help with pygmy corys

[Chris Palma]

Hi.

Over the past month, I've added 12 pygmy cory cats to my tank.
Unfortunately, two of them have died in the past week or so. I think a
third one of them is showing signs of weakness, and I'm worried he might
not make it.

My water parameters are fine -- I just checked again and ammonia is at
0ppm, nitrites at 0ppm. I'm due for a water change probably next week,
but should I think about doing one sooner?

None of my other fish seem to be having any other problems. The gouramis,
guppies, featherfin rainbows all seem to be doing great. I've also lost
one of my two Otocinclus, but I chalked that up to sudden Oto death
syndrome.

Any advice? Should I think about adding something (stress coat?) to the
tank to help the corys? Any ideas what might be causing my cory losses,
or is it just sudden cory death syndrome?

Any tips appreciated.

--chris






NB: This email address is dead. If you would like to email me directly,
please use: cpalmaATSYMBOLastro.psu.edu

[NetMax]

"Chris Palma" > wrote in message
...
> Hi.
>
> Over the past month, I've added 12 pygmy cory cats to my tank.
> Unfortunately, two of them have died in the past week or so. I think a
> third one of them is showing signs of weakness, and I'm worried he
might
> not make it.
>
> My water parameters are fine -- I just checked again and ammonia is at
> 0ppm, nitrites at 0ppm. I'm due for a water change probably next week,
> but should I think about doing one sooner?
>
> None of my other fish seem to be having any other problems. The
gouramis,
> guppies, featherfin rainbows all seem to be doing great. I've also
lost
> one of my two Otocinclus, but I chalked that up to sudden Oto death
> syndrome.
>
> Any advice? Should I think about adding something (stress coat?) to
the
> tank to help the corys? Any ideas what might be causing my cory
losses,
> or is it just sudden cory death syndrome?
>
> Any tips appreciated.
>
> --chris

Pygmy Corys are really neat little fish, almost unlike normal Corys in
the way they flit from leaf to leaf. However I've found that they are
somewhat fragile preferring soft water. Getting them to eat regularly is
an important hurdle for the first week. I keep them in a well aged
medium planted species tank until they have stabilized. The are not very
fussy eaters, taking lightly ground flake readily (I also give them brine
shrimp). The problem is getting them to compete for food, so you have to
spot feed while they are acclimating. hth

NetMax

[TYNK 7]

>Subject: Re: help with pygmy corys
>From: "NetMax"
>Date: 4/4/2004 9:20 PM Central Daylight Time
>Message-id: >
>
>
>"Chris Palma" > wrote in message
...
>> Hi.
>>
>> Over the past month, I've added 12 pygmy cory cats to my tank.
>> Unfortunately, two of them have died in the past week or so. I think a
>> third one of them is showing signs of weakness, and I'm worried he
>might
>> not make it.
>>
>> My water parameters are fine -- I just checked again and ammonia is at
>> 0ppm, nitrites at 0ppm. I'm due for a water change probably next week,
>> but should I think about doing one sooner?
>>
>> None of my other fish seem to be having any other problems. The
>gouramis,
>> guppies, featherfin rainbows all seem to be doing great. I've also
>lost
>> one of my two Otocinclus, but I chalked that up to sudden Oto death
>> syndrome.
>>
>> Any advice? Should I think about adding something (stress coat?) to
>the
>> tank to help the corys? Any ideas what might be causing my cory
>losses,
>> or is it just sudden cory death syndrome?
>>
>> Any tips appreciated.
>>
>> --chris
>
>Pygmy Corys are really neat little fish, almost unlike normal Corys in
>the way they flit from leaf to leaf. However I've found that they are
>somewhat fragile preferring soft water. Getting them to eat regularly is
>an important hurdle for the first week. I keep them in a well aged
>medium planted species tank until they have stabilized. The are not very
>fussy eaters, taking lightly ground flake readily (I also give them brine
>shrimp). The problem is getting them to compete for food, so you have to
>spot feed while they are acclimating. hth
>
>NetMax
>
>

I've heard these fish called both hardy and fragile.
I think the 2 extremes go hand in hand with hardness/softness of the tank
water.
The softer the water, the hardier they're going to be.
The harder water....more fragile.
If your water is on the hard side, like mine and have a passion for these cutie
pies, you must acclimate them very slowly.
If you don't...simply adding them to the tank can kill them.
They could be fine in the shop for a week, and then when released into your
home tank...turn belly up instead of swimming away. However, if you acclimate
them slowly they can do very well.
The drip method can be used, and is probably the better method.
Or you can simply add small amounts of the quarantine's tank water to the
Pygmy's bag. Do this several times in about a 30 minute time period. I like to
add a little bit of tank water every 5 minutes...(just a little bit taking care
not to make it too much because you don't want to shock these guys).