Maybe ask your landlord if the building has a water softener.. that may be the problem.. either way, maybe place some limestone gravel in the tank to help build up a pH buffer.
Cory in Trouble! Help please.
- Thread starter alli13zeal
- Start date
I have problems with my ph coming out of my faucet extremely low. To remedy this, and the lack of hardness in my water (ph buffer), I've added about a 1/2 cup of crushed coral to my filter. Be sure to add this gradually, as it will bump your ph up if it is already low. You can add it in a little mesh bag (or unused nylon stocking) in the filter itself so that the water is forced to run over it (this will absorb the calcium).
Secondly, you have to make sure (as chunkoblue pointed out) that any water added during WCs does not cause a fluctuation (even a "small" fluctuation can traumatize your fish and lead to disease or worse). What I do is fill a bucket at close to the appropriate temperature, add my dechlorinator, then add 0.5 tsp of baking soda (not powder, as this has other things in it aside from sodium bicarbonate!) -- this will raise the ph level. 0.5 is what I came up with as that brings a 5 gal bucket to 7, which is where I keep my tank (that's where my current crushed coral load evens out to). I let this sit while I vacuum the tank (good to have a 2nd bucket!), then put the new water in. With this method I have had no ph fluctuations in abt 2 months. It's a bit more of a pain, but you get used to it, and it's worth it to keep the fishies happy.
I've had terrible luck with cories sadly, so I won't offer you advice on that front. But that is definitely its "death throws" that swim you described. I know it all too well
-zt.
Secondly, you have to make sure (as chunkoblue pointed out) that any water added during WCs does not cause a fluctuation (even a "small" fluctuation can traumatize your fish and lead to disease or worse). What I do is fill a bucket at close to the appropriate temperature, add my dechlorinator, then add 0.5 tsp of baking soda (not powder, as this has other things in it aside from sodium bicarbonate!) -- this will raise the ph level. 0.5 is what I came up with as that brings a 5 gal bucket to 7, which is where I keep my tank (that's where my current crushed coral load evens out to). I let this sit while I vacuum the tank (good to have a 2nd bucket!), then put the new water in. With this method I have had no ph fluctuations in abt 2 months. It's a bit more of a pain, but you get used to it, and it's worth it to keep the fishies happy.
I've had terrible luck with cories sadly, so I won't offer you advice on that front. But that is definitely its "death throws" that swim you described. I know it all too well
-zt.
What Zanytomato is doing sounds easier than keeping water stored in the apartment. Once your tank has finished it's cycle, you won't be doing so many water changes on the tank so your work will go down. Seems there's a lot of us struggling with cories right now. Where I live there's not much selection. I want to move my albino cories over to another tank. I have two of the same cories you have out of about 8 that I purchased a few months ago. I'd like a group of 6, they just got another shipment in so I got 5 more knowing some were already dying the day they arrived at the store. They are in a QT tank since Friday night. Three have died. I'm medicating the tank with the hopes that the last 2 will survive. They are supposed to be a hardy cory, but that's not what I'm seeing. I never had this kind of trouble with my albino cories. If these don't make it, there's a private fish store about an hour away from my home...I'll ask him to special order me some and see if that goes any better.
just my 2 cents but cories are really sensitive to nitrates and when those get to high then they end up with barbel damage which results in them not feeding which results in them laying around not doing much and then eventually dieing (whether its from high nitrates or starvation or both). Thats what happened to my 3 skunk cories and they all died and i couldn't figure out why other then the fact that i noticed they had like no barbels left. So i did some info. on them and i found out they were really sensitive to nitrates!
Erin - Allison's tank isn't fully cycled yet, she's showing some ammonia and very little nitrates.
Corys do extremely poorly through a cycling tank...
They are highly suscpetable to ammonia and nitrItes specifically.
They tend to be a very hardy fish once established, but their intolerance for ammonia/nitrItes is well known.
The symptoms that you have described are common to Corys suffering through a cycling tank.
NOT a good fish to cycle with unfortunately
They are highly suscpetable to ammonia and nitrItes specifically.
They tend to be a very hardy fish once established, but their intolerance for ammonia/nitrItes is well known.
The symptoms that you have described are common to Corys suffering through a cycling tank.
NOT a good fish to cycle with unfortunately
Yeah I found that out pretty soon after I purchased them. The lady at the store I got them from knew that it was a new tank, but said that corys are "pretty hardy" but failed to mention that they are not so hardy for cycling. At this point I'm starting to feel like I should maybe take them back and just try to do the fishless cycle (well I have some plants so I guess it would be different). I think at this point the problems are at least partially related to the pH since nitrites are zilch and ammonia is either practically zero or zero (i.e. after a water change). And right now my nitrates are only 5 (which is from the tap water so I don't know if this will be a problem for keeping corys even once the tank is cycled.
Either way I am going to try to find & buy a GH/KH testing kit today, hopefully API.
And thank you so much for all the replies... I really hate not knowing how to make them feel comfortable! Seems like the best option might be to just return them.. Do you guys agree?
Either way I am going to try to find & buy a GH/KH testing kit today, hopefully API.
And thank you so much for all the replies... I really hate not knowing how to make them feel comfortable! Seems like the best option might be to just return them.. Do you guys agree?
Just a little money saving tip... zanytomato recommended crushed coral, which is the same thing as limestone (Calcium carbonate), so either will work.. Limestone would be the cheaper option if you can just scoop some up off the shoulder of a road (free! Just make sure that it is in fact limestone). Crush it with a hammer to increase surface area so it can dissolve more readily.
As for returning the fish... retest your water, if the ammonia and nitrites are zero I don't think it would be necessary.. just add the coral or limestone. If you do see ammonia and nitrites then it might not be a bad idea.
As for returning the fish... retest your water, if the ammonia and nitrites are zero I don't think it would be necessary.. just add the coral or limestone. If you do see ammonia and nitrites then it might not be a bad idea.
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Where would I get the coral or limestone? Do pet stores usually carry it or is it something I would get from home depot or something?
Pet store should have crushed coral.. Many gravel roads are made from limestone depending on where you are. If in doubt whether or not it is limestone, the crushed coral is a sure thing.
