Corydoras - Waste levels?

[james_fish]

Hi all

I will soon be offloading the 5 Oto's which I've had a month of so.
Firstly, because they have done the job I initially got them for, but mainly because the physical waste they produce. Between them it's astonishing for such a small fish. I can't keep up vacuuming it out!

Anyway i'm looking at replacing them with a group of 6-8 Cory's - undecided as of yet but maybe Gold Lazers or Weitzmani.

I have very little experience with Corydoras, so my question what they like in terms of "pooping" and spoiling up my lovely river sand? messy buggers or not too bad? Don't mind cleaning once every few days but not everyday.

Thanks in advance

James.

 

[Byron]

I've never seen this issue with otos or anything else, and have hundreds of fish. What sort of sand?

 

[stanleo]

All fish produce waste including corys and I would assume they would produce the same amount as otos. You really should only vacuum the sand once a week. The organics that accumulate could foil your water and cause issues of done every day or other day. I myself never vacuum my substrate, just let it do it’s thing.

And an otos job is never done. They constantly work to keep algae in check and once they are gone it will come back. That of course is dependent on whether you subscribe to the notion that you get certain fish only to do certain jobs, which I don’t.

 

[james_fish]

I've never seen this issue with otos or anything else, and have hundreds of fish. What sort of sand?

It’s Hugo Kamishi natural sand.
I’ve been told it’s common with Oto’s if they are feeding well. It’s supposed to be a good sign that they are constantly eating algae and producing waste. An unlimited stomach if you like!

I just don’t want the Cory’s to be the same. I imagine they won’t be as bad as they are far less effective at eating algae




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[Byron]

It’s Hugo Kamishi natural sand.
I’ve been told it’s common with Oto’s if they are feeding well. It’s supposed to be a good sign that they are constantly eating algae and producing waste. An unlimited stomach if you like!

I just don’t want the Cory’s to be the same. I imagine they won’t be as bad as they are far less effective at eating algae

Natural sand that is a uniform shade/colour will show detritus more than a mix. That's one reason I use play sand; the black/tan/gray/white mix makes almost everything disappear. When I had black in one tank I noticed stuff I had never seen before.

Vegetarian fish, like vegetarian animals, have to eat considerably more to obtain the essential nutrition. So more in means more coming out. This is why many plecos produce such waste.

Cories will not eat algae at all. They will graze over it, looking for microscopic bits of food, but not eat algae.

If you have an algae problem, fish are not the best answer, as most algae eating fish are very particular as to the algae they will eat. But with common algae, otos, some plecos, Farlowella, etc can help, but only if you want them as fish in their own right. I discovered my Farlowella vitatta were chewing holes in my chain swords, so I had to move them to another tank where it didn't matter. Larger swords, Java Fern, etc won't be damaged like more delicate plants can. But none of these fish will even begin to handle problem algae.

 

[Colin_T]

You can gravel clean every day if you want and it won't hurt the fish. However, if you notice lots of fish poop on the substrate then you might not have enough water movement or filtration to pick it up.

Algae eating fishes always produce lots of waste but Otocinclus do not produce a huge amount compared to Bristlenose, Peckoltias, and other species. But that has a lot to do with their size, they are small fish.

If well fed, you will probably find a similar amount of waste from 5 or 6 Corydoras.

 

[james_fish]

Thanks all for the input


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[AbbeysDad]

Whenever I hear of excessive fish waste, I get out the soapbox. Long ago in a forum far away a member raised the question/complaint about fish foods where the main ingredient was fish meal. I was ignorant and thought 'what's wrong with fish meal'. Well, it turns out that a lot is wrong! Fish meal is typically low grade made from head, scale, bone (cannery waste), ground up, loaded with preservatives, dried and sits in a warehouse until a fish food mfg places an order. Because it's dry, it requires copious amounts of grain starch as binder/filler. (Fish can't process grain so it goes through them as excess waste!). Loaded with more preservatives and sits in warehouse/petstore until we purchase. When I switched to high quality foods, I noticed significantly less waste. So read those ingredient labels and choose food that do not begin with fish meal!
[end soapbox]

 

[james_fish]

Whenever I hear of excessive fish waste, I get out the soapbox. Long ago in a forum far away a member raised the question/complaint about fish foods where the main ingredient was fish meal. I was ignorant and thought 'what's wrong with fish meal'. Well, it turns out that a lot is wrong! Fish meal is typically low grade made from head, scale, bone (cannery waste), ground up, loaded with preservatives, dried and sits in a warehouse until a fish food mfg places an order. Because it's dry, it requires copious amounts of grain starch as binder/filler. (Fish can't process grain so it goes through them as excess waste!). Loaded with more preservatives and sits in warehouse/petstore until we purchase. When I switched to high quality foods, I noticed significantly less waste. So read those ingredient labels and choose food that do not begin with fish meal!
[end soapbox]

Thanks for the input [emoji106]


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