# Albino cory being lethargic :(



## rubyseeds8

Hello there! I'm new to the forum and to freshwater fish keeping, so I should be frequenting here with a lot of questions  Nice to meet you.

Anyway, we have a 10g setup with 2 zebra danios, 2 guppies, and 2 corys (one albino, one normal-colored bronze). We recently added the one bronze to help out with the cleaning of the tank, and he seems to be doing OK. But the albino, who has been with us for some time now, is now somewhat lethargic -- he just sits around in his little hiding spot and barely looks for food. This started right after we added the bronze cory; could it be that he's still getting used to the new guy?

The water is clean (tested) and all the other fish are doing totally fine.

The corys are my favorite of the tank so I'm worried  Thank you for any help!


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## Sweet Tee

Welcome to the forum, rubyseeds8! 

Do you feed the cories with bottom feeder food like sinkable pellets? They don't really scavenge the bottom for food like algae eaters would. The cories need to be fed on a regular basis. If you already do that, then great!! I've also read that sometimes they like to lay back and rest for a while. But if yours is doing that the majority of the time, then maybe something's up with the little guy.


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## rubyseeds8

Hello and thank you for replying!

I do feed them bottom feeder tablets, but the guy at the fish store told me to only feed them once a week because they scavenge for food the rest of the time...I guess I should've taken what he said with a grain of salt, since he didn't seem to know the difference between a peppered and bronze cory.  I will feed them ASAP, they must be starving.

I will update the thread if there are any more problems.  THanks for your help!


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## Sweet Tee

No problem! Check around online for articles relating to cory cats too...much of my knowledge comes from all the research I'm constantly doing. As for what the pet stores/ fish stores say, I've learned to take it with a grain of salt and do my own research on the side. Some places are very helpful, but you never know if it's just a person who likes fish and doesn't have much knowledge on them. There's a wealth of info on this forum and online, it's great


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## Cledus Van Damme

Hi everybody! I'm having a similar problem. I've got a ten gallon tank with five bloodfin tetra, two glass catfish, a rainbow plecco, a vampire shrimp, and an albino cory. Everyone but the cory came from a local pet store; the cory came from Petco - probably a mistake. I've had the cory since January 25, and the first 4-6 days that I had him he was fine - swimming all over the place, constantly eating off the bottom, generally a happy-seeming fish. Since then, though, he's become incredibly lethargic. He'll just lay there at the bottom of the tank, barely moving (often not moving his fins at all), not trying to eat. I've been using flake food and sinking pellets, but he's shown little interest in either.

I was afraid that he was dying, but if that were the case I figured he'd be dead by now! My water has been tested, pH and temperature are fine...if there's anything I can do to make him a happier fish I'd love to. Any input would be greatly appreciated.


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## susankat

Cories are a social creature that needs company of their own kind. In a 10 gal though with albinos they actually get to big to have very many. I would suggest pandas or pygmy cories for 10 gal. and they need at least 3 to be happy. I have 13 in a 33 long tank that is always swimming everywhere.


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## rubyseeds8

Well, my cories are doing well -- I'm not sure if it was just hunger or what, but after a day or so the albino stopped being lethargic and is now friends with the newcomer 

Since my tank is small, I think I will only be adding 1 more guppy, 1 more danio, and 1 more cory to keep everyone happy and in a group. We'll definitely be doing so gradually to make sure everything is going smoothly.

Thanks for all your help!


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## Sweet Tee

Glad to hear everything's well!


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## Laticauda

rubyseeds8 said:


> Well, my cories are doing well -- I'm not sure if it was just hunger or what, but after a day or so the albino stopped being lethargic and is now friends with the newcomer
> 
> Since my tank is small, I think I will only be adding 1 more guppy, 1 more danio, and 1 more cory to keep everyone happy and in a group. We'll definitely be doing so gradually to make sure everything is going smoothly.
> 
> Thanks for all your help!


Don't add any more fish! You are already overstocked, and I bet your ammonia levels are through the roof! Do you test your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels?
A good rule of thumb for smaller fish, is one inch of fish for every gallon of water. You are well over 10 inches of fish already! If you want more fish, buy a bigger aquarium, and cycle it and add your new fish.


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