Feeding Corys

I see that in the original post, sorry for missing that part before. I definitely would not continue keeping cories in a ten gallon, especially when you need to increase their group, and in this case a ten gallon doesn't have enough space for them, so a 20 gallon would be the minimum.
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Once my 29 gallon is parasite-free I'll move them. For now, how many pellets do I feed them per day?
 

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Does the betta go for their pellets?
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I don't think so. I just recently added him. They are bigger than the pellets I feed him, so the betta usually goes for the smaller food.
 
Hi! I'm wondering if I'm feeding my juliI Cory catfish enough. I had two of them in a 5.5 gallon tank, along with three harlequin rasboras. The store person told me to feed the harlequin rasboras one fish flake a day and the juliI Cory catfish one shrimp sinking pellet every other day.

I originally had three juliI Cory catfish, but one died, so I had water checked with the liquid test stuff at the store, and it was fine. Then several days later, another juliI Cory catfish died, so I had the water checked again, and again, it was fine. I'm wondering if I'm not feeding them enough. I would like to get another catfish so the one that's left won't be lonely, but I don't want to lose anymore.

So, should I feed one pellet every day or more, or feed something else; and should I take a chance and buy another juliI Cory catfish or another type of Cory catfish? I would like to have three or more catfish, but tank not big enough and cannot afford a bigger one or have room for a bigger one.

You're thoughts? Thanks.
 

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Hi,

First off, a 5.5 is way to small for all those fish. You are looking at a 20 long tank for them

I also think you are under feeding them. Are you feeding 1 pellet each or 1 in total for all of them?
 
That seems way to little. It may suffice when they are small, less than a inch, but as they grow they will need more nutrition. 1 pellet for each I say.

Can you rehome/return the last remaining fish? or invest in a larger tank.
 
I don't know if anybody I could give catfish to, and at this time I cannot afford a larger tank and not sure where I would put it anyway.

I will start putting one pellet a day in. I thought one catfish and three rasboras would be okay in a 5.5 gallon tank. Oh well.

Thanks for your reply! I appreciate it.
 
Along with the shrimp pellets I do recommend you feed them HikarI Sinking Wafers These along with the shrimp pellets should give them a more nutritious diet. I occasionally feed mine freeze dried blood worms too. When you feed your other fish try to allow some of the flakes to sink to the bottom of the tank for the corys too. They should clean them up quickly.

I know a lot of folks frown on having corys in a tank this small but I am actually not one of them. If it were my tank I wouldn't have a problem adding 2 more julii's for a total of 3. Feed them well and they should be fine. I would feed them something every day. Maybe shrimp pellets one day and sinking wafers the next. That along with some flakes sinking down for them should keep them well fed.

You may also want to consider giving them either frozen or freeze dried blood worms once a week.

You will want to keep on top of your water changes. I would do no less than a 50% water change every week and then once a month do a 75% water change instead of the 50%.
 

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mattgirl, please elaborate why you think that opinion. Smaller tanks are not suitible for cories, for the fact that the water volume is too small, small footprint plus the need for a school. Most cories will do better in a 20 long, except for the pygmy corys which can be eaisily placed in a 10 gallon, but I would rather see them in a 20 also.
 
Mattgirl, I have a 3 gallon tank with just my male Betta and snail in it, and I have HikarI Algae Wafers for the snail, which I break a piece off one wafer and give it to him a couple times a week, and he just loves it and gobbles it right up. Should I put a piece of that in the 5.5 gallon tank for the catfish? Will he eat that? If so, as you said, I could put a piece of that wafer in tank one day and the shrimp pellet in the next day. Does that sound good?

Also, I do water changes once a week, a couple gallons.
 
mattgirl, please elaborate why you think that opinion. Smaller tanks are not suitible for cories, for the fact that the water volume is too small, small footprint plus the need for a school. Most cories will do better in a 20 long, except for the pygmy corys which can be eaisily placed in a 10 gallon, but I would rather see them in a 20 also.
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To be perfectly honest I don't think my opinion needs elaboration. It is just my opinion and I would have no problem housing 3 corys in a 5.5 gallon tank. As a matter of fact right now I have 2 bronze corys and a juvenile super red pleco in one.

Am I recommending others do it? No, not really but I am comfortable with it and as far as I can tell I am getting no complaints from my fish.

I love this site but in my humble opinion folks go to extremes when recommending tank sizes.

I am curious though. Do you recommend these tank sizes from personal experience or is it just from reading the common consensus you read here on the forum?
Mattgirl, I have a 3 gallon tank with just my male Betta and snail in it, and I have HikarI Algae Wafers for the snail, which I break a piece off one wafer and give it to him a couple times a week, and he just loves it and gobbles it right up. Should I put a piece of that in the 5.5 gallon tank for the catfish? Will he eat that? If so, as you said, I could put a piece of that wafer in tank one day and the shrimp pellet in the next day. Does that sound good?

Also, I do water changes once a week, a couple gallons.
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I am sure your little guy would eat some of an algae wafer. Your kind of Corys are more carnivorous though so need a meatier diet. A little bit of veggie from the algae wafer should be good for them though. Specially along with the shrimp pellets and some of the flakes you feed your other fish.

I would do at least one larger change at least once a month. There are things that build up in our tanks that we don't test for. I consider the larger water change monthly a reset.
 
Okay, Mattgirl. I think I'll buy the kind you said, though, just to be sure. I want my catfish to be happy and well fed.

I will also do a larger water change once a month as you suggest as well. Thanks!
 
Okay, Mattgirl. I think I'll buy the kind you said, though, just to be sure. I want my catfish to be happy and well fed.

I will also do a larger water change once a month as you suggest as well. Thanks!
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You are so very welcome.
 
for my 5 cory cats, they get 1 pellet a day, 1 algae wafer (total) and then at night 2 shrimp wafer ( total)


They are extremely active fish and on the large size 2.5 inches. I don't fast them because they are very, very active.


I agree about large water changes. more fish with smaller tank, they need fresh water not just chemicals to stay healthy. It's like a diet of vitamins rather than eating whole veggies or fruit as humans, sure you get vitamins but it's minimal care.

Fish get their minerals from water, so good water is critical imo.

I did a sorority Betta water change 50% today even though they had a 20% on Thursday ( prime & stability). they are in a 10 gallon tank , 5 Betta, but even though heavily planted I just didn't like how it looked.
 
To be perfectly honest I don't think my opinion needs elaboration. It is just my opinion and I would have no problem housing 3 corys in a 5.5 gallon tank. As a matter of fact right now I have 2 bronze corys and a juvenile super red pleco in one.

Am I recommending others do it? No, not really but I am comfortable with it and as far as I can tell I am getting no complaints from my fish.

I love this site but in my humble opinion folks go to extremes when recommending tank sizes.

I am curious though. Do you recommend these tank sizes from personal experience or is it just from reading the common consensus you read here on the forum?
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Well these are based on personal experience, plus research on sizes plus some common sense.

First of all the super red pleco is a BN pleco right? They can reach sizes ranging from 5-6 inches maximum and the standard 5.5 gallon is 16x8x10. So that makes it a pretty cramped place for a pleco, not to mention their poop, which are basiclly strings of poop ranging from 3-5 inches long! 5.5 gallons is not enough volume to hold a pleco. Thus causing a nitrate spike.

Second, your bronze corys. One of the larger cories for sure, can reach up to 3 inches, I have seen a specimen reach 3.5 before, and plus as shoaling species they really need groups of 6+, which obviously a 5.5 cannot have plus the pleco. I really would want to see bronzes in a 30 gallon.

Me? Well you CAN do it, but is it right to do it? are you sure that the fish are giving no complaints? How do you know that they are giving complaints, yet just not showing it due to the defense mechanism whereas in the wild they hide their pain? A cramped fish is a stressed fish which is a sick fish.
 
If they fit now & the owner/caretaker can maintain water quality it's okay as a stop gap measure.

My featherfin (labeled upside catfish 4 inches...doh!) was 1 inch when I got them and in a tank with 6 tetras for over a month.

In June, I had 22 tetras in a 10 gallon for a month due to many issues ( start of which was my tetras & 1 featherfin dying and me being clueless what killed them). the fish once stabilized did good. I just stayed on top of the water with minI water changes each 2 days. I don't think anyone sees it is a long term solution.


I fully expect my new 20 gallon for my featherfin catfish will only last 6-9 months at most. I will have to place it in a 55 galllon eventually. Same with my 4 silver dollars, their 36 gallon is likely only good another 18 months max.

it's economics, lifestyle & ability - what the person can do. where to put the tank etc.

I know if I cannot care for my silver dollars or featherfin to the level they need, I will have to rehome them. I realized that shortly after I got them.

OP has learned some stuff and liekly needs time to digest & figure it out.

Good luck Birdie! let us know how it goes. if they are babies, you have time. My green cories reached full size in about 2.5 month. The cories were less than an inch when I got them.
 
Hello,

I had been feeding my 9 trilineatus corys algae wafers and Aqueon shrimp pellets. Then I saw that they get little to no nutritional value from the algae wafers so I stopped.

I've been putting a chunk of zucchinI in the tank a couple times a week for my mystery snail, and they seem to like that too, but today I saw a post that says they get almost all their nutrition from carnivorous matter and almost none from vegetation.

I guess what I'm asking is should I get something else besides the shrimp pellets for them? I have some freeze dried blood worms, but they float so the corys don't have a chance. Should I get some frozen blood worms, or something else?

By the way, I think they're my favorite fish, although the older they get the more I like my pearl gouramis.
 

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Here’s what I use with my cories. It’s not too great on sand, but cories do appreciate digging for food, so if you do have sand in Cory tanks it’ll be alright. I used to feed blackworms and all, but I tried this food out and my cories absolutely loved it (therefore I loved it). I use it to induce spawning in cories in all 13 species I keep, and it works with even the rarer cories.

Edit:
Just realized I recommended a good without sending the ingredients/nutrition (big no-no, I I know).
 
View attachment 648321
Here’s what I use with my cories. It’s not too great on sand, but cories do appreciate digging for food, so if you do have sand in Cory tanks it’ll be alright. I used to feed blackworms and all, but I tried this food out and my cories absolutely loved it (therefore I loved it). I use it to induce spawning in cories in all 13 species I keep, and it works with even the rarer cories.

Edit:
Just realized I recommended a good without sending the ingredients/nutrition (big no-no, I I know).
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So is that all you feed them?
 
I feed them that and frozen bloodworms. 99% of what they are Fed is that Food, and they’re healthy and happy.
Note: I classify happy as breeding behavior.
 
View attachment 648321
Here’s what I use with my cories. It’s not too great on sand, but cories do appreciate digging for food, so if you do have sand in Cory tanks it’ll be alright. I used to feed blackworms and all, but I tried this food out and my cories absolutely loved it (therefore I loved it). I use it to induce spawning in cories in all 13 species I keep, and it works with even the rarer cories.

Edit:
Just realized I recommended a good without sending the ingredients/nutrition (big no-no, I I know).
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This is what I use as well. They all love it!
 
As long as it sink and nothing else eats it first then it should be fine.
 
They will eat it sure enough .
I suggest you buy a high protein corydoras food soon but.
 
In my experience cories would eat anything I gave them that got to the bottom. I tended to prefer to feed them frozen foods but sinking pellets are perfectly fine.
 
In my experience cories would eat anything I gave them that got to the bottom. I tended to prefer to feed them frozen foods but sinking pellets are perfectly fine.
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Thank you!
 

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I use that stuff and mine eat it off the top of the water on the glass. Only way I can feed mine since the platies eat their pellets.
 
I probably wouldn't give shrimp food to them, instead, I would get something like bug bites(which is good food for them IMO) and maybe give frozen food once a week or something.
 
Cory aren't picky and as others said will eat anything. Having said that do NOT feed them an exclusive diet of shrimp pellets. They need a mix of foods over time.Er shrimp today and something with a bit of veggie tomorrow Mind get some shrimp pellets; hiraki loach pellets; Repashy Soilent Green; flakes; nls pellets; .. and an occasional smashed snail if the angels don't grab em first.

[I have these annoying pest snail that hang up near the top - when i stick my finger in the angels immediately swim over to see if i will smash them - and if i do they grab em before they hit the bottom. Sounds gross but hey i'm just feeding my fishes ].
 
Cory aren't picky and as others said will eat anything. Having said that do NOT feed them an exclusive diet of shrimp pellets. They need a mix of foods over time.Er shrimp today and something with a bit of veggie tomorrow Mind get some shrimp pellets; hiraki loach pellets; Repashy Soilent Green; flakes; nls pellets; .. and an occasional smashed snail if the angels don't grab em first.

[I have these annoying pest snail that hang up near the top - when i stick my finger in the angels immediately swim over to see if i will smash them - and if i do they grab em before they hit the bottom. Sounds gross but hey i'm just feeding my fishes ].
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My corys, funny enough, leave the shrimp part of the cory wafers untouched
 
My Pygmy Corys get Hikari Shrimp Cuisine fairly regularly, since they share a tank with blue cherry shrimp, and that's what I feed the shrimp. The first 2 ingredients are fish meal & krill meal, and it's got 40% protein.

I also have a little cup with a mix of crushed up Hikari Carnivore wafers & Algae wafers. It's a fairly fine powder with a few bigger bits, so they all get to forage thru the sand for it

I also feed the corys with brine shrimp, blood worms and daphnia a few times a week along with the pellets. That's a good varied diet for them!
 

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