Cory Catfish not doing well . . . Someone help!!!!

[MeredithW]

I ran the tank for about 24 hours before putting the fish in. I have no idea what kind of plants mine are . . . :\

All my guppies are male.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Were all the fish added at the same time? If so, this is an issue of an uncycled tank in which the natural biological processes have not been able to complete just yet and the system is in total bio-overload. I would suggest doing some research and reading on the nitrogen cycle and it's place in an aquarium. You can get your tank through this - but you are going to need to keep up with some serious water changes and I would also suggest, if possible to get your hands on them, tossing in some pretty heavy amounts of floating plants -- the floaters,in particular, make great "ammonia/nutrient sinks" and can really help get a stressed tank through a shock-style cycling process. Being a small tank you have even less wiggle room because the high bio-load is even more concentrated in a small volume of water.
If you post photos of the plants we can ID them for you - that is going to be key in keeping them alive and healthy as various plants have very different needs in regard to lighting, nutrients, etc.

 

[MeredithW]

Were all the fish added at the same time? If so, this is an issue of an uncycled tank in which the natural biological processes have not been able to complete just yet and the system is in total bio-overload. I would suggest doing some research and reading on the nitrogen cycle and it's place in an aquarium. You can get your tank through this - but you are going to need to keep up with some serious water changes and I would also suggest, if possible to get your hands on them, tossing in some pretty heavy amounts of floating plants -- the floaters,in particular, make great "nitrogen sinks" and can really help get a stressed tank through a shock-style cycling process. Being a small tank you have even less wiggle room because the high bio-load is even more concentrated in a small volume of water.
If you post photos of the plants we can ID them for you - that is going to be key in keeping them alive and healthy as various plants have very different needs in regard to lighting, nutrients, etc.

The fish weren't added at the same time. I had three guppies and one Catfish, and then about a week later I added the Tetras and another Catfish. . . I can try to take pictures and post them if I have time . . .

 

[Rowsdower]

You're feeding the fish too much. You should only be feeding them a small amount once a day or even every other day. Does the tank get a lot of natural sunlight? Corydoras are notoriously sensitive to meds as they are scaleless. This is why you are reading great reviews from others. It probably does work, but might kill your cats. Doing a water change will not only dilute the Algeafix, but will also lessen the ammonia/nitrite levels (which contribute to algae growth).

 

[MeredithW]

You're feeding the fish too much. You should only be feeding them a small amount once a day or even every other day. Does the tank get a lot of natural sunlight? Corydoras are notoriously sensitive to meds as they are scaleless. This is why you are reading great reviews from others. It probably does work, but might kill your cats. Doing a water change will not only dilute the Algeafix, but will also lessen the ammonia/nitrite levels (which contribute to algae growth).

OK, I just emptied out 1/3 of my tank, scrubbed all the algae off the walls and ornaments and added in new water. The Catfish are swimming around happily and so are the guppies and tetras. There is natural sunlight along with artificial.The fish look happy now as far as I can tell. I will keep using the Algaefix for a couple of days, and if I see any more signs of being ill, I will definitely stop using it and return it.

Do the fish really need the artificial light? It makes the aquarium brighter but I think it causes the algae to grow faster. We are going to move the aquarium to a brighter spot in a couple days or weeks.

 

[Rowsdower]

The fish do not need the artificial lighting but if you have live plants they will. I would worry more about cutting out the natural light. Get a background or paint the back and/or sides of the tank to try to cut the sunlight. Cut feedings back to once a day and no more than they can consume in about 2 minutes.

 

[MeredithW]

The fish do not need the artificial lighting but if you have live plants they will. I would worry more about cutting out the natural light. Get a background or paint the back and/or sides of the tank to try to cut the sunlight. Cut feedings back to once a day and no more than they can consume in about 2 minutes.

Okee dokeee.

 

[Rowsdower]

I just wanted to add that water changes are an aquarium hobbyist's best friend. I've found few things in the fish world that cannot be fixed with large and frequent water changes. The old adage "the solution to pollution is dilution" holds quite true in the aquarium world. Fish produce waste which builds up very rapidly in an "uncycled" tank. Unless your tank has an established bacterial colony, the waste is not processed and continues to build up. When you add a lot of fish in a short period of time, you are not allowing the bacteria sufficient time to build to levels that would detoxify the ammonia in their waste. You need to be doing large frequent water changes until the tank has time to "cycle". This will dilute the ammonia/nitrite/nitrates, which are harmful to your fish AND create the perfect conditions for algal growth. This is doubly important in a smaller tank.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I just wanted to add that water changes are an aquarium hobbyist's best friend. I've found few things in the fish world that cannot be fixed with large and frequent water changes. The old adage "the solution to pollution is dilution" holds quite true in the aquarium world. Fish produce waste which builds up very rapidly in an "uncycled" tank. Unless your tank has an established bacterial colony, the waste is not processed and continues to build up. When you add a lot of fish in a short period of time, you are not allowing the bacteria sufficient time to build to levels that would detoxify the ammonia in their waste. You need to be doing large frequent water changes until the tank has time to "cycle". This will dilute the ammonia/nitrite/nitrates, which are harmful to your fish AND create the perfect conditions for algal growth. This is doubly important in a smaller tank.

Here Here!!!!

 

[MeredithW]

I just wanted to add that water changes are an aquarium hobbyist's best friend. I've found few things in the fish world that cannot be fixed with large and frequent water changes. The old adage "the solution to pollution is dilution" holds quite true in the aquarium world. Fish produce waste which builds up very rapidly in an "uncycled" tank. Unless your tank has an established bacterial colony, the waste is not processed and continues to build up. When you add a lot of fish in a short period of time, you are not allowing the bacteria sufficient time to build to levels that would detoxify the ammonia in their waste. You need to be doing large frequent water changes until the tank has time to "cycle". This will dilute the ammonia/nitrite/nitrates, which are harmful to your fish AND create the perfect conditions for algal growth. This is doubly important in a smaller tank.