Bronze cory?

Arlene_Balloon · Post by **Arlene_Balloon** » 23 Apr 2006, 15:43

i just got him last week, and i dont remember what kind he is! i think he is a bronze but im not sure! he also has something wrong with his eyes i think, they looked all puffed up and cloudy. they were fine when i brought him home though! i dont know if my swordtails have been picking on him?

Post by **medaka** » 23 Apr 2006, 21:29

Hi

Can you check your Ph, The cloudy eyes suggest water quality.
I also noticed that you are using an artificial coloured gravel as substrate. Some time back,some coloured gravel leeched alkalines into the water thus raising the Ph, your swordtails should be able to cope in water with a high Ph reading, but it could be detremental to your cory.
as well as checking your Ph, also do a nitrate check, and let us know.
with the Identification, your photo's are slightly blurred,try looking at the cat-e-log and see if any pic's match your fish.

Arlene_Balloon · Post by **Arlene_Balloon** » 23 Apr 2006, 22:33

thanks, this is the first time i have had fish. can you buy the stuff at the store to check the water?

Post by **medaka** » 23 Apr 2006, 23:38

Hi

Yes your local store should stock these test kits as standard.

Arlene_Balloon · Post by **Arlene_Balloon** » 27 Apr 2006, 00:50

ok, i bought some test strips and tested the water, this is what i got:
the nitrate was about 20
and pH was about 7
i also bought abother cory so that mine would have a friend and got 2 dalmation mollys. i just read that the mollies need aquarium salt, would it be OK to put some in the tank with the swordtails and corys in there too?

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 27 Apr 2006, 10:25

_SOME_ mollies live in estuaries that are brackish. I'm however completely convinced that dalmation mollies are perfectly fine in regular tap-water with no salt. At least the 4 original ones that we've had for two years or so are still perfectly healthy and the further 40-50 babies that we've had from those are similarly behaving themselves perfectly fine (except for a few inbreeding problems where they get swimbladder defects and can't swim properly).

--
Mats

Post by **medaka** » 28 Apr 2006, 22:43

ok, i bought some test strips and tested the water, this is what i got:
the nitrate was about 20 and pH was about 7

OK the cory should be fine in that.
If it hasnt started to clear up, Try treating with a bactericide. It may be infected with a Pseudomonas bacteria.

i also bought abother cory so that mine would have a friend and got 2 dalmation mollys. i just read that the mollies need aquarium salt, would it be OK to put some in the tank with the swordtails and corys in there too?

A little salt won't harm your cory's, or the mollies.
Regarding the mollies.
Poecilia sphenops which is believed to be the original wild stock form, from which we get the dalmation and other strains, are found in a variety of habitats including estuaries (as Matsp points out) The problem over salt tolerance is a bit hit and miss I am afraid, due to the some fish farms do not use salt (or very little) with their stock, while others use quite a considerable amount. This coupled with the fact that those using a lot of salt also frequently raise the Ph to around 7.5-8.0, I have seen the water 'shimmer' when the water in the bag was mixed with the aquarium water at a wholesalers I was at once, there was that much salt in the water it was close to being a saline solution

Due to people new to fish keeping,not being aware of these factors, quite a high mortality rate in mollies usually happens if the water source is similar to mine, soft and neutral. Some LFS in my immediate area very rarly stock mollies for this reason.

BTW... Iam now moving this post into The corydoras forum