corybaby
Aquarium Advice Newbie
I have a 2-3cm peppered cory that has begun to swim along the surface of the water while gulping air contiously. I can tell he is cycling air through his gills because he is producing bubbles. I know that sporadic air gulps are normal for corys, but he has started to do it quite a lot, especially after feeding time. What concerns me is the fequency of his trips to the surface, and how long he spends there gasping (at least 30 secs per trip). When he is not at the surface his other behaviour is normal, foraging in the substrate, and swimming among the plants and rocks with the other corys.
I would assume that a lack of suffiecent oxygen towards the bottom of the tank would cause this behaviour, but I have an airstone running constantly in conjuction with an above water filter outlet that creates a little waterfall, as well as several plants that are doing well. I also have a heater, that is set to 25 Celcius, that rarely clicks on to heat the water as I live in rural Australia, where the room tempurature is suffiecent.
I have three other corys that are behaving normally, with no signs of distress, as well as several other bottomwelling fish that would be more prone to poor water conditions than corys and they are all doing well.
My concern stems from the fact that I bought a bronze cory at the same time as the peppered cory, from the same petstore, that was displaying the same behaviour from the moment he came home with me. And has since disappeared in my tank the past few days, I am assuming dead, although I havent found a floater, or evidence of a corpse, which im attributing to the thoroughness of my bottom feeders.
I know that gulping at the surface in other fish is a sign of stress, stemming from diesese, poor water conditions, or overcrowding. Would this behaviour in corys be the same thing, or am I panicking over something trivial?
I do not have a test kit (i know, i need one, but they are expensive and hard to come by when my nearest petstore is an hour away), but I change my water (usually around 20 - 30%) regularly, and dose with Health+ Water Conditioner and Stress coat. I have never had any issue with parasites, bacteria or fungus, and this is my first signs of a fish acting what I consider to be abnormal.
I'm sorry this post is so long, but I love my little corys and hope Ive given enough information for someone to be able to know something. Thanks.
(Edit: attached is a photo of my 35L tank for reference, you can just see my peppered cory in the top right of the photo, near the thermometer, sorry its a pf, i couldnt get the file size small enough as a png)
I would assume that a lack of suffiecent oxygen towards the bottom of the tank would cause this behaviour, but I have an airstone running constantly in conjuction with an above water filter outlet that creates a little waterfall, as well as several plants that are doing well. I also have a heater, that is set to 25 Celcius, that rarely clicks on to heat the water as I live in rural Australia, where the room tempurature is suffiecent.
I have three other corys that are behaving normally, with no signs of distress, as well as several other bottomwelling fish that would be more prone to poor water conditions than corys and they are all doing well.
My concern stems from the fact that I bought a bronze cory at the same time as the peppered cory, from the same petstore, that was displaying the same behaviour from the moment he came home with me. And has since disappeared in my tank the past few days, I am assuming dead, although I havent found a floater, or evidence of a corpse, which im attributing to the thoroughness of my bottom feeders.
I know that gulping at the surface in other fish is a sign of stress, stemming from diesese, poor water conditions, or overcrowding. Would this behaviour in corys be the same thing, or am I panicking over something trivial?
I do not have a test kit (i know, i need one, but they are expensive and hard to come by when my nearest petstore is an hour away), but I change my water (usually around 20 - 30%) regularly, and dose with Health+ Water Conditioner and Stress coat. I have never had any issue with parasites, bacteria or fungus, and this is my first signs of a fish acting what I consider to be abnormal.
I'm sorry this post is so long, but I love my little corys and hope Ive given enough information for someone to be able to know something. Thanks.
(Edit: attached is a photo of my 35L tank for reference, you can just see my peppered cory in the top right of the photo, near the thermometer, sorry its a pf, i couldnt get the file size small enough as a png)
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