Pepper cory’s are adorable!

[lisa99]

Ok, so I know this is an already established fact but my goodness the Cory’s I got today for the 75 gallon are so fun to watch.

I got 10 of them and as soon as I put them in the tank they started doing acrobatics. I wanted to take a pic and 4 of them lined up nicely and said CHEESE.

Last time I looked in they were using the outer part of the tank as a race track.

Quick question. Since it’s a new tank and there is no food on the bottom of the tank how many of the small bottom feeder pellets should I give the group?

 

[MissNoodle]

Theyre very cute!

As a staple for cories i feed wardley catfish shrimp pellets. I usually feed about 3-4 pellets daily for the group.


However i notice you have angels in this tank. Angels need temps around 80F which is too warm for peppered cories who need cooler water (between 60-77F, wild caught should be in the cooler range). Long term housing in warm water can cause them stress, make them prone to illness, and shorten their lifespan.

Do you have a tank with more compatible temperatures?

 

[lisa99]

Interesting you should say that. I asked for sterbai today at the mom & pop and was told peppers were good at 80 (they didn’t have sterbai).

How do they do with bettas? The only other tank I have is a 20” long with a single male betta, the 2 kuhli, and 12 cardinal tetra.

I know there is a huge debate about housing betta with anything but I’m keeping a close eye on him and so far he’s being a sweetheart.

 

[lisa99]

After a bit of reading looks like I can drop Angels to 78 and the pepper is good there too as it’s upper range. Mine were tank bred rather than wild caught.

 

[MissNoodle]

Interesting you should say that. I asked for sterbai today at the mom & pop and was told peppers were good at 80 (they didn’t have sterbai).

How do they do with bettas? The only other tank I have is a 20” long with a single male betta, the 2 kuhli, and 12 cardinal tetra.

I know there is a huge debate about housing betta with anything but I’m keeping a close eye on him and so far he’s being a sweetheart.

After a bit of reading looks like I can drop Angels to 78 and the pepper is good there too as it’s upper range. Mine were tank bred rather than wild caught.

Its still not ideal to keep fish at the highest of their range or the lowest as it still can stress them and affect their lifespan.

The 20" may be too cramped for 10 peppers as theyre a larger cory, so id keep them where theyre at and lower to 78F for now.


(Also keeping bettas comes down to the individual fish. My female betta was a doll with other fish. My male was fine with our molly but hated everyone else lol)

 

[lisa99]

I trust that the owner of the awesome lfs wasn't trying to sell me something that wouldn't work, but next time if I want sterbai by gosh I'm getting sterbai!

I have a 125 gallon planned for next year so the peppers will get an appropriate home one way or another.

 

[MissNoodle]

I trust that the owner of the awesome lfs wasn't trying to sell me something that wouldn't work, but next time if I want sterbai by gosh I'm getting sterbai!

I have a 125 gallon planned for next year so the peppers will get an appropriate home one way or another.

Theyd be right at home in there with those golden dojos!!! Lol theyre temperature compatible... add in some odessa barbs for a top swimmer, some zebra danios, some platies... you got yourself a nice set up for a tank that size

 

[lisa99]

Girl you're gonna get me in trouble! If I already have a plan who says I have to wait until next year!!

Every single day for the last month something has arrived at the door to feed my new fishie obsession. Hubby just rolls his eyes.

 

[lisa99]

ooooh, could a full size pleco be added to the mix? Or would I need say, a 200 gallon??

 

[MissNoodle]

Girl you're gonna get me in trouble! If I already have a plan who says I have to wait until next year!!

Every single day for the last month something has arrived at the door to feed my new fishie obsession. Hubby just rolls his eyes.

Yesss lol my husband is the same.

"It started with us getting a 10 gallon tank for our son and now you've turned it into a million dollar investment!" My husband when i joked about another tank.

But fishkeeping is so good for mental health, ill look at it as investing in home therapy at my own leisure

 

[MissNoodle]

ooooh, could a full size pleco be added to the mix? Or would I need say, a 200 gallon??

You could add a bristlenose, clown, snowball, etc to your existing 75 gallon depending what you already have.

But common pleco need over 200g i think or more.


Let me introduce an oddity related to plecos... needs temps 75-80F and must have algae and vegetables fed, but... a farlowella is a neat fish too. Very sensitive though to water quality so close attention needs to be paid, but theyre a fun fish. Theyre not an "easy" fish as theyre easily out competed for food, but with the right set up theyre fun to try to find as they blend in so well.

 

[lisa99]

How cool. They look a little like a miniature alligator gar.

I have a calico bushnose pleco on order, but other than the cory's that's the only bottom feeders I'll have right now.

 

[MissNoodle]

How cool. They look a little like a miniature alligator gar.

I have a calico bushnose pleco on order, but other than the cory's that's the only bottom feeders I'll have right now.

Except no teeth as theyre a sucker fish like a pleco, theyre docile, and nearly totally vegetarian. Despite reaching up to 9 inches, they can be kept in smaller tanks due to lower activity levels apparently, but my boy is pretty active as it is in a 46 gallon. The smallest is a 20 gallon for them, which i thinks a bit on the small side, but many breed them i guess in that size too so who knows.


But theres other plecos out there too, but the largest commons i dont think even a 125g, or even a 150g is enough. They get up to 2 feet long which is insane lol.
There are leopard frog plecos, zebras ($$$ lol), etc. I think the bristlenose are a nice choice, theyre endearing with their funny noses. Im sitting on the idea for one in one of my tanks, but its a passing idea so far.

 

[lisa99]

I'm gonna end up with all bottom feeders if I'm not careful. They are all so adorable and so different.

 

[lisa99]

Kuhlis are in the house! They are even more adorable than cory’s! Found 4 of them and brought them all home

 

[lisa99]

Sad morning. Lost a kuhli and a cardinal tetra overnight. It was my fault.

I had a "quiet flow" hob filter that was incredibly loud. The tank is in the guest room and we have guests coming so I had to do something about the filter. I replaced it with a Penn Plex Cascade 500 canister filter last night. I moved the media from the HOB and put it in the canister even though it was only a tiny double piece of floss with carbon between the sheets.

This morning I had a dead loach and tetra. The ammonia alarm on the tank read zero but I tested the water and it read .25 ppm ammonia. Nitrites were 0 and nitrates for 20ppm. I'm assuming the ammonia killed them. I'll be testing twice a day for ammonia and do water changes since I think I essentially have an uncycled tank now since the filter is so much bigger.

Good news is the betta and other fish seem completely unaffected so maybe the guys that died were weaker.