Mysterious Cory Death

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MrPillow

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Oct 25, 2011
Messages
396
Location
Corpus Christ, TX
Hey guys,

Came home today to find one of my panda cory's had kicked the bucket. I have been watching him for a day or two now as he seemed less active than usual and his color seemed a bit off, but other than that he showed no obvious signs of any issues. He is in a healthy tank with no disease issues, water params are 0 NH3 0 NO2 and roughly 10-20 NO3. 78 degrees, pH roughly 7.8. No other fish are showing any signs of anything and all seems normal. Something had eaten the eyes out of him while he was dead, and also a small section of the stomach. Should I be concerned that whatever did him in might have spread to other fish through ingesting his tissue? Is it possible it was just old age and his time to go?

Let me know if you have any ideas.

Thanks!
 
First off, I am sorry for your loss.
Secondly, how big is the tank? What tankmates? How long have you had him? Your parameters are good, so that shouldn't be an issue at all. Any newly added tankmates? At a glance, my best guess is just bad stock.
 
The tank is a 26g. He is in there with 3 other cories, 8 serpae tetras and a dwarf gourami. No new stock, and all stock was properly quarantined before addition. Haven't had any issues at all in the tank in regards to disease or any ailments.
 
The tank is a 26g. He is in there with 3 other cories, 8 serpae tetras and a dwarf gourami. No new stock, and all stock was properly quarantined before addition. Haven't had any issues at all in the tank in regards to disease or any ailments.
That is indeed baffling. Before he died, did he show any signs of damage or abuse from other fish? Any nipped fins or anything?
 
No issues at all. Seemed fine up until 2 days ago, then gradually got pale and hid under a crevice. Came out for food, but went right back to hiding. Got home today and he was gone :(
 
:(

Well the stocking seems fine, you may want more cories though.

if you don't see any signs of disease I don't think there is much you can do if your other fish, particularly the cories, act normally otherwise. My fish also eat select parts of dead fish, my ghost shrimp always went for the eyes and tummy (eww). Watch your fish and if you see anything weird going on, remove them and put them in QT just incase. But fish do die of old age!
 
Will cories school with different cory species? I was lucky to find the panda's here, and all I can find anymore is the more common types such as peppered and false juli.
 
They will not school with other corys, but they will certaily hang out and loosely shoal. I keep a group of mixed corys and everybodyhangs out together. They seem to prefer corys of similar size/pattern, but they do fine IME. I would add a false julii because they are closer in size than the peppered. :)
 
Another panda let go today =( I noticed he was beginning to look a little pale as the first one had, so I moved the both of them to the quarantine tank. He looked thin, and had a slightly crooked composure about him. I hypothesized they might not have been getting enough food in the tank they were in, being out-eaten by a small Syno. I put them on a diet of algae-wafers, making sure they ate, and every few days a carnivore pellet to keep their diet a bit varied. Found him a little while ago doing barrel rolls and floating around upside down. Within minutes he was on his back in the corner, breathing had ceased. After I removed him from the tank I opened his abdomen with a scalpel to see if anything looked out of the ordinary - his internal organs were shrunken to the point of being more than strings. Any ideas what this points to? Gills also lacked any coloration whatsoever. All my dissection experience is with larger, saltwater species (taxidermist, what can I say) but never before have I seen a diseased fish lacking all color whatsoever in the gills, especially one so recently deceased.

I adopted these fish from the LFS where they were received as a trade in. Is it possible they had at some point in their lives been subjected to high levels of NH3/NO2, resulting in diminished circulatory function which finally became too much for them to survive at this point?

Any input would be appreciated. I hate to see the last one go if I can prevent it :)

Thanks guys!

Cheers!
 
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