Aquarists, UNITE!!!

[Zephyr]

Gosh, I've not found that to be the case.

They're very aware fish and tend to 'bond' to the humans that own them. Like Oscars.

Had Jeffy needed dither fish he'd have twitted out from get go when you got him and been hiding since the first day. It's not dither fish he needs, something else is bothering him.

It could be the tank size too.
Especially with only one cory.
Cories = schooling catfish.
Maybe get 5 more?

[infernalis]

They're very aware fish and tend to 'bond' to the humans that own them. Like Oscars.

Yeah, my big ol pie plate seems to do just that.

The man that owned her passed away suddenly (Ran over by a log skidder) and the wife just ignored her, the tank was nasty! I don't blame the woman, it was her husbands Oscar, and she said every time she looked at the tank it killed her inside.

All I wanted was that tank for my corn snake, Somehow wound up with yet another lost soul to take care of.

I put a fairly large dace minnow in there, and it can outrun "Peach" so that minnow has been alive for over a week, constantly running from a hungry Oscar!

BTW - She is still getting fed, she likes the smaller dace minnows a lot, hell on goldfish too (Sorry about that, but Oscars do eat goldfish)

Our daughter just picked up a pair of fancy guppies, I get the babies

Anyone ever try the brightly colored guppies to get reluctant feeders to eat??

[Zephyr]

Yeah, my big ol pie plate seems to do just that.

The man that owned her passed away suddenly (Ran over by a log skidder) and the wife just ignored her, the tank was nasty! I don't blame the woman, it was her husbands Oscar, and she said every time she looked at the tank it killed her inside.

All I wanted was that tank for my corn snake, yet somehow wound up with yet another lost soul to take care of.

I put a fairly large dace minnow in there, and it can outrun "Peach" so that minnow has been alive for over a week, constantly running from a hungry Oscar!

BTW - She is still getting fed, she likes the smaller dace minnows a lot, hell on goldfish too (Sorry about that, but Oscars do eat goldfish)

Our daughter just picked up a pair of fancy guppies, I get the babies

Anyone ever try the brightly colored guppies to get reluctant feeders to eat??

Eh, I try to avoid live fish diets with carnivorous fish... Apparently there are some thiaminase issues in there too.

Try feeding him worms; he'll love those.
Oh, oh! And bloodworms. AND Hikari cichlid pellets! They LOVE those! :P

[infernalis]

Eh, I try to avoid live fish diets with carnivorous fish... Apparently there are some thiaminase issues in there too.

Try feeding him worms; he'll love those.
Oh, oh! And bloodworms. AND Hikari cichlid pellets! They LOVE those! :P

Yes "Peach" likes the pellets, but she has left 2 crawlers in the tank I had to skim back out the next day.

What have I gotten myself into here?? If I start setting up aquariums all over the house that actually have water in them, please shoot me.

[Zephyr]

Yes "Peach" likes the pellets, but she has left 2 crawlers in the tank I had to skim back out the next day.

What have I gotten myself into here?? If I start setting up aquariums all over the house that actually have water in them, please shoot me.

lol
My parents kill me any time I mention "aquatics."

But I do brake for clawed frogs. :P

[Garter_Gertie]

Zepher, goldfish are the dirtiest of dirty fish ever. Six cories with a goldfish would be pollution central and Lori would be cleaning the tank every day.

It's not the cory twitting out, but Jeffy. And that cory has lived with Jeffy since day one.

It's something else. I still lay the blame at the ****-a-roaches.... LOL!!!

[Zephyr]

Zepher, goldfish are the dirtiest of dirty fish ever. Six cories with a goldfish would be pollution central and Lori would be cleaning the tank every day.

It's not the cory twitting out, but Jeffy. And that cory has lived with Jeffy since day one.

It's something else. I still lay the blame at the ****-a-roaches.... LOL!!!

Depends on the filtration. And cories ARE true schooling fish; they need groups of 5 or more.
As for the goldfish being dirty... For one it generally isn't good to keep a tropical fish with a coldwater fish; Jeffy might have caught a pathogen from the cory, no matter how long they've been together.

[Lori P]

Depends on the filtration. And cories ARE true schooling fish; they need groups of 5 or more.
As for the goldfish being dirty... For one it generally isn't good to keep a tropical fish with a coldwater fish; Jeffy might have caught a pathogen from the cory, no matter how long they've been together.

You know, Kyle brings up a good point about the poor cory. He's the last survivor from a group from years ago... and when I got Jeffy last year, the cory's last buddy had passed. I don't even know why I did it, but I moved him in with Jeffy and they've been buds ever since. I knew it was bad to have tropical with coldwater... but they both flourished, and it just kind of became normal. Jeffy stays near the cory a lot, they vaccuum the bottom together. I never got more corys, because I knew it was the wrong tank to have them in.

So... they live together in a 29 gallon tank with a three stage filter system and extra aeration. I do a 10% water change every week and vaccuum the bottom every other week.

Here's a pic, before Jeffy started hiding...



He hides under the stump all the time now. This morning, he swam toward me, but no wiggles...

[Garter_Gertie]

Depends on the filtration. And cories ARE true schooling fish; they need groups of 5 or more.
As for the goldfish being dirty... For one it generally isn't good to keep a tropical fish with a coldwater fish; Jeffy might have caught a pathogen from the cory, no matter how long they've been together.

Yes, cories are schooling fish, but I thought we were talking about Jeffy? I thought the cory was fine and had been even when living with only his last tank mate as a pair. Maybe I missed something awhile back...

No, one shouldn't keep tropical with coldwater fish. However there are some fish that can be kept together without detriment to each other. Cories are very varible. Guppies, too, can live with various tropicals.

The pathogen idea is a good one. However, I'd think something in the past year prior to now would have surfaced. It's been quite a long time they've been together.

Any change in the brand of food? Have you painted recently? Stuff like that, Lori?

[Lori P]

Any change in the brand of food? Have you painted recently? Stuff like that, Lori?

Nope... he always gets a big variety of food, veggies and such, But his staple food is the Omega One.

I'll keep you guys posted... it's really interesting to see such a behavior change in a fish!! I also stuck my hand in there to make sure there wasn't like some electric shock going on.

Gertie, thanks for going through so many possibilites with me!!!