Do Puffers Get Along With Corys?

[chibi]

Just as the title says. Do puffers get along with cories? Can cories tolerate some salt in tanks? What about freshwater puffers... would they get along with pygmy cories or not? Thanks!

 

[pica_nuttalli]

Just as the title says. Do puffers get along with cories?

generally not. cories are very twitchy little fish and their dorsals are pretty tempting targets for puffers

Can cories tolerate some salt in tanks?

nope. pretty much fresh/soft water only.

What about freshwater puffers... would they get along with pygmy cories or not?

i might risk some of the larger cories/brochis with a group of SAPs but i wouldn't risk anything with pygmies. but even the SAPs would be a fairly big risk as they're generally pretty bad fin-nippers. (all of the other freshwater puffers are a definite NO with cory cats.)

sorry to disappoint.

 

[chibi]

Just as the title says. Do puffers get along with cories?

generally not. cories are very twitchy little fish and their dorsals are pretty tempting targets for puffers

Can cories tolerate some salt in tanks?

nope. pretty much fresh/soft water only.

What about freshwater puffers... would they get along with pygmy cories or not?

i might risk some of the larger cories/brochis with a group of SAPs but i wouldn't risk anything with pygmies. but even the SAPs would be a fairly big risk as they're generally pretty bad fin-nippers. (all of the other freshwater puffers are a definite NO with cory cats.)

sorry to disappoint.

Thanks so much!

 

[nmonks]

Pica pretty much covers the basics there. There are quite a few cories that inhabit coastal rivers in Guyana and Suriname, and these are very tolerant of water chemistry. At a very low salinity (SG 1.003 or less) those might be definitely worth a shot. Dr. David Sands considers cories to be salt-tolerant, despite the common "wisdom" that they're not. That said, I wouldn't recommend any of the inland (Upper Amazon, Rio Negro, etc.) species as to be worth putting in a brackish water tank. Far better to go with real brackish water catfish (such as Hoplosternum littorale) and/or loaches (e.g. horseface loach). Horseface loaches in particular are probably too fast for puffers to molest.

I'd disagree with Pica about mixing cories and SAPs. I've done this, and the SAPs nipped their dorsal fins all the time. Oddly, the SAPs don't seem to nip dwarf upside down cats or Panaque catfish. Possibly cories are too dumb to avoid the puffers or active at the wrong time of day.

Cheers, Neale