Feeding New Corys Sinking Shrimp Pellets

[eaglesaquarium]

Good morning all.

This is my first time keeping corys. I have 6 panda corys (just added 4 to my rescued 2). They fish store was feeding them sinking pellets. I was glad to hear this, because I bought sinking shrimp pellets for them as well. The question is - how long do I wait before I remove the pellets if they don't eat them? They haven't touched one pellet yet and its been 3 days for the rescued 2. I figured the additional four would help to show the other two that the pellets were good, but they haven't shown a bit of interest in them. This morning only one came near them, and he/she kept going right over the top of them. I have been waiting about 15 minutes to remove them. Should I give them longer to find it. This is a brand new set-up (I added mature media to my partially cycled tank when I added the 7 rescues and my parameters are as they should be: ph: 6.8, NH3: 0, NO2: 0, NO3: 10-20ppm, temp 73F.) The newly added rasboras have been eating since I added them. i just can't figure the pandas out.


I don't currently have any blackworms or frozen bloodworms. I might pick some up later tonight. I just don't want to add them to the tank if they are going to be ignored.


I know that fish don't need to eat every day and that after being transplanted they can need a little time to settle in, but I want to ensure I am doing everything right with them so that they don't end up starving.



(As a side note, the 6 of them haven't really shoaled up as a full group yet. Last night they got together a group of 5, but this morning they are scattered about and I haven't seen them active at all (sleeping still?) but they have been in no bigger groups than pairs.

 

[KittyKat]

Depends on the pellet type. It would be safer to give them only 1-3 pellets, if you want to leave them for longer.

(As a side note, the 6 of them haven't really shoaled up as a full group yet. Last night they got together a group of 5, but this morning they are scattered about and I haven't seen them active at all (sleeping still?) but they have been in no bigger groups than pairs.

This is quite normal in smaller tanks. They will interact with each other, but will only rarely swim as a group unless you have a much larger tank.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Depends on the pellet type. It would be safer to give them only 1-3 pellets, if you want to leave them for longer.

(As a side note, the 6 of them haven't really shoaled up as a full group yet. Last night they got together a group of 5, but this morning they are scattered about and I haven't seen them active at all (sleeping still?) but they have been in no bigger groups than pairs.

This is quite normal in smaller tanks. They will interact with each other, but will only rarely swim as a group unless you have a much larger tank.

How large is "large"? My tank is 56 gallons - quite large to me. Are you referring to more of the 4+ foot variety?



BTW, I think one might have actually found them, but that is it! The rest just kept to the back of the tank... And I just checked the pellets have disintegrated now... I was planning to do a water change this afternoon/evening, so I might do a little substrate clean-up in an effort to get whatever I can of the leftovers out of the tank. In the meantime, the corys can have a little fun trying to find the "sunken treasure".

 

[Harlequins]

Have you tried feeding them at night? corys come out to play at night and will hunt & forage around also.

Its still all new to the corys and some take a little while to settle in.

Mine will readily eat whatever time it is,but they have been in there a long time now

Try some bloodworm,i found the best way is to defrost it in a little tank water,i use a turkey baster,which i use to suck up the bloodworm and put it straight into the tank and squirt down to the bottom for the corys,otherwise the harleys will nab it all,has they love it also

 

[micko]

I feed mine JMC catfish pellets. They're cheap and last ages.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I offer them food first thing in the morning (still without the light) and then at night (with the lights). Usually I take the excess out after a little while.

 

[scampi]

I'm completely new to keeping Corys too - I have 3 little albinos - really sweet.

Like you I too was getting anxious as they didn't appear to be able to find the Algae wafer, or weren't interested. This was also during the day.

I tried again later in the evening around 7-8pm there was a vast difference. Almost immediately one of the corys zoned in on the wafer then the other two. I left it in there & this morning one cory was still nibbling on the remains. So evening works for me

One question that I have regarding these lovely little creatures is it normal for corys to sort of go to sleep ?? I thought one was dead as it just laid on the substrate for like 5 minutes then just before I went in with the net it 'came alive' & scuttled off.

 

[KittyKat]

Depends on the pellet type. It would be safer to give them only 1-3 pellets, if you want to leave them for longer.

(As a side note, the 6 of them haven't really shoaled up as a full group yet. Last night they got together a group of 5, but this morning they are scattered about and I haven't seen them active at all (sleeping still?) but they have been in no bigger groups than pairs.

This is quite normal in smaller tanks. They will interact with each other, but will only rarely swim as a group unless you have a much larger tank.

How large is "large"? My tank is 56 gallons - quite large to me. Are you referring to more of the 4+ foot variety?

Yep. Basically, anything big enough where they can actually loose members of their group and seriously be unable to find them.

 

[Tizer]

i never remove access food from my tank because i've never got to the stage where theres excess food in there Its always eaten. Besides which the algae wafers take a while to get soft and break down. Got some new ones today with the wafer in the inside and something else on the outside, tetra make them, i forget whats in them, hoping the bulldog plecs find em!

 

[Caprichoso]

As far as them shoaling, don't be concerned as they don't always hang out together, In my 140 gallon, I have 6 albino, 2 Lazer and 6 green corydora and they will often pair up together and only occasionally form bigger groups. Certain ones prefer to hang out together and you may notice some tend to be loners compared to the rest of the group. The thing is, is even though they may not all hang out together, they are still aware of the rest of the group which provides them with comfort and socialization when they need it.

In respects to the food, they may not be ready to eat as you've stated but they may also not like the type of food. The food should be removed asap if no one is eating it. For instance, my corydora's don't like algae wafers or shrimp pellets but instead prefer compressed flake food pellets. I did go through a few types before I found the one that they devour(Tetra min sinking pellets).

Good luck!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I'll try a later feeding. Thanks.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Tried a later feeding, and nothing seemed to get their attention.


I fed them some defrosted bloodworms this morning and three of them came out for it. The rest seemed completely unaware. Oh well, at least they are making progress. THe rasboras really enjoyed the bloodworms as well! (But, man do you get a lot of worms in a frozen pack! I only fed about 1/3 of the cube, and it was still a little too much.)

I think it's going well thus far though. They are going to have to wait until next Saturday for more bloodworms though.

 

[Harlequins]

Good news that they ate something,they may be finding morsels around the tank to keep them going

If you think a whole cube is to much,try cutting it if half whilst frozen with a sharp knife

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I will consider that.

 

[Hoppo]

I have noticed that my cories tend to eat at night with the light off. I'll take a wafer and break it up into pieces and scatter them about the tank. I also use sinking goldfish pellets that I had left over from having goldfish last year. I'll throw 3-4 pellets in and usually there gone the next morning when I turn the light on. I mix it up with the foods. I even threw in some flakes and let them sink to the bottom.