Upgraded betta tank: corydoras?

[TallTree01]

Howdy folks ,
Been a while since visiting this board, new children really constricting my spare time. TFFs had some changes it seems .
A few weeks ago my most recent "micro aquarium" - home to various shrimps and small fishes over the years - started spewing nasty chemicals after the light fixture got water trapped inside it. It was an older aquarium model and finding lighting units for its unconventional size felt too much hassle for me to handle. So, I got very excited and bought a new "micro aquarium", I decided that seeing as I had extra space I'd go a bit bigger. May have gone a tad overboard as my new "micro aquarium" has almost completely taken over my desk space.



The tank is 60.96 cm x 30.48 cm x 39.37 cm (24" x 12" x 15.5") - 60 litres in volume ( 15 gallons long I believe?) and is home to a very tiny looking male betta. Old Travis the betta is getting along in age now and likes to laze about, leaving a very sparse aquarium. The tank is kept at 25 celsius (77 fahrenheit) and has a pH around neutral. The substrate is small, soft gravel which I would deem suitable for bottom dwellers to dig and feed. At the moment I'm almost sure I want to go for a corydoras species.

So my question to thee,
what species of cory could I keep in this aquarium? Ideally one which I can get a small shoal (~8) of.

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Hey TT, good to see you around again!

Thats annoying about the light fixture doing that, does not sound all that safe tbh. So probably a good thing you have upgraded the tank

Now, according to the forum calculator, 24 x 12 x 15.5 is nearer a 20 gal US tank rather than a 15 gals US. 73 litres, not 60 litres.
BUT considering the addition substrate, decor and plants and possible internal filter, this would make this a good 15 gals of water volume
FYI this would be a nearer a 20 gal high rather than 20 gal long but tbh, its neither here nor there with those tank dimensions you gave anyway.
A moot point in this case

So therefore, in either case this is slightly a larger tank than you orginally thought

Right, your question of which cory specie you can have actually depends on if you have soft water, cories are a soft water specie.

For example, one of the smallest cories you can get are Habrosus - Salt & Pepper Cories (my favourite specie ) would require ph of between 5.5 - 7.5 or water hardness of 36 - 179 ppm, this is pretty soft water tbh.

Corydoras habrosus - Salt and Pepper Cory


I really, really wanted cories but due to my hard water, this is a bit of a no no sadly but there are other bottom dwelling fish you could have instead, such as whiptail catfish to give an idea (BUT you have to consider that the water temperaures that suits your betta would likely be too warm for most specie of whiptails )

You may get away with one of these Rineloricaria lanceolata - Whiptail Catfish they may be ok at 28C (82F) and most bettas are ok at around the 27C / 80F so that might work. Might be worth considering and researching if your water is too hard for cories.

So you will have to look up what water you have in terms of hardness and research temperature compatibility before you should even consider buying any cories or catfishes (not sure what the plural for catfish is ) to go with your betta.

 

[TallTree01]

Thanks Ch4rlie, good to know that my tank is a wee bit bigger than I'd previously thought. Seem to have a habit of buying weird sizes.
Interesting suggestion with the whiptail catfish, I don't know I've ever seen them in my location though. Will keep an eye out regardless.
Those cories are so cute. I think that the species you identified match my water parameters. Definitely gonna search around for the lil fellas.