MaddieLynn

I'm wanting to get 4 Emerald Green corys for my 29 gallon. I found a PetCo where I can get them for only $3.29 each! I have a few questions, though:

How big do they get? I've seen alot of conflicting opinions. Some places say 3" max, but I saw one that said up to 5" (which I don't believe).

Will 4 be enough to make them feel secure? I don't want to get any more because I want to stock some more fish in my tank. (I already have 2 mollies and one dwarf gourami, and I want to get a couple more top level fish.)

I'm planning on using sand as a substrate; will they keep it turned enough that I won't get gas pockets and black gunk on the bottom?

I also have one question about my Mollies: Somewhere I read that there should be more than 3 because they are schooling fish, but I've only ever seen this in one place. Is it true? Do I need to get another molly for my current females to be secure?

I'm needing answers to all of these questions, so thank you to anyone who helps!

agabr123

i think that the emerald corys are the bronchis (sp?) corydoras which means that they do get bigger than other types of corycats, but i really don't think that they'll get to five inches, 3.5 or 4 maybe but probably not give.

the corys will sift around in the sand, but i dont think it would be enough necessarily to not get a couple of MTS or just take the other end of an algae scrubber and drag it in circles through the sand to aerate it.

i've heard that mollies do best in groups of three or so as well, not that they're necessarily "schooling" fish but that they definitely prefer having others of their kind, if you have the room i'd get another

platy ben

The mollys will be fine as they are. and as for the corys, i keep my peppered corys in a group of 4 and they are fine, they keep my substrate stirred up which is small black gravel so they will do fine with sand

MaddieLynn

I might also get 4 black kuhli loaches so keep the sand stirred up. That would equal:

2 mollies: 6 inches
1 d. gourami: 2.5 inches
4 emerald corys: 12 inches
4 black kuhlis: really 12 inches, but I read that 1 can be counted as 2 becasue of teh tiny bio-load, so 6 inches

Total: 26.5 inches

Is that about right?

I guess I could get another molly... but I wanted to get a 2nd dwarf gourami instead. How much filtration owuld I need to get another molly and another dwarf gourami? What would the filter rating need to be?

MaddieLynn

I think I'll just skip the kuhli loaches and stir the sand when I clean it.

Which reminds me, how do you siphon when you have sand? Doesn't the gravel vac suck it up?

agabr123

yeah i'd say that's about right, you could probably do both, i dont think you would need extra filtration, just keep an eye on water parameters and see if you need to switch to two 15% changes a week rather than one larger one or something like that, otherwise you should be fine i'd keep a close eye on that second DG though, one of them might end up getting a little banged up by the other, they're not too terribly aggressive, but having them together might cause some problems.

with sand just hover the gravel vacuum right above the sand, most of the waste will sit on top so you should be able to get it without taking too much of the sand out. it takes a little practice but you'll get the hang of it

MaddieLynn

I think I'll skip the kuhli's.

How often do I have to stir the sand, and won't it make my tank cloudy?

agabr123

it shouldnt make the tank that cloudy, all the sand will settle after a little while. i try to stir it up about once a month or so

CoryMac

Brochis splendens & Corydoras are both a sub specie to Callichthyidae, which makes cory & brochis different specie's.