Leopard Cory Looking Pale?

[pollyandpear]

Good morning!

Good news is tank is back up to temperature, fish are alive and tank seems to have settled after the water change.

I have ordered a new HOB filter, and a new thermometer. I did like the OASE one but given the risk of it happening again I have decided on a different set.

I also ordered some small suction cup plant holders so the plants you guys mentioned can still have their roots in the water but grow out of the tank.

Hopefully now, with close monitoring, all will be okay and I can add some more fish in the future.

 

[Hufsa]

Good news is tank is back up to temperature, fish are alive and tank seems to have settled after the water change.

Glad to hear 😊

Hopefully now, with close monitoring, all will be okay and I can add some more fish in the future.

I would watch for a while and make sure the corydoras are in 100% health before you get any more fish. Otherwise you might be adding the new ones to a tank that isnt quite stable yet 🙂

 

[hypnogogia]

I have ordered a new HOB filter, and a new thermometer. I did like the OASE one but given the risk of it happening again I have decided on a different set.

Was there not the option of getting spares for the Oase filter, ie new heater and media baskets (which presumably had molten from the heater)?

 

[pollyandpear]

Was there not the option of getting spares for the Oase filter, ie new heater and media baskets (which presumably had molten from the heater)?

Well I bought it from aquacadabra and they said they could send me a replacement once I had returned the original, so that would leave me without a filter (well, my old one) until then. I've inserted the filter media from my original filter (fluvial u3) that has been in the OASE filter too, see photo attached.

Everything now installed, water toped up, was a bugger to prime a small volume of water but luckily I had a clean 0.3ml injection needle from my cat so used that.

Excuse the mess around the tank, and I haven't got suction cup holders for the grass yet!

Now hopefully as this change is over and my fish can live in peace!

I have to say, the HOB filter is a lot more intrusive looking, but hopefully will work well and do what needs to be done.

 

[pollyandpear]

Just found one fish dead. Devastated.
Checked water with a dip stick, ammonia looked a bit high, so have done a 25% water change. Praying this helps

 

[Hufsa]

Just found one fish dead. Devastated.
Checked water with a dip stick, ammonia looked a bit high, so have done a 25% water change. Praying this helps

Sorry to hear about the fish 🙁 If I were in your shoes I would do the water changes daily going forward for a while, regardless of what any test says. I would make those 50% changes as well, if not a bit more.

 

[pollyandpear]

Okay. I need to get something to make water changes easier as at the moment to do a 50% water change I'd need to do 8 10 litre buckets!

 

[Hufsa]

Okay. I need to get something to make water changes easier as at the moment to do a 50% water change I'd need to do 8 10 litre buckets!

A fairly budget friendly option is just a garden hose, for draining you only need the exit of the hose to be lower than the tank.
For filling you could either connect directly to the tap or use a water container with a pump attached to the hose. Gardena sells a tap fitting you can just snap on for instance. Just remember the chlorine treatment, if youre not pretreating the water before it gets into the tank, you need to put the treatment into the tank a few minutes before the water comes in, and dose for the entire tank volume instead of the water change volume. Dont forget to temperature match

Getting that water changed out regularly is really important for your fish, its like CPR while the filter bacteria work overtime to try to get on top of things. Dilution of the poison is the key.

 

[pollyandpear]

Oh wait, so when I do a water change, I dose the entire tank volume, not just the added water?

 

[hypnogogia]

Oh wait, so when I do a water change, I dose the entire tank volume, not just the added water?

That depends. If you dose the water change water before it goes in, you just dose for that volume. If, on the other hand you dose into the tank, you will need to dose for the entire tank volume.

 

[Conort2]

I normally dose for the tank volume as prime is very economical but I don’t think it will cause you any issues dosing for the amount you’ve changed.

The main thing is keeping up with the water changes as frequently as you can at the moment. Get yourself an adapter that fits on your kitchen tap which you can then run a hose from, this will make water changes simple.

 

[pollyandpear]

Just an update, done plenty of water changes in last three days, am now tending to treat the whole tank volume when I do the changes, so 4ml each time.

So far no more fish have died. I've reduced the amount I'm feeding them for now. I try and siphon as much poo from the sand surface as possible, they produce so much for only three fish!

The snails are prolific.

I did notice that the mesh bags containing gravel had some trapped air bubbles, which I believe can be dangerous, so I've tried to prod all the bags to get rid of the bubbles.

 

[hypnogogia]

trapped air bubbles

Trapped air bubbles are not dangerous. If, on the other hand, the bubbles are hydrogen sulphide (rotten eggs smell) then that’s not good as it is toxic.

 

[pollyandpear]

Ah no there was no smell.















At what point does a tank become less stressful. So many people I k ow have fish and they have these tiny tanks with no real plants and the fish seem to survive, but when I've tried to do everything right I've fAiled :



And at what point can I intrude some blue tetra and some more corys (To boost their group number, though I may go for the bronze cory which I believe do better in hard water)

 

[Hufsa]

At what point does a tank become less stressful. So many people I k ow have fish and they have these tiny tanks with no real plants and the fish seem to survive, but when I've tried to do everything right I've fAiled :

Its very common for the start to be a terribly stressful time. Especially for those with a big heart for animals, we take it very seriously if the fish are not doing well.
Theres a lot to learn just at first, but once your tank is a few months old and things have settled, it will be much less stressful and you can sit back and enjoy the fish and the plants.
Low tech tanks (so tanks with no CO2 injection) are best for this style. With lots of plants they almost "run themselves".

And at what point can I intrude some blue tetra and some more corys (To boost their group number, though I may go for the bronze cory which I believe do better in hard water)

I would give it several weeks since the last death before thinking about adding more livestock 🙂 This is so you dont get any more unpleasant events.
And when you do get more fish, I highly recommend adding just a few at a time.
In other words if you can split the groups up and spread the purchases out a little bit, this will help your tank deal with the increased stocking load.
Lets say for example you want 10 fish. If you buy 5 first and then go back to get 5 more a week or two later, it will be safer for the balance of the tank.
Its really difficult to wait but it really pays off in the long run! 😃
If you still have the first corydoras species I would not get a second species, but rather add more to the group that you already have. They prefer to be with their own kind, and some species can hybridise which is very frowned upon.

If your fingers are really itching to do something with the tank, now would be a great time to add plants and decorations (just dont disturb the tank too much with the activities).
Doing research and planning for the future can also be done while you wait for time to pass (it passes awfully slowly when one is waiting i have found 😅 )

 

[pollyandpear]

Thank you! No you make complete sense! Okay, the only reason I thought of other corys were due to the mention of leopard corys not being the best for hard water. My intention is to get a few more copies, a school of tetra or danio and then at a later date introduce a pleco Or something else. More than happy to spread this out over a long time.



I think I have enough plants haha only want to get some monte carlo now. aha!

 

[Jorge O'Reilly]

I find the high ammonia point hard to digest. Having healthy plants should avoid that, in pretty much any scenario. Plants absorb ammonia almost instantly... Perhaps the water movement from the HOB causes loss of CO2 and hence lowers the ammonia uptake? You have no injection, don't you? I'd consider adding floaters/more emersed growth or something until things stabilize. The tank looks crystal clear, so the problems you speak of sound odd.

 

[Hufsa]

Thank you! No you make complete sense! Okay, the only reason I thought of other corys were due to the mention of leopard corys not being the best for hard water.

Trilineatus? Nah, they're one of the super popular corys and shouldnt need any special water parameters, tap water is perfectly good 🙂

My intention is to get a few more copies, a school of tetra or danio and then at a later date introduce a pleco Or something else. More than happy to spread this out over a long time.

That sounds like a good plan 😊 Adding the livestock slowly will reward you in unseen ways. Not having to deal with sick or dying fish is worth taking the time. Most of us have learned this the hard way, im not particularly patient myself but it did finally sink in at some point that slow and steady is a much nicer route to take 😄

I think I have enough plants haha only want to get some monte carlo now. aha!

Monte Carlo might be a bit difficult in low tech 🤔 If you like the look of Hydrocotyle tripartita (its like little clovers), I can highly recommend that as an alternative, a really easy (bombproof) carpet plant.
To make this one grow lower to the ground you can press it down with your hand once a week, the plant can sense it and will grow more horizontally.
It even comes in a mini variety, which is approx 1/3 the size of the standard version.


Im not surprised there may be ammonia spikes, this is a fairly new tank still. The original was set up a little while ago, but then it was transferred, so it will still need some time. The plants are not established quite yet either, and the filter microbes need to multiply to the right amount. So theres nothing wrong or unusual about the tank, its very normal. It just needs more time (and some water changes if the ammonia or nitrite gets any readings).

 

[pollyandpear]

Another cory died.















No idea why. I did a small eater change yesterday (30 litres) and added some new plants (the ones recommended above for the floor).

Gutted. Only 2 left now and I feel defeated.







I did a

 

[The Miniaturist]

I'm sorry you're having such a tough time with your tank. Having the filter & heater fail is bad enough without losing fish as well. Try not to feel defeated, you've still got two little guys to care for so keep up with the water changes, they can only do good. If you're still using buckets, even three or four a day will help, just make sure the temp matches & use dechlorinator.
Have you removed the ophiopongon grass as @Hufsa recommended? Even if you just keep it in a cup on the windowsill it will be ok &saves it decaying in the tank. Just be very gentle uprooting it, give the plants a little shake as you pull them up & the sand grains will fall off without clouding the water.
I noticed a lead weight on one of the plants, have any others got those on? It's usually better to remove them completely & plant the stems individually in a group as the lead can cause squeeze the stems & cause them to rot, creating ammonia which you don't want. You have lovely sand (I'm a big sand fan) so planting is easy, the grains grip stems perfectly!
Keep on with your journal, everyone is here to help. 😊