Feeding My Cories

[rhostog]

I've recently added 4 cories to my tank, and they're settling in nicely, but I'm not sure how much I should be feeding them. They spend a lot of time picking through the substrate, and vacuum up the bits of flake that the danios miss, plus I've bought some yummy algae-enriched tablets which sink to the bottom and slowly disintegrate, which they seem to like.

But how much food should I be giving them, and how can I tell if they're getting too much or not enough? The danios are such pigs, and since I added the first tablet, they've spent much more time near the bottom of the tank sucking up bits of tablet as it disintegrates, and their bellies are SO FAT! So I can't really tell how much the cories are actually eating.

Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated!

4 x (small) zebra danios
2 x bronze cories
2 x leopard cories
70 litre tank
NH3 zero
NO2 slight trace (much less than 0.1) - guess this is due to the new fish. Testing daily at the moment.
NO3 about 25 mg/l
pH 8

 

[tim1]

Maybe first try feeding the flakes so that the Danios are busy, and then feed the wafer.
Also remember, cory's are omnivores, just algae is not a healthy diet for them. Get some shrimp pellets at the very least for them.

 

[rhostog]

Thanks for the advice - the pellets I've got are Tetra Plecomin tablet food for bottom feeding fish enriched with spirulina algae - the label describes it as a 'complete tablet food for bottom feeding fish', composition: 44% protein, 5% oil, etc. - does that sound OK? I'll look out for shrimp pellets too - is there a type you'd recommend? How many tablets would you expect 4 cories to eat in a day?

The trouble is that the cories take a while to come out for their breakfast, and then rummage around it nibbling daintily, by which time the danios have stuffed themselves to bursting on flakes and arrived at the tablet too, so I don't know how much the cories actually get to eat. Hopefully this will improve when the cories have a bit more confidence? At the moment, they dive for cover when I go near the tank - I suppose in the shop, someone coming towards the tank often meant trouble...

Having checked the water, I've got a hint of nitrite still (below 0.1 but I understand anything is bad), so I've done a water change and think I might skip their next meal to make sure it doesn't build up. Any further advice or suggestions for cory feeding would be very welcome.

 

[tim1]

For the tablets, look at the ingredient list and make sure it has some sort of meat in it. Any shrimp pellets will do fine, I'd say that most food is the same. I think it will just take time for the cories to get enough confidence, because once they associate your coming with food, they will stop hiding.

How much to feed them - I don't know, it depends on the type of food you feed, and how big the fish are. Just drop a few pellets/tablets and see how fast they eat them. If you drop enough food to keep them busy for around 2 minutes, you'll be fine. Don't follow this exactly, as they will find food on the ground; whether it be algae or flakes that the Danios didn't eat.

 

[doresy]

Along with the wafers add some catfish pellets and drop them in an hour after lights out without putting on the room lights either.

 

[rhostog]

Thanks for the advice - I'll check the ingredients next time I get to the shop and make sure they get a balance. Hopefully I'll get a better idea whether they're getting enough to eat once they've settled in properly. They're great little fish, they do this sort of dance in the evening, after the tank lighting has gone out, swimming upwards all together, then they do a sort of wiggle and down to the bottom again, all together, then back up... Better than TV!

Appreciate your support!