Need some advice with my Corydoras

[Mollyelzie]

Hello everyone……

My Corydoras are all thriving and doing great. Expect one. He is swimming to the surface every 1 minute (literally about every 30 seconds). I have a air pump and two filters so there’s a lot of water movement ect.

I am very new to fish keeping as I took these fish from my sister because she was keeping them in a 1 gal fishbowl with no filter or heater….so I’m trying to learn everything as fast as I can. I’ve had them a few months and have learnt alot, I understand the nitrate cycle ect.

I understand it’s normal for Corydoras to swim to the top for air occasionally but this is just concerning.

I have a 15 gallon tank and 5 cories in there. I don’t have a test kit yet so I couldn’t tell you my ammonia, nitrates ect. I am saving to get one. I also have a heater so it couldn’t be temperature.

I just really want to help this poor cory I am so concerned for him. Nobody else is acting weird so I am very scared.

Could this be a sign of illness? I will take any advice I can get.

 

[Aiken Drum]

Is it eating ok? Showing any other signs of issues? As you say probably just a cory being a cory.

 

[Mollyelzie]

I just went to the store to ask for some advice and they said maybe he isn’t getting enough food. I feed them blood worms and pellets. She just sold me some granules and he is eating it all up and is no longer going to the surface every two seconds. I will continue watching my little pickles (that’s his name because I always recognise him as he’s my palest cory). Hopefully that was the issue �� cories are funny little fish…..I could watch them for hours (probably why I’m always worrying I sit at my fish tank watching for ages so I’m always like IS THIS BEHAVIOUR NORMAL? IS THIS A SHADOW OR REDNESS hahahaha)

 

[ghyti]

Sound like a cory being a cory, I don't see a problem. You might want to eliminate the heater. Most cories like it a little cooler, 72 to 78F is just fine for most. Mine have no problems with 68F when the temp drops in the winter and even spawn more in the cooler water.

 

[Mollyelzie]

One of my cories gave birth only about 3 days ago (I was so excited as this is my first time witnessing a fishie give birth) unfortunately my cory decided to eat the eggs as soon as she gave birth and didn’t even give me a chance to move the eggs 0.0

I was basically forced to buy the heater. I went to buy more Corydoras for my tank as my sister was only keeping two. So I wanted to have at least 5 or 6 so they felt more happy. But they wouldn’t sell me the fish without me buying a heater. My room does get very cold but I will try it out. Thankyou for da advice <3

 

[Aiken Drum]

One of my cories gave birth only about 3 days ago (I was so excited as this is my first time witnessing a fishie give birth) unfortunately my cory decided to eat the eggs as soon as she gave birth and didn’t even give me a chance to move the eggs 0.0

I was basically forced to buy the heater. I went to buy more Corydoras for my tank as my sister was only keeping two. So I wanted to have at least 5 or 6 so they felt more happy. But they wouldn’t sell me the fish without me buying a heater. My room does get very cold but I will try it out. Thankyou for da advice <3

Corys are the only fish i can get to successfully breed. Lots of plants for the eggs to get lost in i suppose. Just had to rehome some panda corys as i was getting overrun. Im not actively breeding them but every month or so i get 1 or 2 new faces appear, so a small number of eggs escape being eaten. Ive rescued a few juveniles from the bottom of the canister filter during my regular maintenance as well, so they must have got sucked in as eggs or really small babies and somehow survived until i clean out the filter.

 

[Mollyelzie]

I was panicking trying to Google how to safely take eggs off the tank glass. I watched a video of a guy doing it with a blade and tried it myself and was unsuccessful…..I found removing them so hard, any that I managed to take off the glass fell into the substrate. I guess it’ll take lots of practice. Another person used a old card so I’ll take that approach next time.

The funniest part is I wasn’t even trying to breed them, I guess they just decided to have some fun while I wasn’t watching the tank.

My cories always have big bellies so I was doing a lot of research thinking it was dropsy or something. BUT SHE WAS PREGNANT!!! Doesn’t explain my other male cories big bellies tho, maybe just fat 0.0

 

[Mollyelzie]

Also I was surprised how many times she gave birth. I only managed to try and attempt to scrape at least two sets of babies she gave birth to, all the others she ate as soon as she laid them. About every 5 minutes she was holding new eggs between her fins ready to lay them. (Sorry I’ve never seen it before so I just found it so exciting hahaha). I tried to throw a pellet in to maybe distract the cories from eating the eggs but momma fish ate them anyways

 

[Joe_D]

I have found that Corys can sometime be real individuals and act a bit different at times
This is what makes them so much fun to watch as you never know what they might do . They of course also help clean the tank for any bit of food that might fall to the bottom

IMO every community tank should have a minimum of three corys.

 

[SteffeyJ]

I once got a panda cory from the fish store that had swim bladder..... does it's back end go up in the air at all??

I really hope you are able to figure it out!!
Cory cats are the best!!

 

[StinkyLoaf]

You said you feed bloodworms and pellets? I’m going to step in and advise not to feed bloodworm as a staple. It’s very fatty; I usually compare it to fast food for fish. Feed it to the fish only on occasion, instead focusing more on other frozen foods, such as brine shrimp and daphnia for example.

If cories surface very frequently, that’s the sign of a problem relating to water quality and/or oxygenation. In normal circumstances, they shouldn’t surface more frequently than once every fifteen minutes or so.

 

[SteffeyJ]

I agree with StinkyLoaf.
I only feed bloodworms on occasion.
And if they're frozen OR freeze dried, I still soak mine in water just in case so that they dont bloat in the fish's belly....
And same can happen with algae wafers or veggie pellets. If they expand when you put them into the tank. Just imagine what they do inside your fish's tiny bellies!!
I always break my pellets into tiny tiny pieces... and I pre soak almost everything in tank water for atleast 5-15 minutes depending what it is...
Good luck!!!

 

[SteffeyJ]

But I've also recieved a fish (from my LFS)
That had swim bladder...
And it was a sad and horrible thing to watch and I felt so helpless!! So, even though that particular fish's death was not my fault, I still do EVERYTHING I can to prevent it from happening to any of my other fish!

 

[Tropheus_calvus]

Corys are one of the most active aquarium fish.