# Dwarf Corys



## Round Head (Feb 28, 2006)

I had a bunch of Habrosus and Pygmeaus, 40 of each and they seem to die off day by day.
I was wondering if these fish have a short life span or could it be the fertilizer issue.
Any experts like to share your knowledge?

Thanks


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## jARDINI (Sep 2, 2007)

i had 2 panda corys and 2 albino corys in a tank. i was actually adding to much fertilizers and they are still living today


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## elaphe (Aug 24, 2006)

I've had 12 C. habrosus now for over 2 years. They have gone through EI dosing, ADA ferts dosing, and now PPS-Pro. Never had any deaths. They seem to have a typical Cory lifespan.

The biggest thing to remember is that almost all of them are wild caught. You need to make sure you get them from a buyer who quarantines them and treats them for parasites. If they just get them in and ship them out, you will have losses. I don't know what it takes to get them to breed? I've seen my females full of eggs (see avatar), but never any eggs or babies?

I do love these little guys, great little fish.


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## spypet (Jul 27, 2007)

with 4wpg and compressed Co2, are you using a pH controller to regulate Co2, or a timer at night?
if you are just using a timer, perhaps your pH in swinging too wildly for the pygmy corys to tolerate.
I have a dozen Corydoras hastatus with 3.5wpg DIY Co2 and lightly fert trace/micros and have not had any problems with them. my pH stays around neutral, and my gH & kH are kept in the 3-5 soft range.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

In my experience the dwarf cory's are nothing like the regular ones when it comes to water requirements, so I've never had the best luck with them either, even though my regular cory's thrive.

As suggested, it may also be in part because most of them are wild caught.


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## eklikewhoa (Jul 24, 2006)

Probably poor stock or poor water quality.


I have both and they are all fine with high co2, tons of ferts and blasting light.


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## Round Head (Feb 28, 2006)

All of them came from CoryRus and I am thinking about getting some more. I just don't want them to die anymore. 
Yes, I use the timer for my lighting and CO2.
I really don't know the ph swing but I will find out.


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## JustOneMore21 (Mar 19, 2007)

How long have you had them before they started dying off?

If not long, then how did you acclimate them?


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## spypet (Jul 27, 2007)

this is just an educated guess, but should you order more dwarf corys;
maybe isolate them in a separate tank for a week and feed them antibiotic food.
this may reduce the chance they will succumb to alleged diseases they are carrying.

personally I think all these imported vs. tank raised issues here are a lot of nonsense.
most of these fish are imported, and the stress of shipment reduces their resistance.
that's why most good importers and resellers like franksaquarium isolate and treat
all their fish for a week before reselling them to end users.

so it's possible the reseller is simply turning their inventory over too quickly.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Actually CorysRus quarantines them for a least a month and maybe up to 6 weeks after getting them, so they do send out healthy stock.


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## Round Head (Feb 28, 2006)

Jans is correct. I have no doubt on the health of the fish from CoryRus. 
I actually had a healthy shoal for about 3 months from the time of arrival. 
Then the shoal got smaller and smaller until now I hardly see one swimming around.
As a matter of fact all of my tetras are dying off slowly except for the SAEs. 
I am currently lowering my CO2 and reducing my ferts.
For some reason, I am very suspicious of the CSM.


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## erijnal (Apr 5, 2006)

If the cories aren't the only ones that are being affected, then it isn't an isolated incident.

How much are you feeding? Maybe leftover food is causing nitrite/ammonia spikes.


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## Round Head (Feb 28, 2006)

I feed enough for the faster more aggressive feeding fish with just a few crumbs left overs for the bottom feeders. There is absolute zero food remains after 5 minutes of feeding. I also have a huge FX5 filter.


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## gotcheaprice (Sep 4, 2007)

I have 2 corys I bought from my LFS that surprising survived for over 4 months. I see them come and go all the time between drift wood and this big amazon sword, so I don't even know what they do  But I always overfeed a lot, and theres food left over for a while, maybe like an hr, and then I think the corys get to them, and so do the goldfish.


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## KRiley (Jun 30, 2005)

I have had the same thing happen with first batch Cory. hastatus. My hastatus were F1s also...so that would rule out the wild caught theory. I picked up another six hastatus after I lost the majority of my first batch and everything was fine. Very wierd. Sorry I dont have any advice to offer, just sharing a similar experience.


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## bahensley4 (Jul 5, 2007)

I am looking to buy good quality freshwater tropical’s locally, not just from pet shops. I am in the Southern California area. I am looking for reliable shippers in this area. I have read too many scary stories about shipping and “added costs” coming from across the country and even from Arizona. I would appreciate any information available. Thank you.
Red.


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## Round Head (Feb 28, 2006)

bahensley4 said:


> I am looking to buy good quality freshwater tropical's locally, not just from pet shops. I am in the Southern California area. I am looking for reliable shippers in this area. I have read too many scary stories about shipping and "added costs" coming from across the country and even from Arizona. I would appreciate any information available. Thank you.
> Red.


These dwarf corys don't ship very well.
I recently bought 90 of them from CoryRus and had over 40 DOA.
I won't be buying any more of these guys through the mail anymore; too much trouble.
At least you can eliminate DOA from local purchase.

They are doing great in a non-planted tank right now.


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