inexplicable death of a cory cat

Question
We had a super healthy cory catfish, we also have an angel fish, three tetras, two zebra danios, and a yoyo loach.  All seemed to be living happily together for about a week, until the catfish inexplicably died.  Prior he had been very active moving about the tank often and always.  The only difference I noticed in the tank, was that all of my snails were gone.  We had had an infestation of very small circular shaped snails.  I know that yoyos like and eat snails, but could the catfish have consumed the snails and that having been the cause of his death?

thanks bendelep@msn.com

Answer
Hi Monica;

The snails would not have caused his death. Snails are very edible to all fish. The yoyo surely ate them and it's just fine.  

It could be "New Tank Syndrome" if your tank has not been set up for very long. Since the toxins are concentrated in the bottom of the tank where most of the wastes go, the cory cat would be close to them and be affected more.

Sometimes fish die for no apparent reason. If you see any other problems, let me know. It wouldn't hurt to do a gravel vacuuming and change 25% of the water.

If your tank has room, get cory cats in groups of 3 or more. It would not have caused his death to be alone, but they really prefer to be in groups.

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins