Mysterious sterbai cory death

[msjinkzd]

One of the sterbai's in my 36g died today and I have no idea why.
36g corner bowfrong planted with:
2 honey gourami
4 (previously 5) sterbai cory
1 brochis splendens
2m/3f cherry barbs
9 cardinal tetras
4 neon tetras
countless cherry shrimp

all parameters are good 0 ammo, 0 trite, barely detectable trate (lots of moss and hornwort), ph 7.8 temp 79-80

There were no marks on the fish and it was in good condition. Ate last night, floating today. No new additions to the tank for months. I have had them probably 4 or 5 months now (they are the most recent additions). Any ideas?

 

[Sploke]

I told you this before, but I recently lost about a half dozen cories for unknown reasons. No signs of sickness or anything, they would just turn up dead one day. I only have one left, looks good, eats, nice long barbels, not sure if I want to try restocking them or not given my past luck with them.

 

[irishspy]

Any ideas?

First thing I wondered about was old age. Did you hatch these yourself, or do you have any idea how old they are? It's possible it had some internal ailment unrelated to anything you've done. Are the others showing any sign of distress?

 

[msjinkzd]

These were pretty close to full grown when i bought them, so I dont' really know how old they are but they were tank raised so I would hope they have a life span of longer than 1 year. All of the other cories, and all the other fish, are all doing just fine. Active and eating.

 

[fishorama]

I'm sorry msj. You've had them for a while haven't you? I hate mystery deaths. I talked to a lfs guy about cory deaths. He's tried treating for parasites & bacterial infections but it doesn't seem to work for some bad batches. Sometimes it's more gradual losses, what seems normal or only sightly more.

I was surprised that even though we hear how easy some are to breed, almost all corys sold are still wild caught. I had thought the more ordinary species were farmed.

 

[msjinkzd]

These were sold to my LFS from a local breeder and they were in the LFS for some time as they were a bit pricey for cories. I got them I think about 5 months ago and they have been spawning and everything... I am apprehensive about treating for anything in the tank when there are no symptoms. guess its a waiting game at this point to see if anyone else gets sick/dies.

 

[irishspy]

I am apprehensive about treating for anything in the tank when there are no symptoms. guess its a waiting game at this point to see if anyone else gets sick/dies.

Waiting and observing is the best course right now. Without any symptoms, medicating would be just rolling the dice.

 

[mozart]

Sorry to hear about your fish. I've had an occasional fish death for no apparent reason. At least it didn't suffer. One day I found a scrap of one of my zebra danio's skin on the bottom of the tank!

 

[pinkertd]

Sorry jinkzd!! I agree with irishspy. Just wait and observe. Sometimes we forget that occasionally a seemingly healthy fish will up and die. We have no idea what's going on with their internal organs. I figure sometimes just like people they can get weak hearts or something like that.