PlanetCatfish.com

Hi there,

I posted a question a few days ago about my group of Corydoras melini. Three from a group of eight had died over 1 week period, with the fish becoming pale and lethargic with some heavy breathing before passing away.

The tank also houses rummy nosed tetra, harlequins, 3 LDA 19 and a mature pair of Ancistrus temnikki which have recently spawned.

Temp 26.5 degrees C
Ph 6.5
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0

I treated the tank with some interpet No.5 Liquisil as a general tonic.

The remaining 5 corys have started 'flicking', which made me think of some external parasite problem, but close inspection has not shown anything with the naked eye.
None of the other fish are showing any signs of distress.

The substrate is fine rounded sand with soem API Laterite mixed. However, I have also added buried pockets of Malaya Aqua Soil from ADA (they had sold out of Amazonia and advised this was adequre for my needs)

I was wondering if anyone has experienced any adverse reaction to this with Corys, or if there are any suggestions for cause and treatment

As always any advice is greatly appreciated

Cheers
Stu

I suspect gill flukes and would treat them with flubendazole. It will not harm plants nor filter bacteria.

Many thanks apisotmaster

treatment is underway.

I use API laterite mixed with my rounded sand to help the plants along, has anyone had trouble with this causing irritation to corys? (just in case gill flukes are not the culprit?)

Many thanks
Stu

I do not think there is any chance of your substrate being relate to the symptoms you described. Your substrate is fine for Corydoras.

Many thanks again apistomaster,

We are currelt living in a fairly new built property, about 3yrs old, and I have started my fish keeping up again since having the space here.

I know many new builds use mostly plastics in their piping, but I am wondering if high levels of copper may be affecting the fish?

I guess a kit will tell.

I was just wondering if you knew how copper poisoning manifests itself

Ta
Stu

Hello, I stumbled across your posting by accident. I know it's been awhile since you posted your original thread, but I wanted to share with you what I've experienced.
I too had problems with my cats. Turns out that the ph was below 6.0. I know you mentioned the ph of your water was 6.5, but the symptoms sound the same. Fish didn't eat or move around. Turns out my fish couldn't move around because the ph was so low, their gills were burning up. I think the technical issue was they weren't getting enough oxygen.
I put ph upper and in a matter of minutes, the fish started to move around and forage for food. That's of course after i changed water and watched 6 cats kick the bucket, that is.

Anyway, that's what I experienced. Hope your fish problems have been resolved.