Corydoras hasbrosus problem

**benkho** · 6th Sep 2009, 22:51

I've had a tank of Corydoras hasborus for a while now...and recently they've all been exhibiting the same symptoms before they eventually die.

They all seem to lose their ability to remain on the ground. They swim fine but when they on the ground they tend to float belly up. Anyone know what these are symptoms of?

I have quite a few ramshorn snails in the tank for a while now...and they've been breeding quite well. I read that ramshorn snails may carry flukes which may be passed onto fish. Could this be what's causing the deaths?

**barmby** · 7th Sep 2009, 15:58

What is your setup look like ? The environment plays a part. They need spacious flat ground and sandy base for their playground. Also, any chance of over-crowding ? Corydoras can be difficult to keep.

**benkho** · 7th Sep 2009, 20:45

It's a 1ft cube tank... and there are only 4 of them inside. There used to be more, but they all disappeared one after the other. No traces of death eg. no skulls found when cleaning the tank.

The setup is just mainly a few pieces of driftwood lying on top of each other with white sand as the substrate. One of the pieces of driftwood have mini-nana growing on it. The driftwood inside the tank are mainly elevated, with about 80% of space uncovered.

I'll try to get a picture up if I can.

**seanskye** · 7th Sep 2009, 21:14

I don't think it's your tank size or layout as I have 2 dwarf cory tanks for habrosus and pygmies that are slightly less than 1 feet and all of them are happy inside.
Your problem sounds more like swim bladder disease.
This can be caused by a variety of reasons such as a virus, a bacterium or diet.

Is your water quality bad?
Has your tank not fully matured?
Or did you use old driftwood or soil from another setup that could have been infected?
If so, they may have been killed off by internal bacteria or viruses.
If not, check their diet.

I usually refrain from dry foods for my cories (and fishes) because they get bloated when the food expands in their tummies.
I try to stick to trustworthy frozen foods and pellets like hikari.
My current favourites are the nutrafin pellets that soak up water real quick (my cories love them!).

**benkho** · 8th Sep 2009, 20:17

I suspected the same thing as well...the sand I used is new, as for the tank, it's been running for a year I think so I doubt it could be that the tank has not matured.

Water quality wise, I'm not too sure, I change water once every 2 weeks and the filter is washed in the water that comes out of the tank, so the BB should still be there.

The driftwood is from an old setup, but the fish which were in that setup are doing fine.

Any remedies to recommend?