The Hastatus Century Club

[ralliart12]

My tank is sand based and the layer of sand is super thin. The worms generally don't have much to bury themselves in.

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Oh yah, I recalled your tank setup.

If you have a deep layer of gravel/sand/soil, don't drop the whole ball of worms in. Use a glass bowl or some porcelain feeding dish instead. If the worms burrow into the substrate and die in there because of unknown reasons, you might have a massive problem on your hands.

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Yes, I'm am trying to avoid having worms burying into the soil. Currently I am feeding extremely small amounts so that I can be confident that the worms will never make their way around. But at the end of the day, I'm stillI dropping the worms onto the substrate. Previously I did try to use a container (a small glass container) to house the worms inside the tank, but the challenge is that the wall of that container is too high & sometimes (more often than not), the corys will swim in & perceived that they cannot swim out. Then they panic. If the container wall is too low, the worms may (get thrown) crawl out.

Maybe I should look for a container which is neither too high or too low...want to suction it to my wall...but most of such (glass) containers have no way to attach anything to it.

[Mystikboy]

Perhaps diy/ get something with an inclined base, such that the worms cannot worm their way out but the cories should easily find their way out

Just a rough sketch of sorts. Hope it helps!

[RonWill]

Ralliart, a cory's favorite activity is sticking their little noses into fine substrate, foraging for food. It's unnatural, if otherwise, but if you're concerned of worms in substrate (which I see nothing wrong in and of itself), then keep your substrate thin. I'll bet your bottom dollar that the cories will sniff it out. A shallow feeding dish will work as well.

...want to suction it to my wall...but most of such (glass) containers have no way to attach anything to it.

Heard of gUSH Crystal Pod?

[ralliart12]

Perhaps diy/ get something with an inclined base, such that the worms cannot worm their way out but the cories should easily find their way out

Just a rough sketch of sorts. Hope it helps!

@Mystikboy: I am unable to load your sketch (even when I hit the URL directly) but I roughly get what you mean. Thanks, I will consider this approach.

Ralliart, a cory's favorite activity is sticking their little noses into fine substrate, foraging for food. It's unnatural...then keep your substrate thin...A shallow feeding dish will work as well...

Yes, I have seen online videos of them living in their real-world, natural habitat. On the other hand, I adore planted tanks. As a matter of fact, eventually my current tank housing them, is "supposed" to have a carpet of glosso. So, whether I make the substrate thin now, or not, it does not matter eventually; my needs may be better served with a feeding mechanism that is off the substrate.

...but if you're concerned of worms in substrate (which I see nothing wrong in and of itself)...

I'll be a bit more cautious with regards to this aspect though, I have had a large batch of fishes wiped out on me, simply because the worms left in the tank decided all to die overnight (& claim the lives of the fishes with them)

...I'll bet your bottom dollar that the cories will sniff it out...

Yup, even when I stopped feeding them, I see them nosing (literally) around the less fine beads of my power-type aquasoil and GEX shrimp soil (which, is quite large-beaded). Perhaps it's their habit; I hope they do not uproot my glosso though.

...Heard of gUSH Crystal Pod?

Of course. But previously, I was using this:



& there will always be a few from my shoal that seems unable to swim out after they enter this wide-mouth glass container, i.e. they sniff their way almost to the rim but always seem to think there's a cover stopping them from swimming out. After which they will panic a lot & ran into each other (the rest who also think that they are trapped inside). I am concerned this isn't conducive for their well-being. So, given that the Gush crystal pod has also high walls (& a very slightly) narrower mouth, I'm afraid the "panic-&-ramming-into-each-other") situation will repeat itself.

Incidentally, I have also heard of the Gush Feed Pod.

[tetrakid]

Cory's are an abnormality of nature in that they have eyes but cannot see anything, lol...

[vannel]

I tend to think they just cant see that there's a glass panel in front of them! Ever considered a feeding bowl of solid colour?

[stormhawk]

A solid ceramic or porcelain bowl will be fairly useful in this respect. Even a hand made clay dish will be good. Even when eating worms they don't eat it all at once or just slurp it in. They'll pause, chew and gobble the next one. Pretty slow ingestion if you ask me. The sponge pad method used at GC that allows the worms to drop in slowly with a dish or bowl beneath it should be helpful.

[ralliart12]

Oh dear, I lost one today:

[stormhawk]

Looks like an inflammation of the gut.

[ralliart12]

Looks like an inflammation of the gut.

Is this ailment the same as what you have mentioned before (see below)?

When that dreaded red spot appears, there's little you can do. It's a sore of some sort and quite lethal...

What could have caused this inflammation of the gut? & how can I prevent it?

[stormhawk]

They're similar I think. The inflammation could have come from parasites that were present on the worms or whatever you were feeding them. Prevention means feeding clean food whenever possible. Probably soaking some Bakto Tabs from Sera with Seachem's Garlic Guard might help to get the corys to feed on the tabs.

[ralliart12]

They're similar I think. The inflammation could have come from parasites that were present on the worms or whatever you were feeding them. Prevention means feeding clean food whenever possible. Probably soaking some Bakto Tabs from Sera with Seachem's Garlic Guard might help to get the corys to feed on the tabs.

Qn1: may I know what are Bakto Tabs?
Qn2: can I & should I soak Tubifex worms in SeaChem Garlic Guard before feeding them to the corys? SeaChem Garlic Guard is absolutely safe right?

[vannel]

I have had a few of my cories succumb to the same thing before. Its baffling especially when everyone else is healthy. I'm struggling now with an outbreak as well..

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[stormhawk]

Bakto Tabs are a type of medicated sinking tablets made by Sera. You can find this product at C328 or other LFS that stock Sera products. I think they have it available in smaller packs. The drawback to using this item is that not all fish are willing to feed on the tablets directly, hence the suggestion of soaking the tabs in Garlic Guard.

Seachem Garlic Guard is meant for use with fish so it is safe. The thing is that it might spoil quickly in Singapore's climate, so keeping it in the fridge might help to prolong the storage life. It is used as an attractant for making picky fish feed on certain food items so it would be fairly useful if your fish refuse to feed on something.

http://www.seachem.com/Products/prod...rlicGuard.html

I believe even Jack Wattley, the famed discus breeder, swears by the use of garlic in his discus food.

I remember when I was still using Sera O-Nip, my fish loved it so much and they would come to the pellet I stuck on the glass and chew bits off from it no matter where I placed it. It worked very well with my Corydoras. To me, I believe the O-Nip had a powerful attractant in it, which explains why the fish would move so far up the glass just to feed on what was essentially, compressed powdered flake.

[vannel]

Argh! I have found the culprit and cause of my fish deaths. A bloody damselfly nymph was still hiding in my tank even after I changed out the substrate, junked all the original plants/driftwood, and changed out my filter sponges. No idea where it was hiding when I did a reset of my tank. I pray they are all gone..

[ralliart12]

Bakto Tabs are a type of medicated sinking tablets made by Sera. You can find this product at C328 or other LFS that stock Sera products. I think they have it available in smaller packs. The drawback to using this item is that not all fish are willing to feed on the tablets directly, hence the suggestion of soaking the tabs in Garlic Guard...

I'm currently still monitoring my shoal; I try not to feed them anything out of the ordinary. What will happen if there's nothing wrong with the majority of the shoal & they consume the Bakto tab?

...Seachem Garlic Guard is meant for use with fish so it is safe. The thing is that it might spoil quickly in Singapore's climate, so keeping it in the fridge might help to prolong the storage life. It is used as an attractant for making picky fish feed on certain food items so it would be fairly useful if your fish refuse to feed on something...

I bought a bottle recently; it smells delicious. Nowadays I sprinkle a spoonful over the Tubifex worms before feeding them to the shoal. I discover that garlic really got some magic, i.e. I have one betta that will ignore a large, conspicuous piece of dry food but will be attracted to the significantly smaller New Life Spectrum Thera A pellets (which also contains garlic, by default).

I'm curious, does the "Guard" in its name hold any significance, i.e. does it kill germs & external parasite (from the food)?

...I believe even Jack Wattley, the famed discus breeder, swears by the use of garlic in his discus food.

I remember when I was still using Sera O-Nip, my fish loved it so much and they would come to the pellet I stuck on the glass and chew bits off from it no matter where I placed it. It worked very well with my Corydoras. To me, I believe the O-Nip had a powerful attractant in it, which explains why the fish would move so far up the glass just to feed on what was essentially, compressed powdered flake.

So, you suspect Sera O-nip contains garlic? Btw, I tried Hikari Carnivore sinking pellet soaked in garlic, my shoal ain't interested. Like vannel's batch, my shoal has garnered an acquired taste.

Argh! I have found the culprit and cause of my fish deaths. A bloody damselfly nymph was still hiding in my tank even after I changed out the substrate, junked all the original plants/driftwood, and changed out my filter sponges. No idea where it was hiding when I did a reset of my tank. I pray they are all gone..

Oh dear, that's horrid But how did it get in? e.g. is your tank near a window, did you rinse/quarantine your plants & driftwood before introducing them into the tank, etc?

How did you spot it (the nymph) btw?

Some new questions:

do Hastatus react adversely to:

1. adding of Mosura BT-9 into the water as part of regular water change/conditioning/maitenance?
2. dosing of SeaChem Flourish Excel (for plants)?

[Wackytpt]

They should be ok with the correct dosage of BT-9.
As for Excel, if should be fine if the dosage is correct.

[ralliart12]

They should be ok with the correct dosage of BT-9.
As for Excel, if should be fine if the dosage is correct.

So, these 2, in the correct, moderation, should be a-okay? I'm a bit concerned about them "choking" on the BT-9 powder.

[vannel]

I believe the nymph was introduced when I put some water hyacinth into the tank some time ago. The water hyacinth was from my outdoor pond. Now I'm paying the price.

I really hope there isn't any more of those dreaded nymphs in my tank. They are exceptionally hardy and survive in highly concentrated PetFran's external + internal defense and coupled with a dose of No Planaria.

I can only hope the original batch of damselfly eggs have already hatched and that I've caught every single one of them.

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[ralliart12]

Close-up shot of some Tubifex worms: