Keeping cories alive

I lose more corys than I keep. This is true. And mine have been purchased from here there and everywhere. Various species and types including bronze, albino, panda, skunk, peppered and schwartz; all kept in numerous conditions. I have yet to see a single cory last a year in any of my tanks. And mind you, I am no novice.

I feel their reputation for being hardy is not well deserved. I have put less hardy fish through more stress than any cory I have ever had and they did very well. Otocinclus, harlequin rasboras, and rams - all species claimed to be sensitive and moderately challenging have done fabulously in my tanks with little to no special attention.

So as long as you are doing everything right and most of your other fish are doing well, I would relax and consider the idea that the cory reputation for hardiness is actually bunk and you aren't at fault.

But still, I am not giving up on corys. I have a school of schwartziis in my 55g right now and I will keep replacing them as needed. So far i still have 9 of the original 13. We'll see how it goes.
 
Sorry for the double post...weird :(
 
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Personally I'm thinking originating stock, stress of shipping and an Acclimation issue.

The first 2 issues aside, with a pH of 7.8, I would not be suprised if the originating water conditions were not well below this. Even if kept at a pH of 7.0, coupled with the stress of shipping, the acclimation should take place over a 12 hour period (minimum), 24 hours would be ideal...

*I always ask any LFS what their water chemistry is when purchasing fish.

Once established, it is my experience that they are extremely hardy, but I will conceed that they do very poorly in environments of high pH, or in the presence of ammonia/nitrItes.

I keep all of my tanks at the following (FYI):
Temp: 86
pH 7.2
nitrAtes 10-20ppm
Main: weekly 50% WCs
Food: 2x wkly Wafers / 3x wkly flakes with 1 shrimp pellet per adult (1/2 per juv)

Just my experience.

EDIT: For full disclosure, I have lost 3 Cories (2 due to cycling tanks before I knew what I was doing) and 1 from an unknown (lonelyness?) - They were all albino bronze (sp. aeneus)
 
echoofformless said:
I lose more corys than I keep. This is true. And mine have been purchased from here there and everywhere. Various species and types including bronze, albino, panda, skunk, peppered and schwartz; all kept in numerous conditions. I have yet to see a single cory last a year in any of my tanks.
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I also agree with this. I love cories, and just have never "ever" had any luck with them, and I have been keeping fish for many years. One of my dreams is to set up a dedicated tank just for cories.

I have found a great website and forum dedicated to the catfish. Check it out.

Michele

http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/
 
Carp37, the tank runs about 76-78.

As for the petstore pH, I don't know about the first one but the local Petsmart is much closer to 7 or 7.2. They are on city water and we have a well. So different water sources entirely.

Ct-death, how would one acclimate for 12-24 hours? Sorry, I'm just not visualizing the actual technique. I have done both drip acclimation (but only for a couple hours) and just adding small bits of water to the bag. I would worry about the drip acclimation not staying warm enough (particularly if done overnight as our house get quite cold--wood heat, sleeping people means no one tends the fire). Can you tell me your procedure?

Still have 3 living this morning, in fact they actually looked happier than previously. They were all foraging around when I first looked at them.


Carol
 
Most don't do this, and 12 hours to acclimate is a bit overkill, but if introducing fish from a pH dramatically different then your own it is a good idea.

A pH from 7.2 to 7.8 isn't too bad, and would really wouldn't warrant this type of procedure imho. When getting a breeding pair from a well establish tank and introducing them into a community tank this is where the pH is often different by a large margin and this is used. Typically the process involves a float with an airstone and a drip over night.

Personally, I have very good sucess keep and introducing Cories, so perhaps my own technique may help?

I have a thin tupperware bowl with a lid that has a snap shut "hole". I float this in my tank, add a airline or airstone, and drip existing tank water into the whole over 4-6 hours (until the bowl begins to submerge). Remeber I have a sealed lid, so no water is crossed over into the tank. I net them out at this point and introduce them into a QT for 4 weeks, and then after this introduce them to my tnak of choice (which I match the QT to).
 
I must be lucky, I had five out of six make it fine and all I do is float the bag. :eek3:
 
lovemybarbs said:
I must be lucky, I had five out of six make it fine and all I do is float the bag. :eek3:
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That's all I ever did with any of my fish, didn't lose a single one to transfer stress.

Later stupidity on my part, on the other hand....:rolleyes:
 
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