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I just got four Emerald Cories and two German Blue Rams to put in my 20g along with six little tetras. Everybody else seems happy, but the cories are going nuts! They're constantly swimming up and down the glass and along the sides, to the point where I'm wondering if something's wrong with them. They were pretty quiet a few hours ago, mostly just wandering the bottom. The only thing I can think of is that it's getting dark and they're nocturnal.

Other than this odd behavior, there appears to be nothing wrong. Water is good, no signs of disease or sickness, even nitrates are fairly low, around 6 ppm as of yesterday.

Anybody got any ideas? Should I maybe just wait it out and see if they calm down a bit?

EDIT: A couple of extra details: Temp is around 80, pH 7.6, GH 6.


[span class="edited"][Edited by Silverlight 2004-08-10 17:34][/span]

Are they going up the entire way to the surface to gulp air or just up and down the sides of the glass?

If they go to the surface to get air, it could be that there isn't enough dissolved oxygen at the bottom of the tank due to the rather high temperature of the tank, although 80 is by no means extreme.

If it is just along the sides of the glass, my corys did that from time to time, and I don't think it to be a cause for alarm.

Joe Potato

Well, it's the next morning, and they seem to have done it all night. They're calmer this morning though, they seem to be exercising in shifts.

They go up, down, and along the glass, but don't usually tap the surface, but that could just be because the surface water is a lot more oxygenated.

Usually when fish do that, it means there is a water quality issue.... or the fish comes from fast flowing streams, and they are sonstantly swimming at the glass thinking that they are going somewhere.

I just got 2 corys, and mine goes up and down the side of the tank (it looks like ii is eating stuff, like planteria) but only one does it.

If their not getting enough air, you will see them breath really fast.. i found that out the hard way.. luckily i saved them (the one cory was floating on the surface breathing heavily)

One of my emerald cories seems to be doing that too, swimming around the sides of the tank, and up to the top. I don't understand it, as none of my other cories have done it, but it seems to be healthy. I guess it is just cory behavior!:%)

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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."

I'm thinking Cory behavior at this point. They're not gulping air (although they do splash the surface and cruise along with a wake ) and there are no other signs of stress in the tank.

Thanks for the help.