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Hi, need some addvice my Sterbai have lost their barbels they are in a bare bottom tank used for spawning 48x15x18,will they grow back, how long does it take, is ther anything i could add to the water to help ie:Melafix,
what can i do to prevent it happening


Regards Skip206

yes, they'll grow back. How long it will take depends on the condition of the fish and the water quality, amongst other things.

Barbel erosion is caused by infection to the barbels, and most likely in turn caused by the bare-bottom not being cleaned often enough. For bottom-dwelling fish, there's essentially two options: Either you clean the bottom very frequently, or you use a substrate. Bare bottom is fine for mid-water fish, as they don't sit in the bacterial growth that forms on the bottom of the tank... I suggest that you add a thin layer of sand that will prevent this from happening in the future.

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Mats

In my experience, if the barbels are completely gone they will not grow back.

Mark

corybreed wrote:In my experience, if the barbels are completely gone they will not grow back.

Mark

Not in my limited experience.
I rescued some corys, (leucomelas)
and they had no barbels, and even some of their snout was missing as well.

I got them into my main tank after a 3 week QT,
and now 3 months later with perfect water parameters, the barbels are almost
all regrown. Tough little buggers....

Jay

I have found that when Corys loos their barbels to the extent that there aren't even any stubs showing they never regenerate again. Very often there will be a secondary infection and if the fish survives this the outer mouth parts are hardened off and usually deformed to a varying degree, which prevents re growth. If there are any signs that the barbel root is still intact i.e small bumps then there is a possibility that there may be some regeneration.

As MatsP said to make sure there is no further degeneration, you will need to either make sure that the bacterial slim is removed on a regular basis or add a thin layer of fine smooth grained sand.

Ian

up for this thread, So sometimes barbel erosion is not caused by nitrate but by the tank buttom not being cleaned? because my cories seem to also have small barbels onyl, was at first suspecting nitrate level, but i have not wiped my tanks buttom since getting them, so this could also be the cause? will wipe the tank now and make water change as well.

btw how often should the base of the tank be wiped? I tried using river sand but only on half of the tank, my cories barbels did not seem to improve so i was worrie dand removed the sand. So if i'm unable to regularly wiped the base. Sand would be better? mmm can i use round gravel?

Also will once a month wiping of the tank buttom be enough? or maybe twice a month?
current water change schedule is weekly 50% but i'm going to make it twice a week now.



thanks.

I've also had problems with bare bottom tanks with barbel erosions aswell. I switched to a very fine gravel and thier barbels are all nice and long Aesthetically a fine gravel or sand is much more natural and your corys will enjoy digging in it. It doesn't need to be deep, mine is probably around 2cm deep. When cleaning, hover your siphon above it and suck up the poop and aftewards run your fingers around the substrate to mix it around and release trapped gases (if any).

corywink wrote:I've also had problems with bare bottom tanks with barbel erosions aswell. I switched to a very fine gravel and thier barbels are all nice and long Aesthetically a fine gravel or sand is much more natural and your corys will enjoy digging in it. It doesn't need to be deep, mine is probably around 2cm deep. When cleaning, hover your siphon above it and suck up the poop and aftewards run your fingers around the substrate to mix it around and release trapped gases (if any).

thanks I will look for sand which i can use for my cory tank

Some of my cats have regrown barbels (to an extent), some really have not. One, my elegans that did grow them back, another, an albino, did not. Don't know why. They both were not totally completely gone. I thinkI used a low dose of Melafix for both, but can't remember too well.
Melafix does seem to work well for helping re-grow fins though.

Atlantis Child wrote:Some of my cats have regrown barbels (to an extent), some really have not. One, my elegans that did grow them back, another, an albino, did not. Don't know why. They both were not totally completely gone. I thinkI used a low dose of Melafix for both, but can't remember too well.
Melafix does seem to work well for helping re-grow fins though.

thanks, currently looking for sand suitable for cories, i also have good experience with melafix