My Betta Is Eating My Cory's Food...

[little_mermaid]

Okay, so I got a Cory today as a tank mate for Loretta...please don't bash me...and so far they seem to be doing alright; minus the fact that Loretta has been pecking at him/her whenever she gets to close...and now she's chowing down on the Cory's grub (a shrimp pellet). My Cory was eating just fine until she found the food- then there goes my Cory off to hide. She hasn't gone after his tail yet, she just seems to nudge him a bit- will she eventually ignore him/her and the food? Or should I get a different type of food? Would it even matter?

 

[Honeythorn]

I doubt her eating the food will harm anything. The cory will learn to get there quicker. Also, cories are schooling social little fish and really you should have at least 3 more so they can all gaggle about on the bottom together. One on it's own will be terribly lonely, and if in a group the betta may be inclined to be put off attacking or pecking at them if they are in a gang.

 

[azulfire24]

try feeding the cory at night when its dark and the betta will be more likely to be sleeping

 

[little_mermaid]

I doubt her eating the food will harm anything. The cory will learn to get there quicker. Also, cories are schooling social little fish and really you should have at least 3 more so they can all gaggle about on the bottom together. One on it's own will be terribly lonely, and if in a group the betta may be inclined to be put off attacking or pecking at them if they are in a gang.

Yeah but my female Betta is only in a 3 gallon tank- I do plan on getting another Cory though. I saw two black and white spotted ones at another LPS and I want to go back and get one of those. I don't think I should have more than two since I have limited space?

try feeding the cory at night when its dark and the betta will be more likely to be sleeping

Yeah I thought about that earlier...I am gonna start doing that! Luckily, Loretta my Betta has seemed to take little interest in both the Cory and food now...thank goodness! Still, I am gonna be keeping a watchful eye

 

[lilfishie]

Lancelot is in with 3 panda cory, he'll eat his own pellets then go and eat the cories too, he is starting to get a right belly on him, i'm thinking of moving the cory food around the tank so he has a harder job finding it, normally there food is directly below him

 

[newfishy]

try dropping the cory food in the plant stalks or something, most male bettas dont enjoy getting all tangled up in plants and the cory will have no problem finding the food then.

 

[Syphoniera]

try dropping the cory food in the plant stalks or something, most male bettas dont enjoy getting all tangled up in plants and the cory will have no problem finding the food then.

Most bettas must be a lot easier to deal with in such matters than are mine.
What with Loretta being ladylike and Lancelot being knightly, and newfishy's fishy's being just plain sensible, slower-eating fish can safely graze, with such clever precautions.
There must be a more civilized betta strain, not available in Winnipeg, Canada, careful not to get scuffed or to do anything to mar their finnage.
Sigh. And I get the rowdies...
I think I must have the plant-stalker strain, (sorry, mandatory pun) hunting the ground, swimming through everything that has a between, or in some cases forcing their way through the underbrush (or overbrush, if I can use that phrase in describing tall plants) so determinedly I sometimes worry they'll get stuck.
No wonder my most active boy, the one with the most beautiful, flowing tail, ripped his near the base and wound up bald-ended a while back.
I swear he was relieved he could move faster.
Maybe mine just aren't concerned about appearances, or something.
Or they just know 'Mum' thinks they're beautiful no matter what - and that if there's food anywhere in their tanks, they're finding it first.
And if there's nothing else, they may find a nice, tasty chunk of once-lovely tail...

 

[ezrock]

Good advice here. I'd also recommend being a bit imaginative with your feedings. Spreading the food out will give the cory more chances to eat some before Loretta gets to it. But don't overfeed ... it'd be easy to do that with this technique

 

[Gunngee]

My betta likes tight places as well. When I had my breeder net in the tank my betta and my gourami were squishing themselves between the tank and net so they could litteraly "circle" the net. When they did this all the baby mollies would huddle in the middle of the net. Then when the mollies were big enuf to release into the community the betta would chase them around and would go right into the weeds after them. He never hurt them though and it only went on for about a week then it stopped.