Help with cory barbels.

[squid]

Hope i don't get in trouble for starting a new thread.

I just observed my old cories again, and really looked closely into their barbels, some of them almost have no barbels at all not really sure what the cause is,
i have a barebuttom tank, their tank has been setup for a few months. but never have i wiped the buttom of the tank before I only wioped it yesterday since i've read that that is 1 of the cause of barbel erosion? after water change my nitrate was 10 ppm, but i was not able to test before wc, I'll try to do 2 weekly water changes.

Also planning to get some really smooth and round gravel.

but i did notice that their barbels seem to be irritated? They would suddenly scratch thei face against the floor? what could be causing their barbel to be irritated?

tank is 75 gallon with 4 ft overhead filter and sponge filter.
tank ph is at 7.5

really hope i can find the cause of their barbel problem and fix it .

btw i've added melafix just in case its barbel infection?

here are some pictures of my cories with small or no barbel.









thanks.

[fischkringli]

Look at the FAQs. Corys also need sand!

[squid]

Look at the FAQs. Corys also need sand!

thanks. will get sand for them, thought they were ok with barebuttom but i was wrong

[fischkringli]

Nobdody is perfect! For example Ive kept a Hara jerdoni with a Banjo Catfish... .
The Hara lived one day but he didnt see the aquaria lights again .

[squid]

Nobdody is perfect! For example Ive kept a Hara jerdoni with a Banjo Catfish... .
The Hara lived one day but he didnt see the aquaria lights again .

lol thanks , i'll be getting sand or really smooth and round pebbles for them tomorrow
will post updates

[fischkringli]

But be careful! Not every sand is good. Some types of sand are to sharp and this wouldnt be better for the Corys.

[squid]

But be careful! Not every sand is good. Some types of sand are to sharp and this wouldnt be better for the Corys.

thanks, will try a product called aquaclay for my cories

[squid]

still have not added the sand, but i'm now doing 40% water change every other day, also been feeding them with tubifex, they really can eat a lot.

noticed that sometimes they seem to be scratching their barbel against the floor?

[Richard B]

Hans-Georg Evers started his presentation at the CSG convention with a plea to all, that Corys should be kept over sand rather than gravel - this should equally apply to sand over bare tanks, & he should know given his collecting & breeding experinces with corys

[squid]

Hans-Georg Evers started his presentation at the CSG convention with a plea to all, that Corys should be kept over sand rather than gravel - this should equally apply to sand over bare tanks, & he should know given his collecting & breeding experinces with corys

Thanks I've already elevated my powerhead just waiting for my sand hope this fixes their barbel

[skaskankerbr]

i have had mixed experiences with corys barbels and i am a skeptic on the constant advise of using sand with corys. I have kept my corys with large smooth gravels and sands. my corydoras delphax have almost 1/4 inch barbels and haven't had any problems. Your may be do to either barbel infection, hostile aggression from another fish or high nitrate levels. Weekly water changes fix nitrate problems , but if you have a constantly high nitrate levels try amquel it reduces nitrate levels quickly and easily. My albino corys however are kept in a tank with an ultra fine construction grade sand substrate this stuff is about 10 times smaller than a grain of beach sand or salt. It's slightly heavier than powder and i have seen slight erosion in their barbels in the past year. like loaches aslong as the bottom isn't sharp i find the corys will get used to it and avoid digging. but if you wish to see them bury themselves sift and play then sand is a must. It provides ample entertainment for everyone to play find the loach. my yo-yos are like sand ninjas they bury themselves under about 1/2 of sand and wait for me to leave or put in food.

[squid]

the sand i ordered still have not arrived, but i found out the barbel lost was not caused by nitrates, since i added some nitrate removing filter media , and my anubias pla nts are already turning yellow will rmeove the nitrate removing media now.

[fischkringli]

How many nitrate do you have?
In general over 50mg/l is not good and over 75mg/l is very dangerous.

[squid]

Highest i've tested my cory tank is 40PPM, but now i suspect it to be 0, since my anubias plants old leaves are turning yellow, due to lack of nitrogen. I removed the nitrate removing media.

I also wipe the glass regularly now while waiting for my sand.
btw if the cause of barbel erosion is due to bacteria, Can melafix be used instead of other antibiotics?

thanks.

[squid]

Added aquaclay to my tank, hope this solves the barbel problem still not able to find cause of barbel erosion






btw the stuff is really light



thanks.

[fischkringli]

Perhaps the Pterophyllum scalare had bite the barbels? My sister had this with his Amano-prawns .

[apistomaster]

I don't know why your Corydoras have lost their barbels but unless they still have most of their barbels I have not seen any regrow completely lost barbels. I haven't ever had this problem with my own fish but have seen it occur among friends fish. They often had coarse gravel or smooth large rounded gravels, not sands. It often seems to occur where the coarse gravels have allowed uneaten foods to fall deeply into the gravel so it may be caused by both foul water and/or the digging the Corys tried to do to reach the food.
I have kept Corys over bare bottom tanks and I never wipe the bottom. Left alone, the bottom will grow a film of algae unless an algae eater is present. Algae eaters tend to keep the bottom cleaned of both algae and other bio-films.
Still, bare bottoms are not my SOP. I normally keep a thin layer of sand or a material similar to what you now have. I rarely have more than 1/4 inch of substrate. I use thin layers for greater ease of cleaning and to make sure the Corydoras are able to snuff out any live black worms more easily.

[squid]

I have not noticed my angels bothering my cories, Problem with my tank is its indoors andon the lower tier, So it doesn't get any sunlight, Will melafix help with their barbel problem if its caused by bacteria?

my tank is a lot clearer with the aquaclay. but I'm still worried about their barbels, others seem to be ok, only a few now have damaged barbels, i lost 4 duplicareus already but my rabautis, arcuatus and davidshultzi doesn't seem to have this problem now.

[Coryologist]

Greetings. I was fortunate to have Hans visit my fish room in October. At that time, very few of my 130 tanks had any sand. Hans was obviously not very happy with this situation and he was quite firm in his plea that I try my best to get sand under all of my Corys. The only Corys in my fish room that were missing barbels were those I had obtained from other breeders as juveniles. I was, however, experiencing a high rate of fry loss from my spawnings. It took 3 months, but now, every tank in my fish room has sand in it. many now have driftwood and are planted, also. It's not that I didn't know better, it's just that I started out breeding guppies and the transition to Corys was a years long process. It's obvious that the Cory's are living a more natural existence and I would advise everyone to keep sand in all their Cory tanks, even if just a thin layer. Watching them root around in a deeper layer is a joy to behold. There oughta be a law. lol. - Frank

P.S. BTW - Ian was perpetually imploring me to do this after many visits to my fish room, also. Thanks to both of them for their persistence.

[squid]

thanks reason i went with aquaclay was because i already ordered the stuff, but will test for a while. but i also think sand will be better now.
So far my cories seem to be ok, but will observe closely.







Really appreciate the help.

thanks.