Corydoras Catfish Care

Hey everyone, I am thinking about getting a set of corydoras(p (Corydoras Habrosus) for my 10 gallon tank with a couple endlers. But I am concerned about my substrate situation as I currently have gravel as substrate in my tank. I have seen people use sand or coarse sand in their catfish tank so I was wondering if I need to switch out my substrate with sand or if gravel is fine for them as well. Thanks for the input and help.

 

Cory scavenge on the bottom. If you have rough substrate they may break/damage their barbels. Replacing with soft substrate is a great idea.
Also, they like to be in larger groups-at least 6 or so.

 

10 gallons really doesn’t provide the nessasary space for them.

It’s like the difference between having a betta in a 2.5 gallon tank and a 10 gallon

 

I had my corys in a 10 gallon tank with gravel for a while and just recently switched them to a 29 gallon with sand, and they seem so much happier. They love being able to easily root around in the sand for noms!

 

10 gallons can work for corydoras if you get a small group of 4, and preferably pygmy cories, however I have also found that peppered and panda work well because they don't grow as large as bronze. (whatever you do don't get bronze!)
Gravel isn't really recommended, it can be very rough on their barbels and stomachs, I would recommend either sand or dirt, I use something called "aquarium soil powder" (it looks like tiny dirt balls a bit bigger than sand) and they love it, especially because they can dig. I'd say a group of 4 cories with 6 endlers (w/ pygmy cories) or 4 endlers (w/ peppered cories) would work well, just make sure you only get a couple fish at a time, cycle the tank well, and if you see any problems or have trouble don't add any new fish.

 

I have dainty(hasbrosus) cories (similar to Pygmy in size), and I think you could easily do 6-10 with a few endlers. Or 6 of one of the tiny types and a handful of endlers.

Personally I love sand. I used to be scared of it but now I’ll never go back to gravel. It’s softer for the bottom dwellers, easier to clean and I think looks much nicer.

In a 10 gal you could get a 5 lb. bag of sand and tie anubias to a little piece of wood. Maybe throw in some moss or hornwort. You’d have a lovely little nano tank.