Certain substrates can and will damage bottom feeders. A good example that comes to mind is "Black Beauty". Basically, its iron slag and, if you have ever tried to wash it, you know it will cut you if you try to use your bare hand to stir it. Most of the time, the substrate isnt the concern but saying rough substrate will not cause damage to bottom feeders in a blanket statement like that simply isnt the case.

I said rough, not cutting. I suppose you would call a serrated knife rough?

Why would you put that stuff in your tank anyhow? Seems to me any fish rooting the bottom would get hurt on that and lot of fish that are not bottom feeders *do* root the bottom.

Roan

 

[TKOS]

As per the orginal post, this really seems like an uncycled tank problem and cories don't do well in uncycled tanks. It isn't a substrate issue. Stress of a move probably didn't help.

 

[Roan Art]

As per the orginal post, this really seems like an uncycled tank problem and cories don't do well in uncycled tanks. It isn't a substrate issue. Stress of a move probably didn't help.

You're right, TKOS. Keep to the subject at hand. My apologies for hijacking.

Roan

 

[TKOS]

Sorry Roan, it is a good discussion. I just don't think brining myths about sharp sand up is a good idea either. We aren't talking about extreme substrates. You are right about rough versus sharp.

 

[rockbellab]

Update:
My Cory Cat's are doing much better. The water changes to get the salt out of the tank saved the rest of them and they are now thriving. They really do like to eat, almost as much as my Oscars. All I can figure is they couldn't tolerate the salt. The tank was cycled so thats not it. I also had major problems with the sand in the tank. It killed three filters and it developed a terrible smell over the week or so it was in the tank. I cleaned it out last week and put in small pebbles. The Cory's seem to like it really well. The remaining seven (who are healthy, happy and active) have been joined by three more Sterbai. Now I have 3 Spotted, 3 Bronze, 4 Sterbai and a Juli (he was apparently mixed in with the spotted and I didn't realize he wasn't a spotted for a while). I guess I will have to try to find more Juli's (they don't carry them at my local LFS). Anyway, everything is going great now. Thanks for all the responses. I was so busy trying to fix my problem that I didn't realize so many people had offered more advice. Thanks everyone.
Bridget