Corys

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Barneykirk3

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Hi all

Maybe a silly question but if you don't ask you never know. I understand Corys should be kept in a shoal, 4 to 6 seems to be a nice group according to SF. Question I have is does it need to be same Corys or can I have for instance 3 Bronze Cory and 3 Peppered Cory?

Thanks

Dave
 
Multiple species of fish do not make up a shoal. However, if you keep two shoals of different species, it will work out. But if you only want one shoal, you should pick one.
 
You should always have shoals made up of fish of the same species.

Usually, if they have a different name, they're a different species. So, peppered corydoras, panda corydoras and pygmy corydoras are three different species.

The only ones you're likely to see in shops that differ from this are bronze and albino corys. They're usually the same species, just different colours, so you could have a mixed shoal of bronze and albino corys and they would all be the same species.
 
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agree. The larger the shoal of the same species the more they'll show natural and social behaviour.

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Hi guys

Been looking at Seriously Fish to see what fish get on with Cory's but can't seem to find any proper information. Would they get on with tetras, catfish,barbs and pencilfish. Also when looking at other fish I see cichlids mentioned a lot, what fish are they? If it helps I have a 125l tank which measures 81cm x 36cm x 50cm.
 
Cichlid family of fish is absolutely huge, some examples are
African Malawi cichlids
African lake tanganyika cichlids
African Victoria cichlids
Dwarf cichlids
South American cichlids

Whole range of different body shapes and sizes including species such as rams (dwarf) to Angelfish, discus and parrotfish (South American). I haven't yet kept any of the African types so don't know much about them.
 
Hi guys

Been looking at Seriously Fish to see what fish get on with Cory's but can't seem to find any proper information. Would they get on with tetras, catfish,barbs and pencilfish. Also when looking at other fish I see cichlids mentioned a lot, what fish are they? If it helps I have a 125l tank which measures 81cm x 36cm x 50cm.

Corydoras will get along with ANY peaceful fish. Cories are just fun loving, scavengers that will scoot along the surfaces of your tank seeking out their favorite food items. They will eat eggs laid from other cories (even their own) as well as any other fish in the tank, but they don't mess with the other fish.

So, kept with fish that prefer the same type of water that have a docile personality is best. I've kept cories with a variety of tetras (neon, bloodfin, lampeye, skirt, etc.), rasporas, bolivian rams, BN pleco, guppies, pearl gourami...

Cichlid family of fish is absolutely huge, some examples are
African Malawi cichlids
African lake tanganyika cichlids
African Victoria cichlids
Dwarf cichlids
South American cichlids

Whole range of different body shapes and sizes including species such as rams (dwarf) to Angelfish, discus and parrotfish (South American). I haven't yet kept any of the African types so don't know much about them.

Only the South Americans, ad only the smallest of those, are compatible with cories. African cichlids require completely different water chemistry and should be kept together, but never with cories.
 
Should have mentioned African Cichlids require different water parameters (hence why I haven't kept them yet), was just trying to answer the question 'what are cichlids?' So that Barney kirk would have a rough idea of what to look for on SF.

Also, I'm not personally all that into cories so haven't done much research on them and in turn was only vaguely aware of them being compatible with some of the cichlid family.
 
Should have mentioned African Cichlids require different water parameters (hence why I haven't kept them yet), was just trying to answer the question 'what are cichlids?' So that Barney kirk would have a rough idea of what to look for on SF.

Also, I'm not personally all that into cories so haven't done much research on them and in turn was only vaguely aware of them being compatible with some of the cichlid family.

:dunno:

There's just no accounting for taste! :lol: Cories are some of my very favorite fish... which, of course, is why I've kept them with so many different species. I can't think of a time in my fishkeeping life that I had a tank that didn't have cories in it!
 
agree with EA

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Thanks for all the replies. Here is a list of possible for my tank. My pH is 7.00 which for some fish is near the top of their preferred pH, would that be OK?

TETRAS: Neon, Cardinal, Rummynose, Red Phantom and Ember

CORYS: Bronze, Albino, Peppered, Panda and False Julii

Bristlenose Catfish
Golden Pencilfish
Harlequin and Five Banded Glass Barbs

I appreciate with my tank size I might only be able to have 3 or 4 of them but can anyone see any obvious fish that wouldn't get along in the tank?

Dave
 
You are aware of the pH issue, but of more importance for fish is the GH (general hardness). This is the dissolved mineral in the water, and this can impact fish in various ways. The GH and KH (carbonate hardness or Alkalinity) also impacts pH, so we should find out the GH and KH first. Your pH may tend to lower naturally, depending upon the GH and KH. You can find these out from your water authority if you are on municipal water, check their website; no need to waste money on a test kit.

Second point I'd like to make concerns shoaling fish. I don't think anyone has yet mentioned that while we are sometimes required to consider minimum numbers, with all shoaling species they will be better with more. Cories for example live in shoals numbering hundreds and even thousands sometimes, so if you had say 7 it would be much better than 5, and so forth. When selecting a shoaling species, get as many as you can (generally determined by, or relative to, the tank size), within reason. Given your tank dimensions and volume, I would suggest a group of no less than seven cories, up to nine or ten.

I agree that combining different species is not the same thing as all one species, with any shoaling fish. However, with cories you do have some latitude which you would not with most other shoaling fish. For decades I have maintained cories in multiple species, some of them only one, two or three of a species (for various reasons) and provided they are together, they seem to manage well. When possible, I acquire five or six minimum of a species, but sometimes this is not possible, hence my mix of species. I have some species in pairs (just happened to be a male and female) and they have spawned several times; but they are in a tank of 50 cories of 11 or 12 species.

To your list of fish. No serious issues, but some things to consider. Bristlenose must have real wood in the tank; they digest this and it is essential for the health of their digestive tract (so far as we know, they do not derive any nutrition from eating wood). Cories would like lots of wood too, they love hiding places and grazing wood surfaces for the microscopic live foods that it supports. But wood is essential for BN.

The tetras mentioned are all quiet, sedate species, with the possible exception of the rummynose, but these are not over-hyper. Barbs are, so combining these groups is not as good an idea. Rasbora tend to be quiet fish too. And by quiet and sedate, I mean they are not active swimmers, but more cruisers or even just remaining together without much movement. It is best to have either active fish or sedate fish together, as the combination is usually not going to work. Sedate fish can become stressed by hyper active fish around them. The cories are fine for this, as they are not up in the water, and their comical bumbling around is not really a threat to anyone.

The Golden Pencilfish (Nannostomus beckfordi) is generally peaceful, but males are territorial, very much so, and prone to nip fish that "bother" them. From the species you've listed, I don't see problems. But if for example you were to consider hatchetfish in future, they would not fare well with this pencilfish species. I have more than once had to move my group of this pencilfish because they continually nipped fish that approach the surface, like hatchetfish, even otos. However, this is a good species with lower water fish--and all of your listed tetra species are fish that prefer the lower half of the water column--as the pencilfish will remain in the upper half. Another thing, back to the activity, is that this pencil is much more active than its cousins.

Knowing the GH and KH will help you/us pare this list down.

Byron.
 

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