What Do Corydoras Eat?

[FishGuest5123]

Luckily, I bought some sinking shrimp pellets. My new cories won’t eat pleco wafers, or zucchini. I guess their meat and potatoe guys. What do they like to eat?

 

[Byron]

The most common natural foods in their habitats are insects and insect larvae, then worms and small crustaceans. But the insect larvae is primary.

They browse every surface naturally, including plant leaves, and they will eat the microscopic critters living in the biofilm. Algae may be eaten but this is more accidental. Too much plant matter is actually harmful to their digestive organs, as indeed are too many worms (they do not need high protein, plus the fat issue with worms).

Shrimp pellets are ideal. The Fluval Bug Bites may be #1 food, and they certain go after this. The bug bites sink fairly rapidly. Frozen daphnia is ideal. Frozen bloodworms but only once a week. I do feed mine the Omega One Veggie Rounds but only once a week now, after Ian Fuller wrote about food problems on his site recently.

So my weekly schedule is frozen daphnia and bloodworms Sunday, fast Monday, Veggie Rounds Tuesday, Bug Bites Wednesday, fast Thursday, Shrimp pellets Friday, Bug Bites Saturday.

 

[JuiceBox52]

They may just need some getting used to the switch in food

 

[FishGuest5123]

The most common natural foods in their habitats are insects and insect larvae, then worms and small crustaceans. But the insect larvae is primary.

They browse every surface naturally, including plant leaves, and they will eat the microscopic critters living in the biofilm. Algae may be eaten but this is more accidental. Too much plant matter is actually harmful to their digestive organs, as indeed are too many worms (they do not need high protein, plus the fat issue with worms).

Shrimp pellets are ideal. The Fluval Bug Bites may be #1 food, and they certain go after this. The bug bites sink fairly rapidly. Frozen daphnia is ideal. Frozen bloodworms but only once a week. I do feed mine the Omega One Veggie Rounds but only once a week now, after Ian Fuller wrote about food problems on his site recently.

So my weekly schedule is frozen daphnia and bloodworms Sunday, fast Monday, Veggie Rounds Tuesday, Bug Bites Wednesday, fast Thursday, Shrimp pellets Friday, Bug Bites Saturday.

I have Bug Bites. Thanks for the schedule. You’ve been such a big help!

 

[seangee]

If you haven't kept corys before its worth pointing out that they are slow feeders. Where I normally recommend to feed what the fish eat in one minute, it's more like 2 hours for corys. They are also predominanly nocturnal. I usually sit and watch mine after the lights have gone out.

Drop a shrimp pellet or wafer in just before lights out. It will be gone by morning. I agree on the bug bites, I also feed micro pellets for the rest of the fish. What they don't get within a couple of minutes the corys will get over the next few hours. No need to go overboard. If you have 6 corys half a wafer, or one or two shrimp pellets is enough. Mine also spend hours foraging in the roots of the frogbit - but not all species will do that.

 

[FishGuest5123]

If you haven't kept corys before its worth pointing out that they are slow feeders. Where I normally recommend to feed what the fish eat in one minute, it's more like 2 hours for corys. They are also predominanly nocturnal. I usually sit and watch mine after the lights have gone out.

Drop a shrimp pellet or wafer in just before lights out. It will be gone by morning. I agree on the bug bites, I also feed micro pellets for the rest of the fish. What they don't get within a couple of minutes the corys will get over the next few hours. No need to go overboard. If you have 6 corys half a wafer, or one or two shrimp pellets is enough. Mine also spend hours foraging in the roots of the frogbit - but not all species will do that.

Thanks for that info. I just gave one shrimp pellet in for each panda Cory and they are tiny. Better go remove some.

 

[Retired Viking]

I have tried both tetra pleco wafers and cory wafers and my albino cory eats a little or ignores it and leaves it to my snails but loves Wardley shrimp pellets.

 

[Retired Viking]

If you haven't kept corys before its worth pointing out that they are slow feeders. Where I normally recommend to feed what the fish eat in one minute, it's more like 2 hours for corys. They are also predominanly nocturnal. I usually sit and watch mine after the lights have gone out.

Drop a shrimp pellet or wafer in just before lights out. It will be gone by morning. I agree on the bug bites, I also feed micro pellets for the rest of the fish. What they don't get within a couple of minutes the corys will get over the next few hours. No need to go overboard. If you have 6 corys half a wafer, or one or two shrimp pellets is enough. Mine also spend hours foraging in the roots of the frogbit - but not all species will do that.

I just ordered some frogbit from my LFS (2) I hope my plants turn out like yours.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Frogbit or Water Lettuce?

 

[Retired Viking]

Frogbit or Water Lettuce?

frogbit, @seangee has talked about it and shown pictures and got my interested in trying it.