What's the normal amount to feed about 25 Cories?

I'm sure I have 25-30 cories in my 40 gallon tank, of 5 varieties. (The Peppered Cories have managed to breed over the years, started with 4 and now lost count.) I feed them shrimp pellets probably 5 nights a week. I think now, after having a problem in the tank, I could be overfeeding them, or all my fish.

Please tell me, what would be the normal amount of pellets to drop in there for them? Keep in mind there are 6 amanos and they grab them if they can get to them. Would you put 5 in there, or more like 10? I probably put 10 in there although I don't count them.

I may write about my tank problem in another thread but this is about my corydoras.

 

Idk what size your shrimp pellets are... I have 6 panda cories and at least 1 amano (had 3 but they hide really well so idk if I still have all 3). I feed them 5ish Hikari sinking wafers a day. Some of my tetras will nibble on them occasionally too. They are about the diameter of a mechanical pencil eraser, but really thin. So 10 pellets doesn't sound like a lot to me but I am not sure not knowing the size. Are they heading to eat them soon after dropping them in or not seeming hungry? Do they seem overly chunky or normal body size?

 

Idk what size your shrimp pellets are... I have 6 panda cories and at least 1 amano (had 3 but they hide really well so idk if I still have all 3). I feed them 5ish Hikari sinking wafers a day. Some of my tetras will nibble on them occasionally too. They are about the diameter of a mechanical pencil eraser, but really thin. So 10 pellets doesn't sound like a lot to me but I am not sure not knowing the size. Are they heading to eat them soon after dropping them in or not seeming hungry? Do they seem overly chunky or normal body size?

The pellets are actually called Omega One Catfish Pellets, I think when I bought them the first time, they were Shrimp Pellets, maybe I'm wrong! Funny how you have something in your hand every day and forget the name of it! They're only about 1/4" long little things. My cories totally attack them and fight for them. They seem a nice healthy size. They get that most of the time and sinking wafers other times. Then once a week I give the tank bloodworms and they're good at finding the blobs that make it to the bottom.

Last night after being away 3 nights, I found a dying amber tetra. Then I can only find 2 out of my 7 left, so I lost 5. I checked the water and had just a "HINT" of ammonia showing. The yellow on my tester just had that little tinge of green. That could be enough to kill sensitive fish. I did 2 things this week and wonder if I messed up my bacteria count. My nitrates were 40 instead of the usual 20, and I just did a 50% change 6 days ago. I did a small 6 gallon WC last night. I still have at least 1 amber left, hopefully 2. This is a heavily planted tank. The fish were only without food one day, my daughter came in and fed them a premeasured amount Tuesday so they weren't overfed. I'm just exploring reasons for the tiny bit of ammonia. I do use Prime when I change water so that should've helped that little bump.

I feed fish twice a day and have decided to go to just once. This is a 3 year old tank and I haven't had an issue. The tank, because of the cories, is overstocked. I have a lot of filtration and do WC more often and things stay good for me. But I sure hated losing the embers. I have 7 or 8 neons and they're all fine.

Anyway, thought I'd start with this food, thought maybe I'm feeding too much. They do polish it off fast.

When I feed mine sinking wafers, I break 5 in half, so my cories aren't getting nearly as much as yours - maybe I'm doing this okay after all. Again, just starting with this to see what others feed, to check myself!

 

The pellets are actually called Omega One Catfish Pellets, I think when I bought them the first time, they were Shrimp Pellets, maybe I'm wrong! Funny how you have something in your hand every day and forget the name of it! They're only about 1/4" long little things. My cories totally attack them and fight for them. They seem a nice healthy size. They get that most of the time and sinking wafers other times. Then once a week I give the tank bloodworms and they're good at finding the blobs that make it to the bottom.

Last night after being away 3 nights, I found a dying amber tetra. Then I can only find 2 out of my 7 left, so I lost 5. I checked the water and had just a "HINT" of ammonia showing. The yellow on my tester just had that little tinge of green. That could be enough to kill sensitive fish. I did 2 things this week and wonder if I messed up my bacteria count. My nitrates were 40 instead of the usual 20, and I just did a 50% change 6 days ago. I did a small 6 gallon WC last night. I still have at least 1 amber left, hopefully 2. This is a heavily planted tank. The fish were only without food one day, my daughter came in and fed them a premeasured amount Tuesday so they weren't overfed. I'm just exploring reasons for the tiny bit of ammonia. I do use Prime when I change water so that should've helped that little bump.

I feed fish twice a day and have decided to go to just once. This is a 3 year old tank and I haven't had an issue. The tank, because of the cories, is overstocked. I have a lot of filtration and do WC more often and things stay good for me. But I sure hated losing the embers. I have 7 or 8 neons and they're all fine.

Anyway, thought I'd start with this food, thought maybe I'm feeding too much. They do polish it off fast.

When I feed mine sinking wafers, I break 5 in half, so my cories aren't getting nearly as much as yours - maybe I'm doing this okay after all. Again, just starting with this to see what others feed, to check myself!

omega-one sells both catfish and shrimp pellets; they look identical but have different ingrediants. I tend to gauge how much i feed my cory based on their behavior. If they are hungry they will dash to the front as soon as i put in the food; otherwise they will wait till i leave the room to come out. They don't come out they get less food

As to amount - well i feed the borelli and nannacara bug bites and then toss in 2 to 4 pellets. I have 15ish pymgy cory and 10-15 orange laser as well as 2 bn pleco - who keep the nannacara well fed.

 

omega-one sells both catfish and shrimp pellets; they look identical but have different ingrediants. I tend to gauge how much i feed my cory based on their behavior. If they are hungry they will dash to the front as soon as i put in the food; otherwise they will wait till i leave the room to come out. They don't come out they get less food

As to amount - well i feed the borelli and nannacara bug bites and then toss in 2 to 4 pellets. I have 15ish pymgy cory and 10-15 orange laser as well as 2 bn pleco - who keep the nannacara well fed.

This. I've always noticed if cories are overfed they just kind of sit around and do nothing and if they are fed right they stay busy between feedings, and if underfed they come racing for food and dog pile on it to get it when it's put in.
The happy medium is where they aren't aggressively feeding, but not just laying around all day either, they are scavengers and are supposed to eat the bits they find and spend their time looking for things to eat through the tank, so less food being added more often is a good way to keep them fed without over feeding or underfeeding and just adjusting the amount fed based on how they act when you introduce the food, if they act aggressive, they don't have enough, if they act lethargic and disinterested they've been getting too much.
Eventually you find a feeding schedule and amount that gets the activity you want without being too much or too little. Less more often is always better with most scavengers than overdoing it and cutting back to find that right spot. They should have enough but not be sitting full and relaxing doing nothing between feedings.

 

This. I've always noticed if cories are overfed they just kind of sit around and do nothing and if they are fed right they stay busy between feedings, and if underfed they come racing for food and dog pile on it to get it when it's put in.
The happy medium is where they aren't aggressively feeding, but not just laying around all day either, they are scavengers and are supposed to eat the bits they find and spend their time looking for things to eat through the tank, so less food being added more often is a good way to keep them fed without over feeding or underfeeding and just adjusting the amount fed based on how they act when you introduce the food, if they act aggressive, they don't have enough, if they act lethargic and disinterested they've been getting too much.
Eventually you find a feeding schedule and amount that gets the activity you want without being too much or too little. Less more often is always better with most scavengers than overdoing it and cutting back to find that right spot. They should have enough but not be sitting full and relaxing doing nothing between feedings.

Reading that, I feel like I'm doing okay, or maybe not even enough. My cories are rarely ever resting - if I see one laying at the bottom I get worried, but they're fine, very active and always scavenging. I didn't plan on having so many in this tank. I had a 20 gallon with 6 that I took away, then a 10 gallon with 3 I also got rid of. I have just 2 in another 10 gallon. The Peppereds "got busy" so much in the 20 gallon, there were always surprise babies showing up. Now at least when they shower the sides with eggs, there's enough others who enjoy egg dinners and I haven't seen a young one in a long time. Haven't noticed other types spawning. I think all my albinos are females, but there's a bronze male who tries... just haven't noticed eggs from them. But last night when I fed, I did count the pieces of food and I had 9 pieces in my hand. I think I can even increase the amount slowly, I don't think this is causing my tiny ammonia spike. They are always devouring them like they're starving. But again, their size is good. One day a couple weeks ago I thought I saw one who looked thin and that was strange. Hopefully he's okay, will keep watch.

Linda1234 Thank you for that! And I had to look up those orange lasers, never heard of them. WOW, so gorgeous! Do I have room for just 3 more in my tank??!!?? Just kidding, I think... if I ever see them I just might be adding them! They would sure add some flash on the black sand.

 

if you have a small ammonia spike you are noticing, check your water. can be a switch to chloramines which is chlorine stabilized with ammonia for water treatment. since the tests are total chlorine and total ammonia, if it's present it would be there when you draw the water and testing for chlorine and ammonia, and when you dechlorinate, the chlorine will be gone but the ammonia will remain, so if they are treating with chloramine you will get small ammonia readings until the bacteria breaks it down.

Your feeding doesn't sound like that is the cause,
Could a fish die and go unnoticed? maybe the one you thought looked skinny a couple weeks ago? that could spike ammonia,,,,or a die off of bacteria could do it also, what I'd call a "catastrophic event" where something dies and creates a heavy load like part of a bacteria colony even to where the ammonia produced, and what's left, causes a spike.

As far as your stocking, I'd guess the heavier stocking that happened came from in tank births? if so, the biological filter grew with them to handle that load they produce, it's not the same effect as adding 5-10-20 semi grown to grown fish at once out of nowhere.

Couple things to look at I guess about your small ammonia spike.
look for chlorimines, is ammonia present in your water change water to some degree?
is a fish dying here or there and this causing a mini spike, before i gets eaten by the cories and shrimp?
is something happening with the filter to cause a die off or downsizing of the biological filtration/bacteria?

i've heard if tank water temp gets above 90F and heads toward 95F it can get low in O2 and cause a nitrifying bacterial die off. Seems like a long shot though, I'd think you'd have some dead fish to some extent if if the water O2 saturation is low enough to kill the bacteria. Doesn't seem like it's likely, Unless it were labyrinth fish being kept.

 

if you have a small ammonia spike you are noticing, check your water. can be a switch to chloramines which is chlorine stabilized with ammonia for water treatment. since the tests are total chlorine and total ammonia, if it's present it would be there when you draw the water and testing for chlorine and ammonia, and when you dechlorinate, the chlorine will be gone but the ammonia will remain, so if they are treating with chloramine you will get small ammonia readings until the bacteria breaks it down.

Your feeding doesn't sound like that is the cause,
Could a fish die and go unnoticed? maybe the one you thought looked skinny a couple weeks ago? that could spike ammonia,,,,or a die off of bacteria could do it also, what I'd call a "catastrophic event" where something dies and creates a heavy load like part of a bacteria colony even to where the ammonia produced, and what's left, causes a spike.

As far as your stocking, I'd guess the heavier stocking that happened came from in tank births? if so, the biological filter grew with them to handle that load they produce, it's not the same effect as adding 5-10-20 semi grown to grown fish at once out of nowhere.

Couple things to look at I guess about your small ammonia spike.
look for chlorimines, is ammonia present in your water change water to some degree?
is a fish dying here or there and this causing a mini spike, before i gets eaten by the cories and shrimp?
is something happening with the filter to cause a die off or downsizing of the biological filtration/bacteria?

i've heard if tank water temp gets above 90F and heads toward 95F it can get low in O2 and cause a nitrifying bacterial die off. Seems like a long shot though, I'd think you'd have some dead fish to some extent if if the water O2 saturation is low enough to kill the bacteria. Doesn't seem like it's likely, Unless it were labyrinth fish being kept.

We use well water, and I take it before it goes through the softener. I thought about checking the water out of the spout, but it takes about 40 cranks to bypass the softener and another 40 to close it again. When I do WCs I have to really be in the mood, I hate that cranking!
This tank is always 73-74 degrees so heat wasn't the issue.

Oh you won't believe what I just did, or maybe you will. I looked at Aqua Huna and they didn't have Orange Lasers, but did have Gold Lasers. I got a pack of 4. THEN there were Orange Venezuelan and 4 of those will be coming. Also 2 Calico Bushynose Plecos. I'm an addict, it's true. There's a large store near Pittsburgh I love to go to but it's about an hour away, and Aqua Huna is where I go to feed my habit at times. Once I look, I'm done. But yes this will be a 10-fish-addition so I'll handle it carefully. I'll do a larger WC this weekend and monitor things.

Those baby cories I had were born in 2 other tanks, and I did add them all at once to the 40 gallon, but it's been over a year. I know someone with a tank, I may ask if he'd like a few Peppered, if I can catch them.

A question about the food. Ive been using Omega One pellets for 3 years. Now I was looking on Amazon and don't see those. Do you know if Aqueon is a good brand? They have a huge sale on pellets right now, 65% off. But are they of good quality? I'm going to keep shopping before ordering, I have enough for 2-3 more weeks here. Is there a brand you recommend? I have about 20 different fish foods here I rotate through. All my fish love Bug Bites, and I see they have a bottom feeder variety too.

 

We use well water, and I take it before it goes through the softener. I thought about checking the water out of the spout, but it takes about 40 cranks to bypass the softener and another 40 to close it again. When I do WCs I have to really be in the mood, I hate that cranking!
This tank is always 73-74 degrees so heat wasn't the issue.

Oh you won't believe what I just did, or maybe you will. I looked at Aqua Huna and they didn't have Orange Lasers, but did have Gold Lasers. I got a pack of 4. THEN there were Orange Venezuelan and 4 of those will be coming. Also 2 Calico Bushynose Plecos. I'm an addict, it's true. There's a large store near Pittsburgh I love to go to but it's about an hour away, and Aqua Huna is where I go to feed my habit at times. Once I look, I'm done. But yes this will be a 10-fish-addition so I'll handle it carefully. I'll do a larger WC this weekend and monitor things.

Those baby cories I had were born in 2 other tanks, and I did add them all at once to the 40 gallon, but it's been over a year. I know someone with a tank, I may ask if he'd like a few Peppered, if I can catch them.

A question about the food. Ive been using Omega One pellets for 3 years. Now I was looking on Amazon and don't see those. Do you know if Aqueon is a good brand? They have a huge sale on pellets right now, 65% off. But are they of good quality? I'm going to keep shopping before ordering, I have enough for 2-3 more weeks here. Is there a brand you recommend? I have about 20 different fish foods here I rotate through. All my fish love Bug Bites, and I see they have a bottom feeder variety too.

Honestly No, I use a really basic type flake for beginners (tetraflake or tetacolor) that I can get cheap in bulk locally by the pounds buckets, and then I been using a vitamin supplement as a tank treatment and one feeding a day food soak called Boyd Enterprises Vita-Chem, which I'm liking the results of compared to just the cheapest food I can find alone.
I don't know about any other food except for those tetra flakes, and I'd say it keeps the fish alive and growing..... yuuup.
I will say with the addition of the vitamin supplement, I'm seeing better color and faster damage repair to fins and stuff the fish look healthier in general.
No idea if other staple foods in flake or pellet provide that much coverage or not without a supplement, I just decided to give this a shot since I was going as cheap as possible on the food for my area and see if the addition of the fullrange of vitamins would improve things, and yeah, it does. but I don't know if there's a better staple food out there to do that....