I’ve not had good luck with Cory’s over the years, tried them in many tank types…

[GaryE6 5]

The thread is back.

I've decided that there is no luck here, once you get past purchasing. If you get healthy corys, then it becomes skill. Either you work at being good with corys (once they survive QT, shipping etc) or you don't. If they survive 6 months, then what happens after is on you. I clearly didn't keep them properly for a long time, and that gave me groups of corys living under 5 years.

The info is there. Larger tanks. Light stocking. Soft water. Well chosen substrates. Water changes, Targeted diets. Researched temperatures for the species. Attentive care. Provide all of those, and it's amazing how your luck (and theirs) will change. But if you take it for granted they're fine, pay less attention to them, don't make a point of watching them and don't assume they are easily killed by poor practices, then they're in trouble.

Watching my corys, I figure they have been breeding, but because the time between them laying their adhesive eggs and me looking at them has been too long, the eggs have been eaten. I spend time in the fishroom early in the morning, and again in the evening. I should check more in the afternoon. If I want to succeed in sharing these out to the many local aquarists who don't have the 'connections' to get the slightly less common species I have (common ones in a major urban centre, but not here) then I have to give each cory tank a little bit more time. That's not painful given how much fun they are to watch. Raising young ones is fun.

The basics are there. One species per competitive niche. The bottom of the tank is prime real estate. Don't add a dwarf Cichlid or loaches if your goal is to keep corys. Get a substrate that's right if yours isn't. Make cover for them, and open sand sifting areas. Make your luck. It's really hard to stick to that because we want to see lots of fish and we want our fish to adapt to that need of ours. They generally won't.

Very few cory species are truly easy to keep fish. They aren't especially hard, but they need targeted care.

 

[Magnum Man46 161]

I still have 2 sterbai in my south American tetra tank… they look fat and happy, and active… in the past, I have typically bought cory’s in groups of 6, and even had eggs in one tank early on, from a group of albino aeneus, whose group perished long ago… since then I have tried various groups of common varieties on sand, with no luck… my sterbai, have been here for around 4 years, and they also started as a group of 6… they are currently on a rounded river gravel… I have tried dedicating sand tanks to corys, and they just did not last, and over time those sand tanks end up with other fish in them…

 

[Fishmanic46 162]

I have a single peppered cory for over 5 years now. He roams the sand substrate constantly and the Plecos and bolivian ram ignore him. My tank has a ph of 7.6. I believe peppered cory are quite hardy. Peppered Cory are on the larger size for cories. I have had many other types of cories over the years such as Skunk, Schwartz's, Panda, Bandit, and Julii cory. Never had them last very long. Huge waste of money for me.

 

[GaryE6 5]

Corys need attention and care, but I'm surprised people find them difficult.

They are social creatures that a humane keeper will have in groups. It's how they live.

They have a feeding adaptation that says a lot, as they're sand sifters. It works in nature and is easy to respect in the fishtank.

They come from many habitats over a wide range, and those habitats have given rise to many different groups and species. You can have the peppered cory, from the south east of South America where the water's cooler. They're pretty tough, while some other species aren't.

They aren't cleaners. They feed on invertebrates in the sand.

In the wild, they are on the move, constantly, foraging in groups and not staking out territories (generally - there are some pricier ones that do have turf).

If fish don't do well in your set up, change your fish interests, or change your set up. Figure out what you're doing wrong, and right it. These creatures have one life, and it's on us as keepers to get that right.

There are many reports of them being harmed by gas and decay build up in pebbled substrates where food gets trapped. Their constant contact with the substrate makes them vulnerable.

They often do poorly if they're expected to eat leftovers. They don't eat decay in nature. They aren't scavengers by nature.

They often like cooler water than we give them.

Set up for them, and they tend to do well. They should live 5 years minimum, and can thrive for 3 times that in some set ups. It's the set ups we create.

 

[Innesfan44 6]

Corys need attention and care, but I'm surprised people find them difficult.

Me too, and I wish there was something helpful I could reveal that explains why I've never had an issue with them, even back when I was a newb and knew next to nothing about aquarium chemistry and maintenance. My only thought is that my NYC water, soft and acidic, favors them. And perhaps the varied diet. Also, my tanks are unheated most of the year and temps are usually in the low to mid 70s. They not only thrive and live long lives--in some cases exceedingly long-- but reproduce even in 'community' settings, a few fry surviving the gauntlet from time to time and steadily increasing the shoal's numbers. Today I spotted three new H. atroperonatum juves emerge from the plants at feeding time.