# Really dark peppered cory, almost black. Question/concerned.



## TheAquariumGuy (May 9, 2015)

That eye does not look to good and the infection could spread to other corys. Personally I would quarantine the cory and treat it. Corys tend to have this thing where they are always active and playful even if they have an infection. As for the color I'm not sure if peppered corys are different from my bronze corys but when I first got my bronze corys one was very dark and over time became a bit lighter to a coloration like the other corys and got a nice neon green bronze stripe that all my bronze ones have. The peppered cory should be ok. Best thing is definitely to quarantine.


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

The coloration seems fine, but the eye is definitely a concern. QT him in very clean water and treat it like a bacterial infection. If it doesn't go away, it might be an injury. In that case, it's fine to put him back, you just want to be sure it isn't going to spread.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

From what I read, cloudy eye is a case due to poor conditions and cannot spread. Cannot be cured with meds either. The odd time the eye can clear up a bit but its generally not reversible.

If you guys have sources that suggest otherwise please share. Also, I would rather not move him to another tank and stress him out more. Plus taking him away from his 13 other cory friends doesn't seem like a good idea.


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## WickedOdie (Aug 15, 2015)

It kinda looks like a San Juan Cory. Are you 100% sure it's a peppered? Here is a picture of mine.

Bump:


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Yes I am sure, he has the standard peppered markings on the last 1/3 of his body. The first 1.3 is almost solid black and the middle blends the two sections.

I think his dark color is either due to poor health or due to being a hybrid of some sorts.


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## garfieldnfish (Sep 25, 2010)

I have 17 of the peppered corys and 2 of them have the cloudy eyes. They had this condition for years and it did not spread to the other ones. Also mine are different shades of grey from lighter to darker so a darker peppered cory is totally normal. I started with 6 of them and they have been breeding over the years with a fry surviving now and then so that the number of fish has steadily increased over time. I would not worry about your fish.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Thanks for the information, you have confirmed a lot of things for me.

My goal is to get my numbers up a bit from the 14 I have now to 20-25. I was hoping to do this through breeding taking place in my tank. Since you have done this, do you mind giving me some details about your setup? Water temp, WC schedule, what you feed, etc. Would be very helpful. Maybe even a picture of tour tank. 

Thanks.


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## garfieldnfish (Sep 25, 2010)

Since I have omnivorous plecos in the tank with the corys they get a lot of variety of food. Shrimp pellets, carnivore pellets, brine shrimp sticks, veggie sticks, catfish sticks, flakes, live grindal worms, algae wafers, zucchini, canned green beans, peas, frozen bloodworms, mosquito larvae, frozen white worms. They are in a 46 gal, slightly overstocked tank. Small pebble gravel, lightly planted with vals, anubias and java fern. They lay the eggs mostly on the java fern and tank walls. The temps are kept at room temps which is around 78 in the summer and lower 70s in the winter. Since I did not really want them to breed I have not done anything special to induced breeding, but a water change with cooler water should help. Mine bred without that. I do 30% water change every two weeks.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Thanks for the info.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

just a little update on my little dark cory.

He/she has been doing extremely well! very active little fish with a good appetite for just about anything i can throw at him/her.

Both of the eyes are improving clarity and one of the two is almost good as new. The other eye seems like it going to recover nicely as well. Strange though because I read that cloudy eye and pop eye conditions that are due to poor water would not revert back. Is it possible for the cloudy eye which I though was blind but doesn't seem to be, to get better?

I will post some new pics of the little one when the lights turn on.


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## Maverick2015 (Aug 8, 2015)

Cloudy eye can be from a few things. It is possible to recover if it was just a pH problem or bacterial in nature.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Oh okay, that makes sense. Either way, the cory seems really happy and healthy.


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## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

Glad for good news. The darker cory still just as dark?

Never dealt with cloudy eye, but seeing as there is medicine out there to treat for cloudy eye, I would assume it would clear up.
I guess if the eye has severe damage (extreme cases, or prolonged exposure to disease or from major physical injury), then the eye would be too far gone to recover. If just the surface of the eye lens, it should recover, but if the inner tissues are damaged, they can't regenerate (permanent eye damage).


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Still just as dark if not a bit more so, I will be able to tell once the lights come on and I can get a pic to compare to the original one. So far the eye seems to be improving so I don't plan to medicate. Hoping with good water quality and healthy diet that everything will work out.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Here he is. The eye is slowly getting better.


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