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A couple of the ones I just "rescued" had some barbell problems... they wont lift them... ok bad joke.

But they do really, and if you have ever seen the tanks at the local buy everything here mart then you know what I am talking about hehe. Anyways I hope it clears up!

MQW

I would agree to test your water for nitrites and pH.

Thanks For all the Replys
It was a very Usefull Post



Miguel

Face up make your stand and realize your living in the golden Years

"Huh. That's certainly food for thought. I can't say that I've seen evidence that substrate causes barbel erosion either; maybe the cause is neither nitrates nor substrate. I don't know of any experiments which have been done on this subject in a scientific fashion, which is unfortunate."

I have seen arcuatus/panaque barbels reclining in the wake of large grain gravelage. Thankfully, it was noticed early and they grew back (albeit not anywhere cloes to their full length) as soon as they were moved to the sand lined display tank.

Huh. That's certainly food for thought. I can't say that I've seen evidence that substrate causes barbel erosion either; maybe the cause is neither nitrates nor substrate. I don't know of any experiments which have been done on this subject in a scientific fashion, which is unfortunate.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

"Right, but where does it relate to barbels? In your previous post you stated that the Corydoras in these wild habitats all retained long barbels."

Correct. I was merely giving you some background information on the quality of the water during these periods. Keep in mind that many transhippers often have a catfish explosion during these seasons, as they become easy to harvest, and yet, stock usually arrives with the long, flowing barbels quoted. Thus, by reasonable assumption, the cories in the charcos retain their long barbels despite high nitrate levels. You could always contact these indivduals if you have any questions on the matter. But from what I've seen in my respective cories, I tend to agree with the idea that nitrates do not result in massive barbel erosion.

" In the dry season many fishes are trapped in charcos (pools), oxbows that become disconnected from the main river, and canos that receive no water at all since their only water source is the surrounding plains or jungle because they are not connected to any permanent (i.e. mountain) water source. Many "rivers" simply become a long series of disconnected pools. The dry season is hot (no clouds to block the sun) and the remaining waters evaporate very quickly. A charco 20 feet across and a foot deep may be completely gone after 2-3 sunny days. The constant shrinking due to evaporation causes conductivity and nitrates to rise. I have seen charcos one meter square and two inches deep holding a 1,000 Corydoras. One can only imagine the nitrate levels.
I took the following readings in Venezuela. The Rio Tinaco is a proper river that receives some water all year round from the Andes although it may be a trickle in the high dry season. The Santo Domingo is a cano. These are dry season readings. The two rivers are 10 miles apart.

Tinaco: pH 7.0 conductivity 1,100 mu, Temp 84F
Santa Domingo: pH 7.5 con 3,000 mu, Temp 80F "

Right, but where does it relate to barbels? In your previous post you stated that the Corydoras in these wild habitats all retained long barbels.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Maybe more frequent water changes are not the only answer. Maybe you also need to do larger water changes. What other fish do you have in the tank and how big is the tank? MAybe it is overstocked? How long has the tank been set up? There could be any other number of problems with it unfortunately. I know exacelty how frustrating it can be to have a problem and not know why or what to do abotu it.


Good Luck



Christina

Thanks for all your answers.
I guess I'm now even more confused coz even althougt I don't have a test kit for nitrates I do regular water changes and all the other corys seem fine long Barbels and all. but now I simply think I don't know what think.
Thanks guys but neverthless i'll increase the water changes even so I haven't seen any improvement nor unimprovement of the corys barbels.

ALso he continues to be very active ( he always where by far the most frenetic food seeker ) and he continues to find food and eats it.

well maybe it's just a strange ocurrence maybe UFO's


Thaks Guys.

Face up make your stand and realize your living in the golden Years

I know about the water evaporation stranding fish in small, pollutant-heavy bodies of water, but I would think that either the cories' barbels would deteriorate or the fish would die first. What source did you obtain this information from?
Shane Linder:
" In the dry season many fishes are trapped in charcos (pools), oxbows that become disconnected from the main river, and canos that receive no water at all since their only water source is the surrounding plains or jungle because they are not connected to any permanent (i.e. mountain) water source. Many "rivers" simply become a long series of disconnected pools. The dry season is hot (no clouds to block the sun) and the remaining waters evaporate very quickly. A charco 20 feet across and a foot deep may be completely gone after 2-3 sunny days. The constant shrinking due to evaporation causes conductivity and nitrates to rise. I have seen charcos one meter square and two inches deep holding a 1,000 Corydoras. One can only imagine the nitrate levels.
I took the following readings in Venezuela. The Rio Tinaco is a proper river that receives some water all year round from the Andes although it may be a trickle in the high dry season. The Santo Domingo is a cano. These are dry season readings. The two rivers are 10 miles apart.

Tinaco: pH 7.0 conductivity 1,100 mu, Temp 84F
Santa Domingo: pH 7.5 con 3,000 mu, Temp 80F "

The thing is that barbel erosion is usually an irreversible process that is, once barbels are eroded, very rarely will they grow back, even in the most pristine of conditions. Whatever the quoted aquarist experienced is INCREDIBLY rare. Per example, a recent stocking list produced about 30 sterbai, all of which came in with tiny, nearly nonextant whiskers. The wholesaler had reported that the transhipper had found them like that, which I believe as we usually recieve high quality callicthyid stock from them. They are currently in my twenty long with x1 ancistomus and a few upper level fish. There are, due to the three huge ferns in the vicinity, no nitrates to be heard of, and it shows with my previous sterbais; no problems with barbels. However, the recently added five have been nitrate free for almost two months, and there has been only minor reparations on some, none on others.

"...in the wild, dry season restrict corydoras habitat to the point where there can be literally thousands of fish in water only inches deep for a month or more--the nitrates there skyrocket! Yet, even then, they retain long, healthy barbels."

I know about the water evaporation stranding fish in small, pollutant-heavy bodies of water, but I would think that either the cories' barbels would deteriorate or the fish would die first. What source did you obtain this information from?

I'm inclined to think that nitrates are the problem because seventh_son_of_ed says that his catfish have only had barbel problems recently. It doesn't make sense that the substrate would be affecting them at this point, when it has been fine all along. In stores, I often see different barbel lengths on Corydoras in seperate tanks. The substrate is the same, so I figure the problem has to be water-quality related. Not all store tanks have the same level of stocking and live plants (for those that have them), nitrates seem like the probable answer here.

I read an article on the Internet last year about an aquarist who was keeping cories in a tank with rounded gravel. The catfish all had short barbels, but it wouldn't seem that the substrate was the problem. The tank water had high nitrates. As a test, he moved the cories into a tank with low nitrates but a crushed glass substrate. There were sharp edges which presumably would have sliced up the barbels. However, not only did this not happen, but the barbels grew back part of the way! If this all is indeed true, it sounds like evidence that substrate may not have as much or any effect on the barbels of Corydoras after all. I realize that this sounds a bit convenient, so I'll see if I can find the story.

Last edited by sirbooks at 26-Oct-2005 20:03

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Hi there

My aquarium has 6 corys (2 albino 2 bronze 1 assorted and 1 panda). they all seem fine but last 2 days 1 of my albino cory had her "moustache" Shortened and I don't see why.
All my other fish seem ok i inclusively have 4 Platty Fry and they seem to be ok.
IS it normal or is it something bad going on??
I have this cory for about a year and a half it was my first fish. please help..

Face up make your stand and realize your living in the golden Years

I hope your lil' guy gets better soon. I am having a "Cory" problem myself. Unfortunately, my "Cory" is not a fish. Go Figure....




Christina

I don't know if it's a question of nitrates, as I regularly bring my breeding tanks up past 30 ppm for breeding purposes, yet the lone brochis sp. "black" has a healthy set of whiskers. In fact, in the wild, dry season restrict corydoras habitat to the point where there can be literally thousands of fish in water only inches deep for a month or more--the nitrates there skyrocket! Yet, even then, they retain long, healthy barbels.

Last edited by Cup_of_Lifenoodles at 25-Oct-2005 16:38

My Substract is small pebbles. but I haven't changed it nor add any more for a year and a half.
Also both my Albino corys where the first inhabitants of the tank and therefore are in contact with it from the begining.

Face up make your stand and realize your living in the golden Years

What's your substrate?

Yes, hopefully your Corydoras will get better with the mid-week water changes & please keep us posted.


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I usually clean the gravel in my water changes but maybe I'm not doing it as often as i should be
Yesterday I started my new agenda and made the first midweek water change
I hope the cory gets better

Face up make your stand and realize your living in the golden Years

Remember to clean the gravel well aswell. Not only water changes, but also cleaning.


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Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
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Thaks by the answer that was my guess but I'm a bit short on money to buy the test kit and near me there isn't a shop that makes water tests. I have a 72 litre thank and I change 25 litres per week I guess I'll start doing another 25 litres change in the midle of the week

Face up make your stand and realize your living in the golden Years