More Corys!

[aparker2005]

Hey everyone, since I'm getting my new 55 gallon tank this weekend, I'm wanting to add 3-4 more Cory Cats. Right now, I have 3 Schwartzi and 5 Peppers. I was wanting to get 3 or 4 Bronze Corys, but should I get more Schwartzi and Pepper instead? Both of my peppers and schwartzi school together all of the time, so I figured different ones would school too, and I would have a nice mix of them. This will put me at a total of 11 or 12 Cory Cats. I also plan to have 3-4 either Clown Loaches (for a short time), or Angelicus, YoYo, or Zebras, depending on price and availability. Will this be too crowded? Thanks!

 

[jollysue]

What is your plan to cycle the tank? If you move the filtration to the new tank from the old without a break, you should have an instant cycle--just test frequently and do water changes if there is any sign of ammonia or nitrites.

For the stocking: Take your time getting the new fish until the new tank is established firmly. Then 3 or 4 more Cories would be fine. Either plan would work. And with peppers and bronze you can increase their clans with offspring easily enough. You might consider an albino variant of pepper or one of the new long fin albino peppers. They will definately shoal together.

As for loaches, as lovely as they are, I would get Botia straita (zebra) or Botia dario (queen) rather than clowns. And as far as availability, it is worth the wait. I have gotten mine from different sources a little at a time. Unless the conditions are just right the clowns disappear more and more as they age--let alone get BIG. The straita are smaller bodied, but the queens seem to play more for me. If you are in the States drsfosterandsmith.com carry both at different times and have a great warrantee. They will refund for any fish that dies within the first --I think--10 days, and they are good on it. You can also call toll free and talk to fish techs any time for help.

 

[aparker2005]

Well, I wasnt sure on how I was going to cycle the tank. The filter on my old one is way too small for the new tank. I will have 2 Penguin Bio Wheels on my new tank. I have to move everything that day and I can't do a fishless cycle, so I was just going to get the water at the right temperature, and add the fish back in slowly.

The filter that is on my 29 right now needs cleaning, and I didn't want to put the old filter on the new tank and get it a little dirty, but do I need to?

As for the Corys, that's great that I can up my numbers to 11 or 12. I love cory's so much! I think I'm going to get the Bronze. That will put me at 3 Schwartzi, 5 Peppers, and 3 Bronze. How easily will they spawn?

 

[jollysue]

Can you start the new filter on your old tank?

What kind of filter do you have on your old tank? Can you run the new and old filter on the new tank?

Can you put a mesh bag of filter media in the old filter to be moved to the new filter when you set up the new tank to "seed" the new filter. Even filter wool or a used penguin filter pad resting someplace in the new filter will work to seed the new filter. I keep media bags at ready in established filters all the time--just in case.

There are several methods to get bacteria ready for the new tank. We can do this! I wouldn't worry about the dirty filters too much at this point. Consider: The old filter homes enough bacteria for the fish you have, therefore it will be enough to handle the ammonia and nitrite in the new tank. until the new filter is established.

Bronze and peppers will begin spawning very young if there is a male and female--the only real requirement for those two species.