Cory enrichment idea?

Me and my mom like to give our pets enrichment, such as giving the cats paper bags of catnip or putting treats in a ball for the dogs, and I've been thinking about ways to enrich my fish. Now that I have sand in my tank, I thought of an idea.

Since cories burrow through sand to find food in the wild, I was thinking I could take frozen bloodworms and bury them in the sand for the cories to find. Any food that isn't eaten would be dug up so it doesn't dirty the sand. Do you think they'd like this? And while we're here, does anyone else do enrichment with fish?

-laughs- Man, you know you love fish when you want to give them enrichment, huh!

 

Most Corys live in leaf-litter, so ..........


Now and then I feed very fine powder granulate. They are scavaging quite some time hahaha

 

That's a neat idea! Don't think I'd put leaves in my tank, it'd probably make a mess somehow. xD

 

Got them in all my tanks

 

I have them in all my tanks too & the fry tanks as the fry can feed on the micro organisms they produce

 

Wow! Do you just collect leaves from your yard? How often do you switch them out?

I'm trying to get my corys more comfortable in their tank. Currently they hide out in their cave most of the day. Maybe something like this will help.

 

I collect oak leaves from local woods every autumn & store them in a cool dry place & they last me until the next autumn.
You have to make sure they're dead leaves ready to fall so they have no sap left in them, & don't collect from busy road sides or industrial areas in case there's any pollution.
Once in the tank they last quite a while, around 6-8 weeks, you can leave them in as they break down

 

I'm trying to get my corys more comfortable in their tank. Currently they hide out in their cave most of the day. Maybe something like this will help.

My cories were like that when I only had half of their school. All four of them would always hide under a piece of driftwood. Now I have 8 and there are always a few of them out and about. But based on your number of posts, I'm guessing you know that cories like schools.
The leaves are a cool idea; I too am curious about how you made sure they were tank-safe. (I got 'd)

 

I currently have 6 sterbais in my 20 gallon long with my betta. I had some platies in there before but moved them over to my big community tank for fry control purposes. I thought my betta would be happier as the only top dweller but he mainly hangs out in the corner now. My corys were already a bit timid before but it is worse without the platies. I'm considering a couple more cories and a small school of rasboras or other mid dweller to make everyone more comfortable.

 

I collect oak leaves from local woods every autumn & store them in a cool dry place & they last me until the next autumn.
You have to make sure they're dead leaves ready to fall so they have no sap left in them, & don't collect from busy road sides or industrial areas in case there's any pollution.
Once in the tank they last quite a while, around 6-8 weeks, you can leave them in as they break down

Yep that's the way !!!





Do you boil them (for a fee minutes) as well Coradee ?

 

No, I don't boil them, I just dry them out before storing them then give them a quick rinse before I use them, boiling them removes the good stuff that's in them. I also collect alder cones, the shrimp love them

 

No, I don't boil them, I just dry them out before storing them then give them a quick rinse before I use them, boiling them removes the good stuff that's in them. I also collect alder cones, the shrimp love them

Just as I thought. Uk-forum did advise that to sterilize. Collected the boiling water btw !!! Next time I'll try only drying them in the oven. Regards Aad

 

I use a pipette to hide all their wormy treats under the sand. I mix the food with a little tank water. Bloodworms/daphnia/mosquito larvae etc

They all sit patiently in a semI circle, watching me very closely and as soon as I'm done, they all shove their noses into the sand and hunt away.

I genuinely think they enjoy the dig more than the food. Which is unusual for any fish! But they seem se dig up the worms... Then eat them!

I also use ping pong balls (bettas and Goldies), bio balls (Goldies) and I keep some plants in pots so it's easy to move them round a little, sort of change their scenery a little.xx

 

I love your description of how you feed your cories! You are making me want some!! I would need to switch my gravel for sand though. :/

Chris99, I wonder if your cories are afraid of your betta? And your betta might prefer no tank mates. I'm just wondering if your cories might come out more if the betta wasn't in the same tank.

 

I have 3 peppered corys in with my male crowntail betta and they hardly ever go in their cave. I also have some big leaved tall silk plants, 4 marino moss balls. and some riccia and water spangles. They seem to get along just fine. Maybe it is the type of cory. I find the personality different and much less shy than say my false julI cats which are more like kids on a sugar high. Alison

 

I love your description of how you feed your cories! You are making me want some!! I would need to switch my gravel for sand though. :/

...No Cory, no glory

 

When my cories are out I've seen my betta sit next to them and they completely ignore each other. It may be almost all of my plants are floating so there is little ground cover in there. The bottom and middle section are both open for the most part.

 

...No Cory, no glory

Hey that is mine hahahaha.
But soooooo true !!!!