Cories without barbels

[zenkatydid]

I have 4 julii cories in with a gang of guppies. The guppies are... boisterous at feeding time, and will always have a go at the sinking catfish pellets. 3 of the 4 cories now have no barbels, and I suspect that they have been accidentally eaten while draped over delicious food. They still forage and don't seem to be losing condition. Will they be ok? Can a cory function without its barbels? Will they grow back?

 

[BrianNY]

IME they will grow back. The barbels can actually get worn if the substrate is too coarse. Can you provide the 3 with a hospital tank to check their progress?

 

[zenkatydid]

i could put them in another tank, yes, but i suspect that as soon as they go back in, the guppies will just accidentally snack on them again :/

 

[Michael]

The loose of the barbels is not from your guppys. As Brian said, they either got worn away from rough gravel or they can be eaten away from a bacteria infection. When you do water changes do you vacuum the gravel real good? If they are worn away to far far they will not grow back. I got 3 Albino Corys 4 years ago that had no barbels and they have done very well but they have not grown back. The Corys just look kind of wierd.

 

[Mosaic]

I agree that it's probably the gravel. Cories need either fine gravel or sand.

 

[zenkatydid]

i have fine smooth gravel (about 1mm diameter), and i do a thorough vac every week, so i doubt it's that. they are not sick, and neither are any guppies in the tank, so i doubt it's bacterial. when a cory goes after a sinking pellet, they sort of lay their barbels over the food to suck at it, which is when they get nipped off by a hungry guppy, i believe. the guppies are voracious...