Barbel problems
Posted: 05 Apr 2004, 05:49
Hi,
I'm new to the forum. I'm posting because I am having some problems with my cories' barbels. Sorry the post is so long, I'm trying to explain exactly what is going on. My tank was set up in early December. It's a 20gallon high with 5 c. trilineatus, 6 zebra danios, 6 glowlights, and 1 female betta. I didn't realize until after I got my cories that they do better with a sand substrate, so mine has gravel. It's not perfectly rounded, but it doesn't seem particularly rough either. Once I realized that it could be bad for the cories' barbels, I began observing them closely and until this last week so no signs of damage on any of them. Friday I realized that two of my cories had some damage. Wednesday, when I did my water change, I realized my nitrates were running higher than normal. (They were around 40ppm--usually don't get much above 20ppm even right before a water change.) I did my normal 25% change. When I saw the damage, I decided to do a 50% water change and a more thorough vacuuming, including the corner that they cories really like. (Under an anubias and in some plastic plants.) When I pulled out the plastic plants and began vacuuming in the corner I realized that there was lots of what I'm pretty sure is dying algae all in the plants and gravel. (I had the new tank/newbie overfeeding algae outbreak. I'm feeding less, added a few real plants, etc and the algae has been getting better.) I've vacuumed as much as I could and will do another large change/vacuuming tomorrow.
So, my theory is that my gravel is probably too rough for the cories barbels and is scratching them, but until recently the water quality was good enough and the gravel clean enough that they didn't get infected, so I didn't see the damage. What I'm seeing now is a combination of the rough gravel, higher nitrates, and maybe bacteria from all the junk in the gravel. Does this sound reasonable? I plan to change their substrate to sand this week, but what else should I do for them? My husband & I went out of town yesterday & today & when we got back this evening, the barbels looked a little shorter than they were Friday. The worst barbel seems to have lost about 50% of length, so if it is an infection, it's nowhere near the mouth. Should I treat with antibiotics?Melafix? My understanding is that catfish are pretty sensitive to medications, so should I treat at a lower dose?
Other tank parameters:
pH: haven't tested lately, should be about 7.6
Temp: 76-77
gH & KH are both around 8 I think
Ammonia & nitrites are both 0--tested Friday
Nitrates--will test tomorrow, was at 40+ on Wednesday; since then has had 25% and 50% water changes; I try & keep it at 20 or below
Water changes 25% weekly, with usually 1 larger change (50%)/month. I do vacuum, but apparently haven't been doing a good enough job with that. I tend to vacuum the open areas and haven't been pulling out the plastic plants and getting the corners. That will change.
Cories get fed mix of shrimp pellets, sinking wafers, and algae wafers (+ what small amt of food the tetras and danios miss)
I'd appreciate any help anyone can give me.
Thanks,
Melissa
I'm new to the forum. I'm posting because I am having some problems with my cories' barbels. Sorry the post is so long, I'm trying to explain exactly what is going on. My tank was set up in early December. It's a 20gallon high with 5 c. trilineatus, 6 zebra danios, 6 glowlights, and 1 female betta. I didn't realize until after I got my cories that they do better with a sand substrate, so mine has gravel. It's not perfectly rounded, but it doesn't seem particularly rough either. Once I realized that it could be bad for the cories' barbels, I began observing them closely and until this last week so no signs of damage on any of them. Friday I realized that two of my cories had some damage. Wednesday, when I did my water change, I realized my nitrates were running higher than normal. (They were around 40ppm--usually don't get much above 20ppm even right before a water change.) I did my normal 25% change. When I saw the damage, I decided to do a 50% water change and a more thorough vacuuming, including the corner that they cories really like. (Under an anubias and in some plastic plants.) When I pulled out the plastic plants and began vacuuming in the corner I realized that there was lots of what I'm pretty sure is dying algae all in the plants and gravel. (I had the new tank/newbie overfeeding algae outbreak. I'm feeding less, added a few real plants, etc and the algae has been getting better.) I've vacuumed as much as I could and will do another large change/vacuuming tomorrow.
So, my theory is that my gravel is probably too rough for the cories barbels and is scratching them, but until recently the water quality was good enough and the gravel clean enough that they didn't get infected, so I didn't see the damage. What I'm seeing now is a combination of the rough gravel, higher nitrates, and maybe bacteria from all the junk in the gravel. Does this sound reasonable? I plan to change their substrate to sand this week, but what else should I do for them? My husband & I went out of town yesterday & today & when we got back this evening, the barbels looked a little shorter than they were Friday. The worst barbel seems to have lost about 50% of length, so if it is an infection, it's nowhere near the mouth. Should I treat with antibiotics?Melafix? My understanding is that catfish are pretty sensitive to medications, so should I treat at a lower dose?
Other tank parameters:
pH: haven't tested lately, should be about 7.6
Temp: 76-77
gH & KH are both around 8 I think
Ammonia & nitrites are both 0--tested Friday
Nitrates--will test tomorrow, was at 40+ on Wednesday; since then has had 25% and 50% water changes; I try & keep it at 20 or below
Water changes 25% weekly, with usually 1 larger change (50%)/month. I do vacuum, but apparently haven't been doing a good enough job with that. I tend to vacuum the open areas and haven't been pulling out the plastic plants and getting the corners. That will change.
Cories get fed mix of shrimp pellets, sinking wafers, and algae wafers (+ what small amt of food the tetras and danios miss)
I'd appreciate any help anyone can give me.
Thanks,
Melissa
