OK so my 38 gal is now a tropical tank. I have 5 Rasboras, a load of guppies (who knows?? Babies all the time so I'm treating it as survival of the fittest so I'm not overrun) & a couple of platys (something bizzare carried them off. I think it was mainly old age - they were 2 years old).

My problem is this- I keep trying to keep corys & they keep dying. I usually buy them in batches of 3-4 & I'm feeding them sinking food so ...any ideas??? I'm totally at a loss. Everyone else seems to be fine.

Help!!! Jenn

What kind of sinking food do you feed? Meaty or veggie? A common mistake is that people think they are algae eaters, but they are not.

What symptoms do they show and how long do you have them before they start acting sick or die?

Is there salt in that water?

I would just like to add to what Kissy is saying on the salt question.
Most cory's can't tolerate salt in the water. I had about ten different species at one time. I salted the tank to treat disease and all died except my green corys. They seem to be the toughest of them all.

If I am not mistaken don't guppies need salt in the water?

that is so bizzare, coz my lfs has little info signs above all the fish and above corys it says 'will thrive with a little salt in the tank'. next time i'm there i'll have to mention that this isnt the case.

I haven't kept corys but I found this link that may be helpful for you.cory info

I have kept pygmy corys with a betta before in a low dose salted tank (0.1%) for a couple weeks while I was treating the bettas torn fins and the Corys seemed to be absolutely fine, I noticed no changes in behaviour or anything. I think it just all depends.

I think generally speaking, salt should be avoided with corys but I think low dose salting for a short period, if really needed, can work out OK. I'm not so sure about a permanent salted environment though if that is the case

Oy! OK so far - nope no salt in the tank. The guppies are doing well enough without it (if they were any better they'd be in every container in the house). The guy in the store (yeah yeah I know but I couldn't find a good link & it was a semi-spur of the moment decision) that I could try algae tabs (smacks her head in frustration). What other sinking food should I try? I already feed flake, daphnia & a live bearer mix in that tank (which contains blood worms yum yum. I know they're not live bearers but all of my babies seem to go for bloodworms so....)

No symptoms. They just disappear & then I either find them dead or I don't ever see them again (not on the floor nothin'). Very bizzare. I bought larger ones this time (thinking that maybe it was a picking on issue. Although I've never seen any evidence that this is happening in the tank)

I'm off to check that link!!

Thanks!!

edit: OK - this is the third time I've posed this edit. I'm starting to feel a bit . The link was great! Maybe not enough meat?? Any suggestions on brands??

I used to feed my pygmy corys TetraPrima MiniGranules, I suppose it would be suitable for other types of Corys as well.

They are slow sinking granules for small midwater and bottom feeding fish and are suppose to be a mixture of granules for both herbivores and omnivores - so Corys will eat both types. They were very well accepted by my fish as their staple diet.

They also do larger granules just called TetraPrima, I think they would be suitable for Corys as well. Only thing is, I'm not totally sure if they are available in the US, you'll need to check that out.

Here is the link anyway, you need to click for the info on each food

http://www.tetra-fish.co.uk/tetratropical/...tesection=Food#

I'm not sure this if this is what you wanted? Hope it helps anyway

Just a thought... Have you always purchased them from the same place? Sometimes I dont have luck with certain shops, the fish seem unhealthy and dont have a chance to begin with.

Hi jen,too bad I don't ship-I gotta ton of those guys-at least 12 different types.First off,what is your ph,and what kinds of Cories have you tried?
My Cories love Frozen Blood worms,but they also get a mixed diet of algae wafers/Spirulina flakes/ Shrimp Pellets/fresh cooked soft Zuchinni/cukecumber(that may take a while if they're not use to it) and Tropical fish flakes.Some Cory species are hardier than others-some prefer,or do better in the lower 70's temp range-it really depends on what types you've been trying.Sometimes bottom dweller's are best added when tanks have been established a bit longer. What size water changes do you do on this tank?

This is my tank that been up & running for about 2 1/2 years now (remember that forever cycle awhile back...the one that took like 12-14 weeks.....) No disease that I know of (although another cory died this AM).

pH runs 7.2-7.4 rock solid.

That tank is a 38 gal which currently is understocked (although as I said if all those guppy babies live....& they make more babies.....& then the platys get on the bandwagon.... )

I have been vac about 30-50% every 2 weeks. (My tests have been fine. As you know the only thing I have no control over is the amount of nitrate in my tanks. My tap comes with 20-40 (usually 40 - I still test it every now & again) so I'm pretty much always around 40-80 unless I change 100% of the water so I can be at 40 - depressing no??) The tank has a fluval 404 cannister on it. I use the biomax type stuff along with prefilter (the hard cylinders). I don't use any carbon. The cannister also has sponges (for those of you who aren't familar with it).

OK so far I have (don't laugh! I don't know as much about these guys as I know I should) striped cories?? The adults seem to get between 2.5-3" long. (I had green corys but they really didn't do well). I think I need to get some tropical flakes. I just realized the flakes I've been using are spirulina based & don't have much protein. Do you think this may have something to do with what's going on???

Thanks for the help!!!! Jenn

PS - Hey Devs...I just noticed in my sig ...I'm a guy???? Guess I know what part of the site I'm headed to next!

PPS As I remember ...wasn't it your fault that I'm so addicted???.......Hmmm.....now I'm onto tropicals.....hmmm........

They should be fed meatier foods like sinking shrimp pellets, catfish wafers etc. I don't think that would be the issue because it would take a long time for them to waste away and die off from poor nutrition (unless they've only been fed algae wafers at the store ) Do they look well fed when you buy them? Maybe you should ask the store if they are feeding the right types of foods. That could save your fish and a whole lot more if that's the problem.

It could be possibly bad luck and bad stock. The same thing happens with me and goldfish, but they always show symptoms of parasites a couple days after I bring them home, and oddly enough, they are usually different types. I think it is easier to diagnose diseases and symptoms in goldfish than most tropicals though..

Are you testing the ph from the store to see how close it is to yours?How are you acclimating them? My cories actually enjoy their ph's at lower levels,but I do have some that are kept at around 7.2 How fast are they dying after they're added into the tank?

Anywhere from the same day to 3-4 weeks later. I finally got 2 minutes to rub together & bought some other food - including some special sinking food. The 2 largest corys from the last batch are still here so far (a record!!!) so maybe it is a picking on thing. I lost quite a few male guppies before I figuered out what was up & I even had a 3-1 ratio (or more) of girls to boys. My one male is very agressive - do you think it's possible he has anything to do with it?? I've never seen him at it but.....whadda think??

(My pH & the store's are identical)

Sigh.....

Thanks for the help!!! Jenn