CodKing Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Hello all, I bought some Corys off a chap from here last week. When I got them home I tested their water as they are typically kept around pH6 or below and my water comes out @ 8. Sure enough the water was around pH6 and very soft. I had some water that was soft and stable at around 7.8 with a mature filter, low light and lots of cover. I introduced the new water over a few of hours (I'd say 3ish) and eventually in they went. They seemed to be a bit stressed but it all looked normal. They sat together in a group under a log and moved around every so often. After 24 hours or so they started to zip up and down the glass like proper stressed fish do. I was concerned the pH swing might have been a bit steep so I got myself some Seachem pH7 regulator and dosed my display tank. Once it was stable, I slowly introduced the buffered water to their quarantine tank over about 4 or 5 hours and then plonked them in. I figured if they are going to be stressed they may as well do it in the big tank surrounded by lots of lovely plant life! A week and two days later and these fish are still losing it. Day and night, they are still up and down the glass like crazy. Temp, pH, hardness, and Ca are all very stable (loving the Seachem product btw!). Does anyone have any idea why they might be so freaked out? Was the initial pH shift just too much? I have been feeding sinking algae wafers and some of it seems to be getting consumed but not a lot. Any ideas would be super, I feel so bad for them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovmoller Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Day and night, they are still up and down the glass like crazy. Sounds like normal corys to me :slfg: No in all seriousness I reckon its normal... Mine go through periods where they do that.. especially after WC's.. Maybe they are just establishing where their new boundaries are :sml2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodKing Posted March 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Really? :happy2: Joy! I hope you're right. I thought they would have settled by now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Cory's are very active wee fella's mine do things like that all the time. I'm sure they're fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodKing Posted March 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 I hear you on that but there's 'active' and 'crazy'. Maybe I'll get a vid of them tomorrow morning, see what ya'll think then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Look for eggs when they do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfishybuisness Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Look for eggs when they do that. agreed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Very normal behaviour from cory. My sterbais are like that most of the time and even more so when they are breeding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 After 24 hours or so they started to zip up and down the glass like proper stressed fish do. Oh no, they're swimming around madly like cories, something must be...Oh, wait, they're cories... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 :slfg: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodKing Posted March 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Eggs, after being chucked in a new tank? They get that comfortable that quickly? Here's hoping that's what it is. I've been looking at an awful lot of cory videos and I'm not seeing any doing what mine are. If I wasn't at stinky work I'd be posting one :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwan Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 I saw these guys last week and they did look a bit more "skitz" than any other cories I've had or seen. Didn't even think about them breeding but it could be possible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodKing Posted March 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI5SvU-zIq4&feature=g-upl&context=G203be89AUAAAAAAAAAA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 That looks normal to me. Mine do that at times, Especially when they are about to or during spawning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodKing Posted March 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Thanks for all the input. Hopefully they are just randy fish. Would be nice if they spawned before any egg/fry hungry species went in! :thup: When I got home last night they were all chilled out. It was great to see them sit still for a min. After about 20mins they fired up again. :nilly: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcmillanm Posted March 7, 2012 Report Share Posted March 7, 2012 Most of my cories (particularly the sterbai & smudge ones) freeze if they think they are being watched. I almost have to pretend I'm looking at another fish before they unfreeze & go back to what they were doing LOL. I hope yours turn out to be fine. I've heard colder water temps (simulating the onset of the wet season) encourage them to spawn... :thup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stacey cunningham Posted March 7, 2012 Report Share Posted March 7, 2012 :slfg: you basically have a breeding group of corys they will just be doing there thing nothing to worry about i have 20 odd maybe more in mine and they all act like that and breed regularly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodKing Posted March 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2012 Hope you're right. I've seen plenty of fish doing just this out of stress. And to go on for 10 days, not to mention barely eating... All I can do is wait... :spop: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovmoller Posted March 7, 2012 Report Share Posted March 7, 2012 Saw your video.. Yep that is a nice bunch of randy as Sterbais you've got there. They look perfectly happy and healthy to me. And that tank is looking so good now by the way. :thup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodKing Posted March 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2012 Groovy 8) Thanks! I'll be doing a proper photo update when I get off work tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodKing Posted March 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Update on my crazy Corys. They are still crazy. One of them has a hurt nose, probably from hitting the glass so much. No eggs or wrigglers to be seen and I've be watching like a hawk. Starting to wonder if it's the sand, although they seem to be able to sift it okay. I will try rehousing them with some more conventional sand to try and eliminate it. It would be a nightmare if it was :facepalm: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcmillanm Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 I'm sorry to hear they still don't appear quite right. I have gravel with mine and they are also fine forraging around on that as well as higher up on plants when they think you aren't looking. Why do you think your sand is a problem - is it sharp? Are all your other fish ok? :dunno: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodKing Posted March 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 It feels okay, I'm really just going through the list of things in the aquarium. The sand feels okay to me, although not super smooth it doesn't feel sharp. When they sift through it it flows nicely. I'd feel better if I can eliminate it from what ever is causing the stress. The only other fish that are in there are the two Bolivian Rams and they went in this weekend. They have settled in nicely. They went in on Saturday avo and by this morning their colour was back to normal and they were staking their claim in the middle of the tank. One improvement I did see from the Corys was a bit of eating. They all had a go at an algae wafer. Although after a few hours it was only, at best 1/3 eaten. After 2 weeks I would have thought they would be ploughing into the food. I got some frozen "Fishy Dinner" or something like that, (crushed shrimp, bloodworms etc) but not much interest was shown. Don't blame them really, it looks terrible. My goldfish trio love it though. I'll have a go at bloodworms this week, every fish loves bloodworms! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcmillanm Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 How long as the sand been in there and is it a thick layer? I had quite a few problems with my tank last year with my live bearers dying for no apparent reason. After some advice from helpful member on here I gutted the tank and chucked the sand (which admittedly smelt but this could have been the cooked snails LOL). Out of personal taste and now a distrust of sand (and the bacteria that can live in it) I've gone back to pebbles that are large enough for me to give a good poke at and dig around with the syphon. My 10 sterbais were ok through this mind but unlike yours were really timid and rarely seen whereas now they are often out and about. This probably isn't what's wrong with your tank but worth a mention if temp, ph ammonia etc are fine. Good luck with them settling down as they are :nfs: . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodKing Posted March 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Thanks dude. The substrate is JBL Aquabasis Plus between 2 and 4cm with the sand at around the same depth on top of that. I tried to keep the greatest overall depth below 8cm. It was boiled for about an hour before it was washed with straight then conditioned tap water. The tank has had water in it for a bit less than a month so shouldn't be anything freaky going on (yet). I'll give them till the end of this week and move them if they are still nutting out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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