Here, they were placed in a 128 liter tank, together with 5 CW-06. With so many big cories (I count brochises as cories), I've been giving them very frequent water changes, 50 % several times a week. The water has been stored for a day before filling it into the tank, mostly because the water needs a lower PH, but also because I then can use cold water, and let the air heat it for me during the night/day. I use oak bark extract to lower the PH. I don't add anything else to the water, as there's no clorine in the water here.
Well, the story about my multiradiatuses started well, but it didn't last. One by one they started dying. Not all at the same time, but slowly, one by one. The last one died last wednesday.
I can find no reason why they all died. The tank was a bit small, but I really kept up with water changes. I tested the water frequently (liquid test, pretty new ones, so they were not out of date either), to find if anything were wrong - whether the bioload was too big for the filter and the size of the tank. I could find nothing wrong. Nitrite and ammonia was 0. Nitrates, I can't actually remember, but probably not higher than 20 (I am keeping a lot of puffers, and they must have nitrates below 20, so I always get worried if anything is higher). So the filtration seemed to keep up with the bioload, and my water changes kept up with the nitrates. I changed the filtration during this period (from internal to external filter, with both running together in the tank until the external was well cycled). The tank is now filtrated by an Eheim Pro 2224, which really should be enough. The PH has been on 7 or a little lower. I've checked that the water in the tank and the water that is stored for the water changes has been the same. The KH is low, about 2, so it can be a little unstable PH. But I've never seen anything but a stable PH when I've been testing the water. BTW, the GH is 3-4. While I was using internal filters, I used the diffusor, to be sure about the oxygen level would be enough. After changing to an external filter, I had to rely on the little movement on the surface to make enough oxygen. I don't have many plants either, mostly because the tank lacks lights (the tank doesn't have a cover yet, and that prevents me from putting a light on top of it. But it does get some daylight from the windows in the room). But the fishes started dying before I changed the filter.
There was no visible sign on the fishes that could tell me that they were ill. The only thing is that a few of them seemed a little thin - but not all of them. They just got calmer and stopped eating before dying. At feeding time, they came around, looking for the food, but they didn't eat it. At the time I found a thin fish dead, I tried to give them a cure against IPs, using Flubenol 15. That thing usually works very well. I've also tried medicating them against bacterial infection (First Esha Hexamita, which takes both bacteria and flagellates. Later on Esha 2000 which takes bacteria. Neither of the meds kill the filter bacteria). I've opened one of the dead fishes, and it was surprisingly empty inside. But I have no idea what they are supposed to look like inside, so I really don't know if it was wrong or not. The wonderful barbels were intact too. There were no wearing down on them. The tank has sand on it's bottom, BTW. There were no ragged fins either.
The temperature has varied a little bit. At first it was kept at 24 degrees celcius. But when the summer came, I pulled out the plug of the heater, like I do in all cory tanks. But I think the temperature has been about the same anyway. All other of my house has been terribly hot, but that room stays in a sensible temperature. Besides, the cories started dying before summer came.
The strange thing is that the CW-06 that has been living together with them, never have been ill, any of them. They are very healty, and used to love the company of the multiradiatuses (they got sad after the multis died out, but are in better mood now, after getting new tankmates). They show no problems at all. If there was anything wrong with the water, or if there were som contagious disease, surely I would see anything on them too? But it's been only the brochises dying, and for no apparent reason, other than a few of them were a little thin.
They were fed frozen bloodworms, freezedried tubifex (only occationally, because it's fattening), different kinds of catfish food (with proteins in it - not the kind for herbivore catfishes: JBL NovoTab, Tetra Tabimin, Tetra wafer mix (not much of this one), some catfish food from a local shop), shrimp pellets, sometimes a home made shrimp mix. That's all I can remember right now.
This is all information I can think of that can be of any interest to clear this up. I am really, really sad about the whole thing, especially since I've tried to get this species for a very long time. And when I got them, they exceeded any expectations I had. I just loved them! I would love to get some new ones, but won't start on the job until I know why my brochises died. I don't want this to happen again. So, does anyone have any idea why my brochises would stay alive in my house?
). So do you have any theories anyone? Anything I haven't thought of?