Bottom Dwellers

Dorsey - what are Gobies?

Here is one of mine

Goby.jpg
 
Hi

I'd be interested if anyone can clear up a Cory issue.

I read so much different advice etc

Some say keep to a shoal of one variety but others say you can mix them up ie peppered/bronze together etc and they get on in peace and harmony together :wub:
 
Hi

I'd be interested if anyone can clear up a Cory issue.

I read so much different advice etc

Some say keep to a shoal of one variety but others say you can mix them up ie peppered/bronze together etc and they get on in peace and harmony together :wub:

Yes it is considered correct to have a shoal and of the same type as they tend to stick to their own. However :blush: if you look at my signiture and see what I have in the 850 :blush: BUT they all end up in a right squeeze, together in the caves then at feeding time they go round the tank like elephants in a circus ring! I've never asked them but they sure LOOK happy :D
 
Is it these you are talking about?

Planet Catfish

It seems to say 55mm, (2.2") from tip of nose to base of tail

Thats weird because the ones I saw looked nothing like those pics.

In the lfs that had them labelled as Venezualan they were jet black!
 
Ruby, if you like the pygmy sized cories, my own experience is that the C habrosus are the easiest to keep of that size and are a delightful little fish. They almost take on the personalities of the other fish that they are housed with. Most of mine are kept with endlers and they spend their time swimming with the endlers. They do go to the bottom more often than endlers but use the whole tank just like a paleatus or a trilineatus.
 
Hi Rubyuk :)

One lfs even had some black Cory's (stunning) labeled up as Venezluaian corys (as in the country...sorry about spelling) at about £9 eachy though. I've not read/seen this variety in any of the books I have?

If you see the black corys labeled C. venezuelanus, they are almost certainly C. schultzei. This is more often the case in the UK than the US where they are rarely found in an lfs at all. You might also see them called by their old name, C. aeneus (black) especially in the literature, since the name was fairly recently changed.

They were originally line bred for color by aquarists in Germany and are in great demand everywhere. The fish in my picture above are mature and have spawned for me many times.

Spawning:
1Tposition.jpg


Carrying the eggs:
2Carryingeggs.jpg


Eggs:
EggsLeftback.jpg


At six months of age:
Blacks6mos1.jpg


These are even better looking in real life than in the pictures. They are about the size of bronze C. aeneus and no more difficult to keep.

C. pandas tend to be difficult to keep in a community tank but some have succeeded. Although it keeps popping up, I have no idea where the idea that any cory needs to live in an older tank came from. The pandas pictured above were taken from two different tanks and immediately put into a newly cloned 55 gallon tank with no problems.

Some say keep to a shoal of one variety but others say you can mix them up ie peppered/bronze together etc and they get on in peace and harmony together

All corys will live in peace together. They are naturally friendly and outgoing and, as you can see from some of the pictures I posted, they enjoy each other's company. (The exception might be if there is a very big difference in size.) It is best to have a group of each species you choose, but several different groups will get along just fine with each other in the same tank.

On the other hand, if you already have corys, don't hesitate to buy a single one you see in a tank at the lfs. He's much more likely to have a happy life with members of other cory species than he ever will if he's sold to someone who will keep him by himself.

BTW, since corys are defenseless, they should not be kept in a tank with other fish that might be aggressive in any way.
 
my view is that panda's have a tendancy to keel over at the slightest thing. an immature tank (under 6 months old or there abouts) is much more susceptible to mini cycles, pH fluctuations and such like while everything settles down. If you hold off a few months until the tank has settled and the bacteria colony is nice and mature then you're much less likely to have any fluctuations or instability and therefore much less likely for your panda's to keel over.
 
The way the corys group up and swim around sells it for me :) I have always loved them.

Sometimes they form a line across the ground in sort of a police style search pattern which I think so just very cool too.
 
my view is that panda's have a tendancy to keel over at the slightest thing. an immature tank (under 6 months old or there abouts) is much more susceptible to mini cycles, pH fluctuations and such like while everything settles down. If you hold off a few months until the tank has settled and the bacteria colony is nice and mature then you're much less likely to have any fluctuations or instability and therefore much less likely for your panda's to keel over.

That's so true for any kind of fish. :D
 
Quick question but out of all of these what would you recommend for a 15 gallon tank?
or rather which to avoid as im off to the LFS to get some tomorrow and have no idea on there stocking.

Only other fish in there is a male betta, well planted with sand

Oh and what about rocks and such? Are they ok in there with them as ive heard they can lose there barbels from rocks etc..
 
My cory's like nothing more than scoring the surface of my rocky ornaments (and any other thing they can get on), to have a nibble and give it a clean :)
 
Hi Johnlenham :)

I didn't realize you had a betta that would be in the tank too. This will limit your choice of corys considerably. You might even want to rethink keeping them at all.

Think of it this way. Corys come from rivers, which have running water that is very well oxygenated and sometimes cool. Bettas come from ponds which are still and warm. It's difficult to come up with a compromise that will work for both.

C. sterbai is about the only one of the frequently found corys that would thrive at 78 F. or above, which is required for a betta although there are others who's best temperatures are lower, but who can tolerate 78 F.

The bigger problem is the oxygen content of the water. Corys need a lot of it in the water and bettas breathe the air from above the surface. The water movement required to oxygenate the water for the Corys makes it difficult for the betta to do this. His long fins and tail are just not designed to fight water currents and it will tire him out easily.

They are both excellent choices of fish and if the betta has a good disposition they get along well. I've had bettas that loved watching the corys and even following their school around. It was very funny to see. But, if you decide to match them up, please be prepared to watch for problems and separate them at the first sign of trouble.
 

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