odobenus
Aquarium Advice Activist
short version:
Our 55 gallon tank houses 1 red tailed black shark, full grown, 1 gold severum, about 2.5 inches long, 6 Buenos Aires tetras, each about 1 inch long, and 2 ottos. On Thursday (5 days ago) we added 6 small (about 1/2 inch long) pseudo Julii cory cats. Today I found two of them dead, and one missing its tail. Who is attacking them?
long version:
A while back I asked for advice on stocking our new 55 gal. You can read the topic here.
We moved the fish from the 10 gal, added more tetras, and one gold severum. Everything was fantastic. We did not lose a single fish.
We put off adding the cory cats until last week. We bought 6 Julii cory cats from the LFS. (They are not true Julii, but they are still really, really cute.) We do not have a quarantine tank (which I am well aware is a terrible thing) so they went right into the 55 gal. I let the bags float in the water for a while, then added some tank water and let them sit a while longer before netting them into the tank. The tetras nipped at them for a while, then settled down.
Today I did a pwc and found two dead cories. Their tails were missing, which I assumed was from being nibbled on after death. I noticed one of the remaining cories, however, is missing its tail. That means either (a) someone else in the tank bit it off, or (b) it rotted off. I checked the tank parameters: 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, <5 nitrates. (I had been cleaning the tank well in preparation for the cories.) Other than the nipping tetras when they were first introduced I have not seen any aggression.
Did I just buy sick cory cats, or is someone harassing them? What steps should I take to protect the remaining cories? We have a 10 gal planted tank, with a gravel substrate, with a male betta. Would it be better to move the cories to the 10 gal, even though the gravel might be hard on their barbels?
Our 55 gallon tank houses 1 red tailed black shark, full grown, 1 gold severum, about 2.5 inches long, 6 Buenos Aires tetras, each about 1 inch long, and 2 ottos. On Thursday (5 days ago) we added 6 small (about 1/2 inch long) pseudo Julii cory cats. Today I found two of them dead, and one missing its tail. Who is attacking them?
long version:
A while back I asked for advice on stocking our new 55 gal. You can read the topic here.
We moved the fish from the 10 gal, added more tetras, and one gold severum. Everything was fantastic. We did not lose a single fish.
We put off adding the cory cats until last week. We bought 6 Julii cory cats from the LFS. (They are not true Julii, but they are still really, really cute.) We do not have a quarantine tank (which I am well aware is a terrible thing) so they went right into the 55 gal. I let the bags float in the water for a while, then added some tank water and let them sit a while longer before netting them into the tank. The tetras nipped at them for a while, then settled down.
Today I did a pwc and found two dead cories. Their tails were missing, which I assumed was from being nibbled on after death. I noticed one of the remaining cories, however, is missing its tail. That means either (a) someone else in the tank bit it off, or (b) it rotted off. I checked the tank parameters: 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, <5 nitrates. (I had been cleaning the tank well in preparation for the cories.) Other than the nipping tetras when they were first introduced I have not seen any aggression.
Did I just buy sick cory cats, or is someone harassing them? What steps should I take to protect the remaining cories? We have a 10 gal planted tank, with a gravel substrate, with a male betta. Would it be better to move the cories to the 10 gal, even though the gravel might be hard on their barbels?