Caswal Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 Hi all, Got up this morning, checked the tank and one of my 4 sterbais was dead at the bottom of the tank. I added 2 on the 7th and 2 on the 11th. They had all looked happy. Tested the water, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrates, ph 7.8 (which it always is).I removed the fish and it looked fine. No marks, spots, etc. Should I be worried, was it a dud? Unfortunately I'm out all day today. So hopefully all is well until I get back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJWooble Posted April 23, 2016 Report Share Posted April 23, 2016 How odd Your pH is quite high for corys. Better for it to be stable than to be messing with it with e.g. pH up/pH down imo but adding driftwood and things like IAL, oak leaves or peat can help lower this naturally. If its what is coming out of your tap you may want to keep a barrel for water changes and leave it to age/pH to lower for a few days if you were wanting to get this down. Also, you say 0 nitrates-- when did you last do a water change? Nitrates are the ones that can't be broken down and generally build up to levels of ~20 over the course of a week unless you have really low stocking and/or lots of plants. It could be that the tank isn't cycled properly and so isn't producing nitrates-- in which case I'd get your nitrites tested-- or it could be that the nitrate test failed-- if its the aqua one one they're a pain with the amount of shaking you have to do so it's not uncommon, so maybe try doing the test a few more times to be sure. It's also possible that the fish just had something random going on with it/had internal issues e.g. parasites. Have you noticed whether any of them don't eat, or eat heaps but seem a bit skinny? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caswal Posted April 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2016 Sorry was in a rush and in my phone, I meant 0 nitrites and 0 ammonia. I cycled the tank for a month and then stocked it with 5 tetras. After cycling/adding fish I have never seen any levels of ammonia or nitrites. Nitrates have not been over 20ppm, but didn't have time to test it this morning. The ph always sits at 7.8 from the tap and left in the tank. Testing the water from the local fish shop it's 7.4. I'll leave a bucket of it out, but I doubt it'll drop. I have 5 tetras in the tank, and the others all seam fine. Eating etc. I saw the other 3 Cory's eating from a food pellet I gave them last night. I do have a co2 generator (fermentor) rigged to the tank. But that hasn't nudged the ph down. (wasn't the aim, just wanted some carbon for the plants) JJWooble 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJWooble Posted April 23, 2016 Report Share Posted April 23, 2016 Ah cool, just thought it was worth checking Hmmm could be the CO2 -- it not nudging the pH down I /think/ indicates that it's not at a very high level tho? I've never dosed CO2 so have very little knowledge in this area. It would be worth looking into how corys respond to CO2 tho. Have you noticed them going up for air very often? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caswal Posted April 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2016 Only the usual dash to refill their bladder/intestine thing they have. No more than before I added the co2. I also assume that as the ph hasn't changed, the co2 is still pretty low. I'll do a 20% water change tonight, they are about due. JJWooble 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caswal Posted April 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2016 The 3 corys are super skittish after their buddy died. I probably need to get 1 or 2 more to keep them happy and with company. How long until yours are ready JJWooble? Or are you not willing to ship them?One does have a white spot infront of its dorsal fin ontop of it's body. But whether it always had that, and my paranoia has made me notice, or it's a missing scale. I'll keep an eye on it, and it was happily eating last night.I do love watching the corys, they are more like little fish dog spaniels, foraging around etc. JJWooble 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJWooble Posted April 24, 2016 Report Share Posted April 24, 2016 Still a few months I think, they haven't gotten their adult colouring yet and are still quite small. I moved them to a bigger grow out yesterday and changed what I'm feeding them so hopefully that will help with growth rate. Happy to ship them if you still want some at that stage.Hmm white as in fluffy/slimy at all or just a different colour/depression in the scales? It's frustrating when you can't figure out what's wrong. I had an issue about a year ago where two died after swimming weirdly. I never really figured out exactly why, but I removed one of the rocks and suspect that it had something in it that was leaching into the water Everyone else has been fine since then though. They are the cutest fish, I have never regretted getting my group. They are so cool to watch on sand with their sifting behaviour too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishluva Posted April 24, 2016 Report Share Posted April 24, 2016 Cory's are cool alright.i like their attitude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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