FishProfiles.com Message Forums

my oldest cory (at least 3 years old) started displaying odd behavior this morning. she is a bronze cory, got her before i knew corys should be kept in schools(she schools with my juliis though). she has been a very healthy and happy fish, has survived through my first tank setups and what not, a very hardy fish to say the least.

today she was acting normally, but occasionally whn next to one of the other cories she would do a half body roll so she was almost laying on her side, then right her self. her motor skills and swimming seems normal. she doesnt do it all the time or when she is by herself or napping, she has only done it around the ram and a couple of my juliis...i have never seen her do this before...is this normal? i hope so, cause i know rotating and rolling like that in most fish is a sign of swim bladder problems (i hope not)

I don't think it's due to a disease or swim bladder problem. I can't say its not a bad sign either though. Your cory might be getting old and this is the result of aging? I hope not!

But, when you mentioned she would do a half body roll, almost laying by her side, is this something that she does intentionally, or is it like she's 'standing still' and then slowly falling to her side (like a man falling without moving)? If it's an intentional, quick, scratching on gravel motion, then you might have a problem. The problem may be ich.

http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/disease/whitespot.htm

I haven't had this problem myself, but one of the symptoms is that fish do scratch against objects against the tanks due to irritation. The above link will give you much information and treatment procedures. I would like to mention to that I have seen my fish scratch against the gravel in a quick motion, but have been perfectly fine (i think...). I'd keep an eye on her for a couple more days, see if this behavior clears up or possibly worsens. I wish you the best of luck!

Oh, and if it does get worse, I would suggest you bring this to the "Hospital" forums.

well, she was swimming when she would do it, and she only did it around other fish when she got close to them, i havent seen her do it when she is by herself, nor does she do it when she is sitting still...i hope she isnt getting old..had her for 3 years since she was less than 1" long

There are two things that come to mind. One, your cory could just be getting pushed over by current and get lazy about righting itself. I think this behavior is more likely to be shown by certain individual fish than others, and it may not be noticeable much of the time. I see one of my own cories do this once in a while, though they don't list so much. They start to fall over, then right themself before going all the way.

The other thing is that your cory may be "flashing". This normally happens if the fish has gotten a bit of food stuck in its gill plate or has irritating parasites. The fish will do a partial barrel-roll to scratch itself against a surface, usually while swimming. It's a fairly quick motion, and can readily be told apart from the lazy behavior of a cory that just gets knocked over by water flow.

Just keep a wary eye on the bronze cory to see if this behavior repeats itself often, or seems to be accompanied with other symptoms.

---

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

To reassure you about the age question, by the way, most Corys are expected to live beyon 10 years, and in mny cases as long as 15 years. The Guinness Book Of Records lists one Bronze Cory as a contender for "oldest tropical fish ever", a specimen being cited in that book as having lived for - wait for it - pthirty four years. Yes, that's right, 34 years!

So if there are no disease problems to worry about, I think your Bronze Cory has a good deal of life left in her. Plus, it's possible that if your Cory is a female, she may live longer than an equivalent male, though I haven't seen any sources that report any noticeable differential in life expectancy between male and female fishes. A topic that I think should attract some research funding ... anyone care to pay me to conduct this research?

As said above, watch closely, look for visibly manifest signs of disease, and the moment they appear, treat them.

mind you, I do admit to being puzzled by your citing that the fish in question only seems to perform this half-roll in the company of other fishes. It could be that your Bronze Cory is looking for males of her own species to mate with, and is venting some frustration at having none! Try introducing some male Bronze Corys into the aquarium, and see what happens, ESPECIALLY after a large water change and gravel vac - you could end up being pleasantly surprised! It's worth a shot ... who knows?


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

she hasnt demonstrated the behavior in the last 24 hours, and she wouldnt actually touch the gravel when she would flop on her side. i belive she is female due to how she looks from above, very wide...is there any other sure indicators of gender?

my problem is i would add more but already my tank is at maximum, and i am fearfull to add more fish to my 29 gallon. already have 2 cherrybarbs,6lemon tetras,7 corydoras,and a bolivian ram.

i have no where to spawn them but in a 7 gallon tank, and i have had no experience with spawning fish. I sure hope that this odd behavior is not due to frustration from lack of a mate. also, this behavior was triggered just after I did a major tank dis assembly and reassembly to gravel vac everything and i also did a 60% water change. perhaps it was spawning frustration, i do hope since she hasnt done it recently.

EDIT: after posting I went to read up some on bronze cories breeding habits. after cleaning the tank i had a drop in PH to 6.5 before the PH buffer kicked in. it says a water change and drop in ph to 6.3 triggers spawning. maybe cas was right, i sure hope so, she is my fav cory and i would hate for it to be serious. at least she seems normal today.

Got a tape measure handy?

What are the dimensions of your 29? Length x width x height in inches?

Trouble is, I'm UK based, so to me, 29 gallons is a fair sized aquarium, but US gallons are smaller. I tend to work better on tank dimensions - then I can determine if you would be overstocking if you added a couple of male Bronzes ...


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

small, 24"lenth,13" depth,22" high... its a very tall aquarium, so i really doubt there is enough space on the bottom for even the 7 that i have right now

those measurements arent precise, i dont have a tape measure handy

Question. If you have a us 29 I assume that you have purchased this tank from walmart or some other type store as a kit and its an all glass aquarium. I do this because it is a very common scenario. If it is, and you have not changed anything from the kit I wouldn't do much. But if you have over filtered your tank and change the water often you can prolly fudge a second or third bronze in to the tank. It's just an opinion and I don't much condone overstocking, But it may make her happier to have a friend its own type.

22 inches TALL?

Wow. That's an Angelfish tank.

I don't think I've EVER seen an aquarium that tall in a UK dealer's. Tallest we run to is 18 inches, and usually, we prefer to increase length and width before adding height. Makes life a bit awkward for Angelfish and Discus keepers, but serious Discus fanatics here in the UK order custom made tanks, and some outfits here do occasionally list an extra tall tank in their catalogues. However, the tallest I've seen "in the flesh" as it were, as opposed to in a catalogue, is 18 inches.

Another advantage of UK stock sizes is that the bigger ones cover a larger floor area than their nominal US counterparts, and consequently place less stress on floor joists.

A UK aquarium holding a similar water capacity to yours would be 48" x 12" x 12" ... you would have PLENTY of floor space for extra Corys in that. Plus the surface area would be a LOT bigger, facilitating greater gas exchange.




Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

exactly, which is why i have to be very carefull about over stocking, there isnt much surface area. i hope to someday re-enforce me stand i have(which is larger than my current tank and made to hold a 35-40 gallon tank around 20" tall) and then add a 36 gallon tank, more bottom room, at the moment i dont have the cash to do so. untill then, i cannot safely add more cories as i do not want too much of a bio load on the tank.

regarding the original cory issue, she has ceased this behavior and only did it when my ph dropped due to a massive tank cleaning,and had 50% fresh water in the tank. from what i can determine, it was frustration over spawning, as she hasnt exhibited the behavior since.

P.S. its not from a kit, i doubt that the even would have a kit that large in a walmart or other chain of general store, largest i have seen in such places was 20g kits.
the tank was purchased used from a co worker several months ago,it currently has two aquaclear 50 over the back filters and a rather powerfull airstone setup