# cory missing fins



## Homer (Sep 6, 2010)

my bronze cory is missing its pelvic fins. I have had it fo about 3-4 months and i never really looked at it up close until today and i noticed its pelvic fins arre like nubs. I have neve noticed any thing chasing it(i keep efering to the cory as it cause i still dont know how to determine the boys from the girls). its pectoral fins dont look completely normal either. they kind of look under developed. its acting completely normal and i think it may have been born like this. If i can get a picture, very unlikely, i will put it up. does anyone know what could have happen and it doesnt look like fin rot.


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## blindkiller85 (Jan 8, 2011)

Homer said:


> my bronze cory is missing its pelvic fins. I have had it fo about 3-4 months and i never really looked at it up close until today and i noticed its pelvic fins arre like nubs. I have neve noticed any thing chasing it(i keep efering to the cory as it cause i still dont know how to determine the boys from the girls). its pectoral fins dont look completely normal either. they kind of look under developed. its acting completely normal and i think it may have been born like this. If i can get a picture, very unlikely, i will put it up. does anyone know what could have happen and it doesnt look like fin rot.


Sounds like there's a fish in there doing it. May be at night when the lights are off, or when you're not watching. Otherwise, I don't think it would've been born like this as you probably remember buying all healthy fish and looked at them upon purchase. I know fish have some defects as any other animal, but for all those fins to be nubs isn't right. The fins being underdeveloped, could be regrowth or just underdeveloped and that's how the fish is.


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## Kissing keeper (Oct 3, 2010)

Sadly, my brothers fish is killing all the pearl and lepard danios. There fins get ripped of them and they are left to die. The paradise fish is attacking them so if you have any, its that.


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## AvocadoPuffDude (Jan 20, 2011)

I too have had a similar problem, and it remains an unsolved mystery.
For months, I had 10 albino cories in my 150 gallon tank. They were very small when I got them, and they grew nicely. Then at one point, some of them started to lose their dorsal fins, and some of their pectoral fins as well. Some grew back, some never had any fin loss, and some continue to lose them. Of the 6 that remain (over a 2 year period) 3 have no pectoral fins OR spikes, and no dorsal fin or spike left. They swim accordingly, a little bit differently than their finned brethren, but seem to live just fine, eating, breathing, shoaling together. For those that will jump to the conclusion that my avocado puffer did the damage, this damage was done prior to getting Mulva the puffer and since adding Mulva, I've added 8 bronze cories and 11 Sterbai cories, all of which still have all their fins.
MY SUSPICION is that my water parameters got out of whack - for a time my nitrites were very high (I have a live planted tank, no plastic plants whatsoever.) I think it might have been something to do with that, as it is the only thing that coincided with the fin loss. I HAD ZERO fin-nippers the whole time, only platies and guppies and kuhlii loaches, hatchet fish, etc.


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## AvocadoPuffDude (Jan 20, 2011)

blindkiller85 said:


> Sounds like there's a fish in there doing it. May be at night when the lights are off, or when you're not watching. Otherwise, I don't think it would've been born like this as you probably remember buying all healthy fish and looked at them upon purchase. I know fish have some defects as any other animal, but for all those fins to be nubs isn't right. The fins being underdeveloped, could be regrowth or just underdeveloped and that's how the fish is.


I disagree. I've never known any type of fish to nip the fins AND SPIKES off catfish, and I have had A LOT of catfish over the years......and a lot of fin-nippers. The tender flesh of the fin itself, perhaps, but not the spike too, which is bony.


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## e048 (Dec 23, 2010)

maybe its fins got caught in the net or deco


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## PostShawn (Dec 22, 2009)

I have heard corys are very susceptible to decor in the tank. Mainly with their front whisker things. But who knows, probably can happen to fins too. They basically don't do well with sharp objects since the feel everything with their bodies and try to swim through anything they can. So if you have small holes or sharp objects (broken decor, lava rock, etc.) think about fixing or removing it. If they are doing ok though then you probably have nothing to worry about. I would check the water parameters just to make sure everything is ok anyway. 

good luck.


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## Homer (Sep 6, 2010)

sorry im finally back my hard drive crapped out on me but its fixed and my computer is better then ever. well anyway none of my other corys have any fins missing or even nipped and all of them are symmetrical in shape but are just abnormal but you only notice it when you are really close up and it was the first time i ever looked that close.


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## tiggerbarb (Jan 17, 2011)

Today as I was adding more cories to my tank I noticed that my oldest cory was missing his whiskers.... will he be ok? We have 4 plastic plants and some decorations. Will it stop him from eating?? will his whiskers grow back?


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