Why change in cory behaviour?

[nataliedd]

Ok.... 340litres. Amnonia 0 nitrites 0 nitrates 5 ph 7.5. Tds 206. Tank running 4months. 8 neons 6 rummys 6 Columbians 8 corys (mixed) 3 paradise fish and 2 pearl gouramis.
Some teething problems the first couple of months as iv discussed in older threads but the last 6/7 weeks all going smoothly. Water parameters steady and good.

I bought the 2 gouramis a week ago and they have been hiding a lot as I know is the norm initially. My concern is the last few days most of my corys are hiding/ acting scared. Up til this they have always been very active and out front.
The only changes recently have been the introduction of 2 new gourami who hide- are they mimicking or picking up on the gouramis nervousness possibly??? Something else?? What is causing this change in behaviour do yous think???

Il add that the other change recently has been using RO water the last month to slowly bring ph levels down. But this has been added gradually and I'd have thought would have been a positive change?

Any advice/explanations appreciated. Ta natalie

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[nataliedd]

Still hiding a lot. My once very friendly corys dart away every time I approach the tank can anybody offer an explanation?

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[nataliedd]

Over 2 weeks later and they still duck and dive when they see me!! Hardly ever come out now. Still no takers for an explanation???! Posting again to bring thread back up the line in the hope someone who hasn't seen it will know why corys have changed. Only reason I can think is coping the new gouramis.

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[nataliedd]

# copying

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[fishliker]

The only thing I wonder is if you have places for the gourami to hide, they like lots of cover, plants, including floating ones. Sorry, don't know why the others are hiding, sometimes new additions change things in a tank.


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[fish wrangler]

I have never had gouramis or corys, but when I added my neon tetras to my tank the black skirt tetras became very skiddish. Maybe the corys just dont like the new arrivals?

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[Dallascowboys16]

Nitrates are almost never 0 in a cycled tank, unless in is massively planted with nitrate sponge plants like hornwort. How did you cycle, whats your water change regime?

 

[nataliedd]

The only thing I wonder is if you have places for the gourami to hide, they like lots of cover, plants, including floating ones. Sorry, don't know why the others are hiding, sometimes new additions change things in a tank.


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Yip lots of hiding places however only fake plants at the moment

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[nataliedd]

Nitrates are almost never 0 in a cycled tank, unless in is massively planted with nitrate sponge plants like hornwort. How did you cycle, whats your water change regime?

Nitrates are a constant 5, sorry didn't use commas when writing my parameters, the nitrites were 0. W/c once a week 30/40% . gouramis seem to have settled a bit and pop out a bit more so im not worried about them. It's the drastic change in my corys I'm concerned about. I'm stumped

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[nataliedd]

I have never had gouramis or corys, but when I added my neon tetras to my tank the black skirt tetras became very skiddish. Maybe the corys just dont like the new arrivals?

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Out of curiosity did your black skirts settle down again?

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[fish wrangler]

Out of curiosity did your black skirts settle down again?

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Yea they have now. I am still waiting for most of them to get their color back. 2 have a nice black skirt, and the other 8 have a bit of color.

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[nataliedd]

If it is cos of new additions then hopefully they'll come round and il start to see them more.

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[Eggheadfish]

Natalie you said you had mixed cories, what kind?
I noticed that when I had only a few, and not many other fish in the tank, they were pretty active. When I added other fish, they started to hide out a little more because there was a lot more activity in the tank. When I increased my cory groups it helped to dispel some of that shyness and get them out and about a bit more. Some species seem to be a bit more brazen than others so knowing what you have may help.

 

[nataliedd]

Natalie you said you had mixed cories, what kind?
I noticed that when I had only a few, and not many other fish in the tank, they were pretty active. When I added other fish, they started to hide out a little more because there was a lot more activity in the tank. When I increased my cory groups it helped to dispel some of that shyness and get them out and about a bit more. Some species seem to be a bit more brazen than others so knowing what you have may help.

Yip 8

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[Nils]

1+ Eggheadfish. My COries used to be so skittish, and I only have 5 in a 10 gallon. Mine are mixed too, 3 Julii's and 2 Peppered. One of my Julii's died and ever since then they don't ever dart away or have seizures every time I come within a quarter mile of the tank. So maybe smaller groups force them to be braver and come out more and have less of a group to protect themselves with. But My tank has tons of hiding places and plants so I bet they like that. And I suggest that you invest in some live plants, they are totally worth it and pay back in money what you would lose with only fake plants. Hope this helped!

Nils

 

[nataliedd]

Sorry sent too quick. Yip 8. Mix of 3 stebras, 3 bronze and 2 albinos. I know corys are best in groups of 6+ but should I not have mixed? The stebras seem ok and come out but it's the others who have went scared!

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[nataliedd]

1+
And I suggest that you invest in some live plants, they are totally worth it and pay back in money what you would lose with only fake plants. Hope this helped!

Nils

Is definitely on our list of things to do. But suppose I suppose we've been putting it of cos it seems a lot of hard work keeping plants alive as well as fish. Lol. .......might start a new thread for advice on best/easy plants to start with


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[Eggheadfish]

The bronze and albino should both be c. Aenus so they're the same species. I'm surprised because of all of mine they are the least shy but I also have the biggest group of those guys.
Usually what I look for is:
Are they in a big enough group. Five isn't bad but 6+ is better
Are they getting picked on or intimidated by active fish - and along with that, do they have enough hiding places. This usually isn't an issue but can be compounded the less of them there are.
Are they healthy - I had some cories who were much more shy than others and found out they had flukes which was stressing them out more. Because they stay low to the substrate they're more affected by poor conditions (ie: gravel not clean enough). I don't mean to worry you but if you're sure they're healthy and not scared of other fish then increasing the numbers should help.
I have nine bronze adults plus 54 fry and they could care less about me walking up to the tank. To the same point, I have some oddballs, my rabauti are less of fraidy cats than my bandits even though I have two of each.

 

[Eggheadfish]

Sorry, one other note. Two of one and three of another isn't the same as five of one kind, they don't typically shoal with other species, so even if you had ten and they were all different kinds it doesn't really help. Good luck!

 

[nataliedd]

The bronze and albino should both be c. Aenus so they're the same species. I'm surprised because of all of mine they are the least shy but I also have the biggest group of those guys.
Usually what I look for is:
Are they in a big enough group. Five isn't bad but 6+ is better
Are they getting picked on or intimidated by active fish - and along with that, do they have enough hiding places. This usually isn't an issue but can be compounded the less of them there are.
Are they healthy - I had some cories who were much more shy than others and found out they had flukes which was stressing them out more. Because they stay low to the substrate they're more affected by poor conditions (ie: gravel not clean enough). I don't mean to worry you but if you're sure they're healthy and not scared of other fish then increasing the numbers should help.
I have nine bronze adults plus 54 fry and they could care less about me walking up to the tank. To the same point, I have some oddballs, my rabauti are less of fraidy cats than my bandits even though I have two of each.

Definitely doesn't seem to be any bullying going on and from what I can spot of them at feeding time (with me hiding discreetly) they seem healthy. We have a python cleaner so substrate is cleaned weekly so that leaves new additions leaving them insecure. Although the gouramis seem shy and don't seem to bother them.

We've enough room in the tank so ill try for a few more and see if that helps. Corys are by far my favourite so id like to see them more.
Lfs told me 8 mixed shoal would be fine but I'm not surprised he's misinformed me yet again! Ta for advice

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