Do you want to save the lives of your cory catfish? Are they dying and you don’t know why? In this article, we’ll discuss why your cory catfish keep dying and what you can do to prevent it next time.
Why Do My Cory Catfish Keep Dying? Your cory catfish may not have acclimatized to your tank properly or they were stressed from the fluctuations in water conditions. A healthy diet without overfeeding, giving them enough space, but adding a group of them together while prevent aggression from other tankmates will help keep your cory catfish from dying.
How Can I Tell If My Cory Catfish Is Dying?
You will notice changes in behavior and physical alterations that will be causes for concern. The following signs are only a glimpse of all the possibilities that could be showing you that something needs to be done before your cory catfish dies:
- Poor appetite or not eating
- Bulging eyes that appear cloudy
- Irritated or discolored gills
- Swimming upside down
- Not moving around much
- Weak or lethargic
- Rapid breathing or gasping for air
- White spots
- Excess mucus on the body
What Is The Most Common Reason Why Cory Catfish Die?
The number one reason is stress. Stress can be caused by a multitude of factors. When you notice that your cory catfish is stressed it’s time to act on it. Look out for the following behaviors:
- Excessive hiding
- Loss of weight
- Glass surfing
- Illness
Excessive Hiding
A cory catfish that hides too much is not fond of its environment or its tankmates. They are usually happy to shoal in groups, but this particular cory isn’t responding well to its surroundings. It’s quite normal for catfish to enjoy hiding, but cory catfish do not want to be alone for their full lives.
- Introduce more corydoras of the same breed.
- Add more decorations.
- Increase nutrients through algae wafers that sink.
- Dip live or thawed out frozen food into vitamin based liquid solution.
- Check their bodies and gills for white spots or discolorations.
- Get a larger tank.
- Remove any bullies that are scaring off your cory catfish.
Loss of Weight
A stressed out cory catfish could become excessively erratic with irregular swimming patterns. They could end up burning more energy out of stress and at the same time, refusing to eat. You may notice their stomach area sinking in or becoming emaciated.
This is an opportunity to introduce bloodworms or brine shrimp that will hopefully entice your cory catfish to eat. You can also take some tank water out and place it into a smaller tank or bucket.
In this space you can control the feeding better and make sure that only this particular cory who isn’t eating is getting enough food packed with nutrients.
Glass Surfing
This is a term is used to describe fish swimming up and down and vertically pacing in your tank. It shows that they are disturbed or stressed and are looking for a way out. The tank could be too small or the water conditions are not ideal at the moment.
They are looking for better water or space, but are becoming more stressed because they can’t find it. A neighboring fish could be preventing it from enjoying its rightful space at the bottom of the tank or they feel the tank is overcrowded. Slowly but surely, you will notice its health deteriorate.
Illness
Stress will eventually cause illness. Immune systems in cory catfish will weaken and it will become easier to get sick. Look at their gills and fins first to make sure there are no spots, irritation or rotting. Make sure the eyes are clear and not bulging.
Treating a sick cory catfish repeatedly with medicine will also weaken it. You are trying your best to keep it alive, but the medicine over time will become too much to handle. Quarantine the cory catfish in another tank to avoid this illness from spreading to the rest in the group.
Is My Tank Causing My Cory Catfish To Die?
Your tank needs to properly cycled before introducing cory catfish into it. A healthy tank will allow beneficial bacteria to thrive. This bacteria colony will help break down toxic waste and they’ll live in the substrate or filter.
Sometimes we seek to clean our tanks too much or change the water too often and it backfires because we eliminate the healthy bacteria during the process. There must be a balance between your cory catfish and the bacteria.
A new tank must be cycled to build up the bacteria first and it could take many weeks. If this process is rushed, your cory catfish may notice that something is not right and they will suffer. You can add fish during the cycling process, but you have to do it slowly.
It’s great to keep 20 cories together, but during the cycling process, you should add in only 4-5 at a time while building up this colony of microorganisms.
What Are The Water Parameters For Cory Catfish?
Cory catfish are more sensitive to fluctuations in the water. They should take priority over guppies or bettas in the tank if they are sharing the same spaces with them. We continue to test the water levels, but it’s the changes overnight that we can’t always detect.
The water heater and filter are working to restore the tank’s ideal conditions, but the fluctuation could be getting to your cory catfish. Look out for these changes and make sure the bacterial colony that resides in your tank through proper cycling is present and abundant.
These water parameters for cory catfish are common and could differ from place to place by a degree or two. We offer them here as a recommendation and believe these numbers must be in place to keep your cory catfish healthy.
- Ammonia and nitrites: 0ppm
- Nitrates: Less than 20ppm
- pH: Between 7.0-8.0
- Alkalinity: 54-180ppm
- Water temperature: 72-80°F
- Water changes: 10% weekly or 25% every 2 weeks
Conclusion
Cory catfish die because of stress. The stress is caused by so many factors. The best we can do is to cycle our tanks, maintain ideal water parameters and look out for aggressive tankmates that are causing this stress. Observe and perform your daily actions to feed your cory catfish properly and continue the maintenance process in a tank size that is suitable and not overcrowded.
We wish for more healthy and thriving cory catfish in your tank for years to come.
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