Do corys eat eggs or fry?

[Opcn]

I'm takeing Care of a 240 Convict breeder, I set it up with a sand substrate and I want somefish that will keep the bottom relatively food free. There are 5 cons in there 1.5-3 inches each and a 6 inch gold sevrum.

I was going with some of the larger and cheeper Corries, 3 inches long "assistant corries" probably in a school of 8-10

Thanks

 

[Vip]

the cons might kill the corys if they try to get close to the eggs, cons are very agressive when it comes to babies.

 

[Sorrell]

Forgive me if this is a completely stupid idea, but what about snails? They do a great job of cleaning and repopulating so if some get picked off you'll still have a good size clean up crew

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Opcn

I don't know if the corys will be safe in that tank, but if they are, don't forget that they have needs of their own that must be met.

What kind of food will you be having an excess of?

 

[Opcn]

Well, theres excess Brine shrimp (frozen) blood worms (frozen and live) , cichlid pellets, Not much, but in a tank that size you really need someone running around Eating straight off the bottom and I can always add more food, The water is just south of neutral and very soft, One fact or that I forgot to mention was the bronze puffer who lives in the tank, at about an inch long he has and will kill snails that are larger than him and since he will get to be kinda big Snails are a no, but he won't be in there forever Once he gets to about 5 inches he's moving out. I would assume that in a tank that large the corries would give the cons a wide birth aswell (and with the armour plates I'll bet they can take a nip here and there) but if they have an egg hunting temperment like say loaches do I don't want to put em in the tank.

 

[Tolak]

I keep corys in my tanks that have pairs of angels, as well as angel fry. Since they stay pretty much on the bottom, they don't bother any of the eggs, and I have had them in with newly freeswimming angel fry with no problem.

I've seen them eat frozen brine, bbs, and bloodworms off the bottom. This, and any flake that hits the bottom is their regular diet here. As long as the cons or sev don't get too aggressive with them, they should be fine. I usually set up a small cave like thing out of a couple pieces of slate to give them a place to hide. This may be a good idea for a tank with more aggressive cichlids.

Tolak

 

[Opcn]

there is a very complex network of caves, three piles of rocks abound with caves, there are two creyfish hideing in them somewhere but they never venture out to eat anything that doesn't fall into the caves. one of them shares a cave with the last of my platies (I started with 30 ZD's and 8 platies, then I left for two weeks and the guy who was supposed to feed em only fed em once, only 2 platies and 10 Zebra Danios lived, then the convicts ate the rest because they were really small,all but a few still fry under 1/2 inch). The Sevrum is not an issue, its the most timid fish in existance, it was in a 55 gallon for 3 years or so and hid whenever anyone came within 25 feet of the tank, the smallest Convict (a female who has no mate) pushes it around and the corries are bigger around then his mouth at full yawn.

Now if only I could find someone else to pay for them

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Opcn

Your tank sounds lovely!

For corys, the caves need to be at the bottom. They are primarily bottom dwellers and seek their shelter there.

As long as your fish are not nippy toward them they will be OK. Mine are used to having a flaring betta follow them around. They simply ignore him. On the other hand, if they are afraid, they are apt to go into their cave and stay there.

Most corys, and I suspect you are considering getting the bronze and/or albino C. aeneus, are good eaters who like a mixed diet heavy on protien sources, so I think they will eat the same food your other fish eat. They love live blackworms and tubifex, so try to be sure they get some.

The corys will not seek out fry to eat, but if they are sitting on the bottom, the corys will not know that they are not food.

On the other hand, have you considered how active a school of corys can be? They are playful fish who will spend a fair amount of time swimming up and down, or back and forth across the glass. Sometimes they might be on the bottom and one will shoot up for a gulp of air. The others are likely to follow his example, one by one, sort of like when someone yawns. They are very entertaining fish.

If that kind of behavior will upset your breeders, or if you have salt in your tank, you might want to reconsider corys.

Before I forget, another good feature of having a school of corys is that they will probably spawn for you. There are few things more fun to watch than a tank that is full of young and active little corys.

 

[Opcn]

Well theres a little tiny bit of salt left (raised it to a whoping 1.0005, 2% sea water, then did 75% worth of compound water changes) but I doubt even the most salt sensative fish could detect it.

The cave system is formed by cobbles set on the sand and sand has been dug out by convicts so there are some very nice caves, I'm 100% sold at this point and think I'll get a school of 8 in the next few days, I really need to take some pics, but I don't have a digicam so I'll need to find someone to take em for me.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Opcn

That little bit of salt won't be a problem and will probably be eliminated completely with future water changes. It's only when salt is regularly kept in there that the corys have problems.

The only other thing I can think of is temperature. Bronze and albino corys are OK up to around 78 to 80 degrees, but above that you might want to look for C. sterbai which require the warmer temperatures. These are more expensive, but are truly beautiful corys.

I will look forward to seeing pictures when you get them and hearing about how they work out in your tank.

 

[Opcn]

They will probably Be C. Aeneus Because I can get them for 3 dollars each, and I'm a cheap ... Fellow. Turns out cons and Bronze Corys need approximately the same conditions I'm running at about 80 right now but if I need to I'll lower it as far at 75 or so (Sevrums and Bronze puffers don't like water below 75), and the water all runs throught a trickle filter (and the top of the tank is skimmed, gas exchange isn't a problem) so its as oxygenated as It can be short of risking GBD.

75 here I come!

 

[Opcn]

Update, the corries didn't take the 9 hour wait well, they stayed in my 10 gallon but they didn't adjust well, I am pretty sure that they are all alive still but after 30 hours in the big tank they are all hideing out at the top in some plastic plants, the cons desided to move out to the front of the tank with the fry and utilise the best corry forageing ground for there fry rearing and protected the best caves too, hopefully they will be getting out at night, I'm at a disadvantage in that I can never see the tank at night. But I hope that the corries can get out when the cons cant see as well, corries are used to the dark aren't they.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Opcn

Yes, corys are actually nocturnal fish, so they can see and forage at night, but if they are afraid of the other fish, they might not. I'm a bit concerned about them being in the plants. This is not their normal behavior since they usually prefer to be on the bottom.

Corys are totally peaceful fish whose only defense is by hiding, and they find safety and security in numbers. If you look at their mouths you will see that they are not designed for fighting or even protecting themselves. Their whole face curves down to enable them to search the bottom for food. Their "armor' does not make them less vulnerable to attack by predators.

Give them all a little more time to see if they get used to each other's presence. If so, I'd be interested to know how well they perform as "housekeepers." If not, I hope you will remove them and rehouse them in your smaller tank. They are really fun little fish, and when they are comfortable enough to show you their true personalities, I'm sure you will come to love them for being just what they are.

 

[Max Action]

Maybe they're hiding from the lurking crayfish that you mentioned. They would tear your cories up, I'm pretty sure, if they had half the chance - and with the cave system, they sound well set-up for ambushes. I'd hide in the surface plants too, if I was them!

 

[Erised]

Check their tails when you get a chance. When I noticed my female cory acting like this it turned out her tail was getting nipped quite badly by 1 of my SA's. Once I moved her with my 2 males into their own (slightly cooler) tank they started spawning right away though, so I now have about 20/30 fry No permanent damage here it seems, just keep a very close eye on it