Yes I have live plants (although I'm not sure that one of them is actually aquatic, I know some stores can mis-sell house plants!). I guess it's just a matter of testing the water before I add any new fishByron said:
How Many Corydoras In A 30 Gal
- Thread starter Liv15
- Start date
If you have tests for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, yes, test to ensure ammonia and nitrite are zero for consecutive days. Nitrate can be present but low, not over 20 ppm and preferably below this. Partial water tests will deal with nitrate, assuming it is not present in your source water (tap or well). Check the source water for all three, just to know.
Floating plants are ideal as they take up more nutrients, not only during the initial stages but permanently. And they provide shade, which all forest fish appreciate.
Byron.
Thanks! and I assume you meant 'partial water changes' not 'tests'. What annoys me is there is ammonia in my tap water so I feel like I'm poisoning the fish whenever I do water changes. Although it doesn't take too long for the ammonia to go back down to 0
ShinySideUp
Fish Herder
Where do you live? You certainly should not have ammonia in your tap water in the UK. If you are using the API Master Test kit you may find that it never records an ammonia reading of zero but usually appears to read about 0.25 ppm. In my experience you can treat that as zero. I tried it in distilled water once and still got an apparent reading of 0.25 ppm!
Liv15 said:
Yes, sorry for the typo.
On the ammonia in the tap water, if it really is present (given ShinySideUp's post) just use a water conditioner that detoxifies ammonia along with chlorine/chloramine. They do this by changing ammonia into ammonium which is harmless, but the plants and bacteria will take it up just the same.
Byron.
Okay so I've just measured my tank again and it's a little under 3 ft (by 4 inches). It's quite a deep tank though so it does hold a lot of water. The only thing is when getting cories I'm guessing it's not really the amount of water but the amount of floor space you need to think about. The tank is about 33 US gal, do you still think I could get a lot of cories? It's only 4 inches/10 cm difference so maybe just 1 or 2 less cories?
well the cories you've chosen are the one's on the larger side - the peppered especially. So you are correct in your thinking - it is more about the floor space than the literage.
Given that the tank is 3ft (or there abouts) I'd reduce them to 12 - two lots of 6 and see how they go. If you were to look at the smaller types - such as panda cories - then you could technicly increase the number again. My adult panda's are half the size of the adult peppered
Given that the tank is 3ft (or there abouts) I'd reduce them to 12 - two lots of 6 and see how they go. If you were to look at the smaller types - such as panda cories - then you could technicly increase the number again. My adult panda's are half the size of the adult peppered
I concur. A dozen of the "average" corys (few get over 2 inches) will be sufficient. One of my tanks is the same size, a 33g that is 3 feet in length, so I can easily visualize things.
well the albino and bronze are from the Aenus (sp) species so I'd say they're okay - those could interbreed from my understanding. How about looking at other smaller species rather than the peppered - or are you really sold on peppered?
My Juwel Rekord was just under 3ft (110 litres) and I kept 6 peppered and 5 bronze together in there. I wouldn't have added anymore to that tank. My peppered girlies are big ... and fat too
My Juwel Rekord was just under 3ft (110 litres) and I kept 6 peppered and 5 bronze together in there. I wouldn't have added anymore to that tank. My peppered girlies are big ... and fat too
Liv15 said:
I'm not a fan of albino fish...but that is me, and there is no problem with this mix. I would lean toward Akasha's suggestion though, of 6 each pepper and bronze.
There are many other species too...these mentioned are the most commonly seen.
Thanks for the suggestions! And yeah I really do like the peppered ones! So what's the minimum amount of each type I should have? Like if I had 3 bronze and 3 albinos would they be happy together or do they need to be in groups of the same colour / species?
Could I have 4 peppered, 3 bronze, and 3 albino? So 10 in total. If not I think I'll have 4 of each, I just don't want to overcrowd the tank.
Could I have 4 peppered, 3 bronze, and 3 albino? So 10 in total. If not I think I'll have 4 of each, I just don't want to overcrowd the tank.
Liv15 said:
Corys (whatever species) live together in shoals of hundreds, and all the same species. Minimum numbers for the aquarium are variable, though there is not complete agreement among all hobyists on this. There have been a few scientific studies carried out on shoaling fish, and five or six is frequently suggeste3d as the minimum, with the understanding that the more there are the better in most cases (applies to almost all shoaling fish, not just corys).
If memory serves me, Ian Fuller, an acknowledged cory aquarist, has suggested five as minimum, and I know I have seen this elsewhere, and it resulted from some sort of study. My advice is to have five of a species minimum if possible, but if there is to be a mix of species, try to have five but no fewer than three. I don't think anyone can argue that more is always better here. I have close to 40 corys in my 115g, with some 12 species represented; obviously there are not five of each, and some only have one or two, usually as a result of that being all the store had. When able, I try to have six, or no fewer than five, of a species when I aquire them.
Another aspect of this to remember is that too few of a shoaling fish can have a greater impact on the aquarium's biology than having a more suitable number, even if that means increasing the fish to water ratio. In other words, say a given tank can safely accommodate five fish, and you want to add a cory species. Having six or seven will have less negative impact on the biology than would having only two. The reason is that fish denied what they need will be under stress, and this impacts the water quality quite a bit. Hope this makes sense.
So to your direct question, in a 3-foot 33g tank, if you really want three species, I would get five of each. Now, having said that, remember that the albino is the same as one of the others (depends which species has been messed with to get the albino form, there are albino peppered, albino bronze, albino sterbai, maybe another).
Byron.
I have another suggestion.. why not head over to planet catfish and have a look at all the cory types. There might be one that you're not aware of that you really like the look of that might be of the smaller variety?
I have 8 peppered, 6 panda, 5 bronze and just 3 melini (it was all the store had and I'm desperately trying to get more but failing) and out of the group the melini are the one's I see very little of. I believe this is because of the low number of their group. I would agree with Byron - they are happier in their species group. I wouldn't have any less than 4 or 5 of each species where possible
I have 8 peppered, 6 panda, 5 bronze and just 3 melini (it was all the store had and I'm desperately trying to get more but failing) and out of the group the melini are the one's I see very little of. I believe this is because of the low number of their group. I would agree with Byron - they are happier in their species group. I wouldn't have any less than 4 or 5 of each species where possible
The bronze and the albinos in the shop seem to be the same species. So does that mean that they can go together so like 3 of each? Or does their colour matter, even if they are same species? Also I haven't seen any other corydoras than peppered, bronze, and albino in any shops near me so not sure where I could get another species from 
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