will history repeat itself or am overreacting?

[allaboutfish]

OK IVE GOT A PROBLEM MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE CORY IS NOT BEING AS ACTIVE AS MY OTHER CORYS! she's just laying in a cave sometimes moving inside the cave.she hasnt come out like my males are. shes female named beatrice she just layed eggs maybe a week ago and since she did that the males run after her aot. is she dieing from ammonia burns like my other fish or just hiding from my 2 males? if it could be ammonia burns what can i do to fix this today im gonna do water changes until ammonia hits 0 and add a little more melafix to help them heal is this good?

 

[gkuzel]

You're doing the right thing, I don't know much about breeding corys but that ammonia burn can't be comfortable. She could be protecting the nest, or resting. Water changes, until ammonia hits zero, and melafix. It's all you can do.

 

[uh.oh...]

How old is the tank? are you done cycling? if so the ammonia burns should clear up soon. When a female lays eggs or gives birth I typically see that males will enter into an aggressive period, or maybe just a really excited/ready to mate again period. My mollys do that. Perhaps consider getting more female cories, to balance out the numbers (after cycling of course) or separate the female with a birthing net of some kind.

 

[allaboutfish]

How old is the tank? are you done cycling? if so the ammonia burns should clear up soon. When a female lays eggs or gives birth I typically see that males will enter into an aggressive period, or maybe just a really excited/ready to mate again period. My mollys do that. Perhaps consider getting more female cories, to balance out the numbers (after cycling of course) or separate the female with a birthing net of some kind.

i do have a fry saving net so if this continues i will put her in that and im still cycling and my ammonia is usually around 2.0 to 4.0 and yesterday i lost a cory to ammonia burns

 

[mommytron]

you need to be doing PWC's everyday (or twice a day) to KEEP the ammonia at .25ppm or less. anything more than that will start to burn their gills. do NOT let it stay at 2.0 or 4.0--if you notice it is that high, do an immediate 75% or MORE water change. rememeber--if you change out half the water, you're getting rid of only half the ammonia (i.e. if ammonia is 4.0 and you only change half the water, ammonia will be at 2.0-- 0.25 should be your goal)

just keep up on water changes, and replace melafix as necessary. that's pretty much all you can do.

good luck!

 

[allaboutfish]

should i go ahead and do another vacuming bc im gonna admitt i overfed and there's food on the bottom i could do a 50% water change with a vacuming and that will definitly bring me to 0 but is that a good idea?

 

[gkuzel]

You could. But you've already said your female looks stressed out. If you did another 50%, I would add the melafix right after, because that would be a "100%" h20 change today. I would wait until at-least tomorrow, so you don't kill your fish.

 

[mommytron]

should i go ahead and do another vacuming bc im gonna admitt i overfed and there's food on the bottom i could do a 50% water change with a vacuming and that will definitly bring me to 0 but is that a good idea?

what is your ammonia reading right now? if it's higher than .5 I would do AT LEAST 75% PWC. don't vacuum the substrate, but try to get the extra food off the top of the gravel. there is good bacteria growing in the substrate that you don't want to lose. try to feed very sparingly while you're cycling, every other day at most. only feed tiny amounts, only what the fish can finish in less than 5 minutes.

 

[allaboutfish]

what is your ammonia reading right now? if it's higher than .5 I would do AT LEAST 75% PWC. don't vacuum the substrate, but try to get the extra food off the top of the gravel. there is good bacteria growing in the substrate that you don't want to lose. try to feed very sparingly while you're cycling, every other day at most. only feed tiny amounts, only what the fish can finish in less than 5 minutes.

it's about a 1.0 and i have sand. how can i get it off the top?

 

[mommytron]

just skim the top of the sand with your gravel vac, but don't go into the sand. there is BB in there (beneficial bacteria) that you need to cycle your tank.

if you do a 75% PWC, it will bring your ammonia to .25, right where you want to be. (well, you WANT to be at 0, but .25 during a cycle is acceptable.)

 

[mfdrookie516]

Don't worry about doing too many water changes... you can't

Take a look at the link in my signature on cycling with fish. It's a great article detailing exactly what you're going to need to do.

 

[allaboutfish]

just skim the top of the sand with your gravel vac, but don't go into the sand. there is BB in there (beneficial bacteria) that you need to cycle your tank.

if you do a 75% PWC, it will bring your ammonia to .25, right where you want to be. (well, you WANT to be at 0, but .25 during a cycle is acceptable.)

last thing is it ok to let th corys fast today?

 

[allaboutfish]

Don't worry about doing too many water changes... you can't

Take a look at the link in my signature on cycling with fish. It's a great article detailing exactly what you're going to need to do.[/QU

thanks

 

[mommytron]

absolutely. fish can go like a week with no food and be fine. i'm not recommending it, but if it's necessary, they will live. feeding every other day will be absolutely fine.

 

[allaboutfish]

can too many water changes stress fish bc im instead of doing one 75 am doing 25% until i get to 0

 

[mfdrookie516]

No... not at all. As long as you temp match the water, and your tap pH is pretty close to your tank pH, you won't have any issues. Just make sure to de-chlorinate the water.

 

[gkuzel]

Yes. Because your tank isn't cycled.

 

[mommytron]

too many water changes will not stress your fish. the thing that will stress your fish is too much ammonia. it is WAY more important to get rid of the ammonia than to worry about stressing the fish with water changes. in fact, my fish seem to ENJOY a water change. it's the only time my pleco actually swims around her tank.

and why bother do multiple 25% changes? if you just do one large one it will save you the trouble. seriously, i've done a water change where i've only left like 3 inches of water at the bottom of the tank for my fish to swim in. they were fine. they still are! do not be afraid, young grasshopper

 

[allaboutfish]

bc i dont have anything big enough to remove 75% of the water and add more in, in about 10 minutes. also do you think a small local store will take an algae eater bc i was lookin at posts and one guy thought he had a sae and it turned out to be a cae and he put a link to tell the difference and mine is deffinently a cae

 

[gkuzel]

You'll be alright for a little while with a CAE, But I'd start looking at local fish stores to see who takes in unwanted fish.