Mixing species of Cory cats

I already have 2 cories, Sammy and Scooter. Sammy is a bronzed cory and Scooter is a peppered cory. They are currently living in my female betta tank, are very small, but in a week or so will be moving into my new 55g. I want to buy 2 or 3 more when they move. Is it okay to mix the species, or should I get all one kind. Or does it matter? These guys are together all the time.

Also, I am toying with the idea of putting a small sandy area in the 55 gallon for the cories...any advice on that, or woud that just be a pain in the butt? I been reading about that in several aquarium books, and I know they really like the sand.

I am reading conflicting info on different websites that I go to, so if any of you actually have cories, please share your stories and advice with me.

Thanks, Val

 

Corries are pretty happy fish just to have other corries to play with, I have had multI species in tanks and they did muck around together. But they thrive with at least 4 to 6 of each species. And to watch a female corry clamp her eggs in her fins while the males follow her around and fert her eggs is very cool. She carefully places them on the glass and under leaves etc.

And as far as sand, yes they go nuts in it, they jam there heads right in and shake there barbells around sifting through it.

I have sand on the left hand side of my tank with a hollow caved rock system with java moss and riccia on it, my corries go nuts playing around in there. I used wood and larger rocks as a wall system to keep my sand on that end of the tank.


and a view of that end of the tank.

 

Wow, your tanks look amazing. I really enjoy my two cories, and they do have fun together and are very entertaining to watch. This 55 gallon will be a huge step for me, up from 10 gallon with bettas. I have no source of live plants, so may have to make a road trip to get a few easy ones, if there is such a thing, other than that, I have ordered silk ones.

Maybe I could get 1 more peppered, and 2 more bronze, or vice versa. I ended up with cories because I was dealing with someone at Walmart who didn't know what he was doing or saying...it was supposed to be an oto, and I didn't really know either...they were in the same tank. So when I realized I had the wrong fish, I just went back and got 2 so he could have company.

I could only hope to have a tank that was as amazing as yours one day. I am sure I will be making my share of mistakes, but I have been doing a lot of research.

Thanks. Val

 

Ahh thanks, I could never go back to being non planted, the fish just love em way to much, and the water is so much better with the plants to filter it (the funniest sig I have ever saw said, We don't keep fish, we keep water and the fish let us know if we are doing good or not hehe).

And it looks like walmart finally did something right, being your mistake, corries are fantastic little fish. My wife refers to ours as dumb little puppies from they way they almost waddle and are so currious.

If memory serves me right I think the general rule of thumb with corries is two per square foot and your new 55 should be 4 square feet or enough to house 8 of them. You will notice with more then one species per tank, once you have enough of each species they will bond more with their own. They do get along great with others thought. And watching them breed is just to neat, the female drops down a little cluster of eggs and holds them in her fins while being chased by the well **** little males hehe, she gentle takes the eggs and wiggles them into place, on lower sides of leaves and in moss and on the glass etc, very neat to watch.

I don't know what lighting you will run etc, or where you are from, but I see your avatar is Canadian, and if you want a heap of plants to get you started, I can always send you a heap of my next trimming to get you going.

 

Hello!
I had sand in my tank for awhile, and my cories loved it! It was so cute to watch them wiggle around in it. I'm thinking about going back to sand in one of my other tanks just so they can have it again. It takes a little more work (or carefullness/patience) to clean, but it looks amazing. I'm not sure if having a small area of sand would be a pain or not. I think it would depend on how fine the sand is. I had very fine white beach play sand, and it was constantly getting stirred up (moving things, vacuuming, etc). If you go with sand, just remember to stir it up once in awhile so you don't get deadly gas pockets (they can kill your fish very quickly).
I have 3 panda cories, and I recently got 2 juhlI (or however you spell it). Unfortunately the little one died shortly after I got it. The pandas kinda adopted the other, but it doesn't seem to play with the panda cories as much. My advice would be to get the same kinds as the ones you have.

What other fish are you planning on getting for the 55 gallon tank?

off subject but.... How come everyone else's tanks always look better than mine??

 

Cories will mix.
But to really see them school, they need to be kept in groups of the same species.

 

corys love sand and MrWaxheads tank is awesome but the only time I tried dividing a tank between sand and another substrate it was a nightmare after awhile.(just my experience mind you ) But tanks with an all sand substrate is awesome and I love mine. and the fish love mine I did find pool filter sand easier to deal with than any other type.
carol

 

I really have no crossover of substrate what so ever, granted I used fairly large pieces of wood in my scape to divide my zones up. And my sandy area is the lowest area in my tank, so the sand would would have to get up a fair amount to cross to the next area of tank.

Oh and thanks for the compliment

 

I really have no crossover of substrate what so ever, granted I used fairly large pieces of wood in my scape to divide my zones up. And my sandy area is the lowest area in my tank, so the sand would would have to get up a fair amount to cross to the next area of tank.

Oh and thanks for the compliment

welcome!
The tank I tried to divide had black EcoComplete(it's very light weight) and black and white Sahara sand from Carib Sea. It looked fantastic until the Plec and the Corys finished rearranging. LOL
Carol

 

Yes I do have a section of red sea flourabase that is extremely light as well, under my tennelus and hairgrass and stem plants. But my corries have a hard time wrecking that area as the root system holds everything together. A plec would be a different story though hehe.

 

I agree with Dino.. that tank is big enough maybe a school of each type?

 

Remember everyone, this is my first community tank, and changing water will be a major pain the butt....since we will haul water. It looks beautiful, but I don't want to bite off more than I can chew, either.

I am thinking 8 would be too many, since I want sailfin mollies as my main fish, with some dwarf gouramis; maybe boseman rainbow, swordtail & clown pleco.

The 2 cories I have do everythiing together, and they are amazing to watch if I change an ornament around, the hurry to the empty spot to see what they can find.

What is up with the typing being delayed here, or is it just me???



Wax, I live in NW Ontario, near the Manitoba border. ( I lived in the East Kootenay area for 18 years) I will have to get to Wpg and see if I can get some plants. Thanks for the great offer!!

 

Corys are such social fish! We have a friend who has a cory and female betta that are total buddies, swimming together & sleeping beside each other.

 

Nice where abouts in the kootenays did you used to live. I really like it over there, I used to do lots of work in that area, mainly Nelson and Cranbrook, but I used to putter all through that area (very nice country). You miss the rockies at all?

I actually just moved back to the coast about 18 months ago, before that I was in the Okanagan for a few years (I don't miss the heat there at all hehe)

If you find out your lighting and want plants let me know, I have enough riccia for about a foot square plot atm, that I will be chopping down in the next few days (really really needs good light and c02 or it will melt though, and its pain at time to keep under control, but so amazing looking in pearl). I can always spare java moss too, I have lots of it hehe (its fine in pretty much any light). My lace java and java fern are blowing babies like mad atm too, and I will have some of them ready to go in a few weeks (good in most light too). And I also have weekly about 6 to 10, 6 to 12 inch stems of red lugwigia that could go as well, ( they do fine in lower light, they just don't get really red)

If you do, just let me know what you want and I will save a bunch up, and ship it all in one chunk.

 

We lived on the Montana border, in a little place called Grasmere, it is between Cranbrook & Fernie. We moved back here ( where I was born ) after my very long absence just to be able to spend time with my folks, who are both in their mid & late 80's.

We both miss the rockies like crazy,:'( and I wouldn't be surprised to see us back there one day.Our house was right at the base of the Rockies, such beautiful country, I would walk out our door and everyday count our blessings, it was so clean and fresh, we got our water straight off the mountains..it was the best! I just took an early retirement this year and that spare time is how I found myself into fishkeeping...I had no idea it would grab me like it has, and I am very excited about this 55g.

right now I am seeking help and researching about using well water in the tank.

Anyway, I would love to take you up on your very generous offer, although I am not familiar with the plants at all. The tank will have good light, and my fish will be sailfin mollies; dwarf gouramis; a pair of angels and the cories. I would prefer that you pick, and just the easy ones:-\. Why don't you PM me the details and we can discuss it from there?

Thanks again. Val

 

So I adopted a mix bag of fish from a co-worker who was breaking down her aquarium. Fortunately I had compatible aquariums for most of the randoms. The only oddball is a single albino cory (paleatus/peppered), I have a school of 18 pandas.. they're very closely related. Anyone have experience with them together? I have plenty of room elsewhere for him, should I just shell out a few pesos for some friends for him?

 

As I understand it, the albino and the panda are different, and whilst they may school out of necessity, they'll be much happier with their own kind.

So... I'd get him some pals, or, re-rehome him. Your call.

 

The only real hesitation is having to order them online. Locally the albinos are mostly dead in shops and very tiny. This guy is like 3" already. But if he's not going to be happy with the pandas I'll get him some friends.

 

If it is an Albino Peppered you can even get just regular Peppered Cory's.

 

^ This.

If you know he's a peppered, then normal peppered are fine. This is a lack of pigment, not a different type.

ETA: never tried it myself, but I have heard some great results for ordering online.
Depending on where you are (USA/UK/AUS/etc) if you ask here for some seller recs, you'll find a good reliable one.

 

If it is an Albino Peppered you can even get just regular Peppered Cory's.

I would if they were around locally. Usually just bronze, albino, and sterbais. I'm just going to order a bunch, I was considering cories for my microfish tank anyway. Now I have an excuse

 

If you're gonna order a bunch, you could get a couple more albino, and a few peppered, and have a mix.

Size shouldn't matter, they'll still all go together.

 

^ This.

If you know he's a peppered, then normal peppered are fine. This is a lack of pigment, not a different type.

Yes he's a paleatus, luckily. A mix of regular an albino will look nice, I don't care for the aeneus/bronze so much.

If you're gonna order a bunch, you could get a couple more albino, and a few peppered, and have a mix.

Size shouldn't matter, they'll still all go together.

He's quite large which is surprising considering where he came from. Especially since he's still rather young. Lets just say my coworker wasn't very keen on fishkeeping.

 

I think they (bronze) have a beautiful sheen to them provided they catch the light right.

99.5% of the time they're just a brown blob on the bottom of your tank.

 

He's quite large which is surprising considering where he came from. Especially since he's still rather young. Lets just say my coworker wasn't very keen on fishkeeping.

Then it probably is a she.
Could you place a pic?
Panda and paleatus aren't related closely. They both love cooler water but are found in places with Amazoneregion in between (Pandas Peru near the Andes and paleatus in Uruguay / Argentina.)

 

Mixed groups of Corydoras do fine. As Doubledutch pointed out, they are not necessarily closely related at all, as it is a big genus with a lot of diversity and hundreds of species across a lot of terrain.
I would get some paleatus eventually, but you are in no hurry. I like to see fish before I buy them, unless I have a good rapport with the seller and he/she has a seriously good reputation. With common fish like albino paleatus, you will get fishfarm specials, and they bear examination and quarantine before they go into a community.
For now, the paleatus will hang around the edges of the panda group, but not fit in.

 

I have always heard that Corys like to be in groups, and that species differences don't matter.

However, I have 3 types (see below) and I've noticed they often only swim with the ones that are the same species. Should I have gotten all of 1 species?

I have 3x RaboutI





2x unknown A



2x unknown B

 

Different cories won't school with each other. You have to get at least 6 of it's own species in a tank.

 

Looks like I screwed that up.

 

What size tank is this?

 

What size tank is this?

60g




They will school together or even with the Diamond Tetras but during quiet times I mostly see them hanging out in their groups.

 

Can you name your whole stock? I can't see the fish that small in the pic, except for the angels.

 

Unknown A is a corydora paleatus which is not temperature compatible with your fish, far from it, they enjoy cooler water. I don't have many knowledge on Rabauti, but guessing by their temperature ranges, and if those are cardinal tetras, then I would also say they are kind of temperature incompatible.
Unknown B is harder to identify, at least for me, maybe a fake Julii.

And yes, IMO you mess up if you keep more than 1 corydora species in a tank, corydoras school with hundreds of their own type in the wild, so even if you can provide 6 corydoras of each species (or more) you will get better results and more natural behavior which in turn makes the aquarium prettier if instead of keeping 2 or more species, you keep 1 specie and make it the biggest you can.

 

Unknown B looks like C. reticulatus to me

 

Can you name your whole stock? I can't see the fish that small in the pic, except for the angels.

3x Angels
9x Diamond Tetra
10x Cardinal Tetra
7x Corydoras
7x Oto Cats

 

Unknown A is a corydora paleatus which is not temperature compatible with your fish, far from it, they enjoy cooler water. I don't have many knowledge on Rabauti, but guessing by their temperature ranges, and if those are cardinal tetras, then I would also say they are kind of temperature incompatible.
Unknown B is harder to identify, at least for me, maybe a fake Julii.

And yes, IMO you mess up if you keep more than 1 corydora species in a tank, corydoras school with hundreds of their own type in the wild, so even if you can provide 6 corydoras of each species (or more) you will get better results and more natural behavior which in turn makes the aquarium prettier if instead of keeping 2 or more species, you keep 1 specie and make it the biggest you can.

I'll see if I can catch those 2 in that case. I'm keeping this tank at 77-78dF but Planet Cats says their upper range is 77 and better lower.

Unknown B looks like C. reticulatus to me

Looks close to me, but mine don't have the dorsal spot.

 

Not to ruin the party but if you keep Cardinals you are probably gonna have to get a temp friendly catfish. Cardinals like warm water (26-28) and the 2 types of Corys we could ID and the ottos would probably not be happy in 26 degress.
Corydoras Aenus is common, cheap and will take those temperatures better.

IMO, I would rehome the 3 corydoras if we can not ID the last one plus the ottocinclus and get a big school of a high-temp friendly corydora. It will probably look great to have 10-12 corydoras swimming around together, and it will make sure you don't have temp compatibility issues.
I know, kind of a hassle having to net out fish, specially in such a well planted tank like yours, but it is probably the best for all of them.

 

Not to ruin the party but if you keep Cardinals you are probably gonna have to get a temp friendly catfish. Cardinals like warm water (26-28) and the 2 types of Corys we could ID and the ottos would probably not be happy in 26 degress.
Corydoras Aenus is common, cheap and will take those temperatures better.

I've got them at 78, the are ridiculous with their growth. Only kept Neons in the past and I always remember them growing somewhat slow, these Cardinals grow like Oscars.

 

Lol, I'm glad the cardinals are doing well, I would guess that the higher the temp the fastest theill grow. Probably the Ottos and Corydoras will not die in your tank, but you would be pushing their temps. It is not imperative that you rehome them, and you can take your time if you want, but just keep it in mind.

 

Lol, I'm glad the cardinals are doing well, I would guess that the higher the temp the fastest theill grow. Probably the Ottos and Corydoras will not die in your tank, but you would be pushing their temps. It is not imperative that you rehome them, and you can take your time if you want, but just keep it in mind.

I don't think catching the Otos will be possible without completely destroying that environment but the corys might be possible.