Cory Cat Problem?

[mctypething]

One of my peppered cories's barbells/whiskers/things they use to feel around for food, is currently curled up and not straight like it always has been. He seems to be perfectly fine otherwise. He's swimming around and foraging for food like usual. His other barbell/whisker is completely fine, but I'm a little worried about the one that is curled up.

Is this something I should be concerned about? Will it fix itself? Thanks!

 

[WhiteDevil]

I got one like that, or had one like that, all barbells are straight now and I havnt had a dead corydora in well over two years now.

 

[mommytron]

what kind of substrate do you have??? i've heard that rough or sharp substrate can damage their barbells, which is why it's recommended to have sand substrate for cories. not sure if that could cause the curling but it was just a thought. hope he gets better

 

[Andrewz00]

my first thought is that it was injured on either rough substrate or some type of decor you have in the tank.... i would monitor his activity closely for the next several days for signs of stress or injury.

 

[Big Dog]

Yes keep a eye on him. He some how got his steel bar bent.

 

[Satrix]

I use soft pebbles without rough edges too. I purposely bought the corys at my local Petco that had their barbels missing or shortened. After about two to three weeks they had grown back with clean water, soft substrate and access to food. My only concern with your situation is that the water parameters are out of whack or alternately the substrate is hurting them when they try to clean the bottom of the tank.

 

[mctypething]

I have gravel substrate, but all of the other cories are fine and I've had all of them for almost a year, so I don't think the gravel had anything to do with it. I would like sand, but I'm not about to go through the pain of switching substrates.

So unless he happened to hit a rough edge that he hadn't hit after all this time, that's the only thing I can think of.

My water parameters are great, no problems there.

I'll monitor him this week, so far so good as he's doing fine. I just hope it doesn't affect his ability to find food.

 

[maxima423]

i got a question about corys as well, i was wondering about the substrate, i plan on using eco-complete, would that be a good substrate for corys? also would it better to get a lot of one type of cory or school of 6-7 of multiple species of corys?

 

[mctypething]

I would highly recommend getting one type of cory. I had two cories die on me because I tried to put them in the tank with another species of cory. Although some people have had success mixing and matching cories, I'd highly recommend getting all of one species.

 

[AgilityIG]

I have twelve Corys in my tank and they school together. The first six I bought were Black Sail Corys and they all hang together. A couple weeks ago, I bought six Emerald Green Corys that were pretty young (about an inch long a quite a bit smaller than my older Corys). The Emerald Greens hooked up right away with my Black Sails and they all tend to hang together pretty happily.

 

[Andrewz00]

i got a question about corys as well, i was wondering about the substrate, i plan on using eco-complete, would that be a good substrate for corys? also would it better to get a lot of one type of cory or school of 6-7 of multiple species of corys?

as far as substrate... they tend to prefer sand (its quite interesting to watch them filter through it too) but i have had them living with gravel for almost 10 years... no problems, except for the holes they dig!

 

[meegosh]

I would just watch to make sure the barbel doesn't erode completely. They use their barbels to search for food in the tank, without them they will struggle to find food even a few inches away. I had two albinos that lost their barbels (my mistake - sharp gravel) and after I put them in the 30g long (which had large gravel that was smooth, pea gravel) they grew back.

 

[maxima423]

how about using eco-complete as my substrate? would that be good?

 

[logansmomma1228]

That is for planted tank, right? Maybe the planted tank experts can help you out on that one. You could post in there and you will probably get more feedback

 

[Lowryder]

I would highly recommend getting one type of cory. I had two cories die on me because I tried to put them in the tank with another species of cory. Although some people have had success mixing and matching cories, I'd highly recommend getting all of one species.

I have 2 green cories and 2 skunks together. They mixed really well.

You need to watch that barbel closely, as cories barbels are delicate and prone to bacterial infections. Keep your water pristine and they should be fine.