Normal behaviour?

[Machli]

We bought three Green cories today, and the fish store employee was rather rough with handling them. And had lots of dead fish in their displays.

I saw the cute little cories looking all sad in their overcrowded tank and couldn't resist bringing them home. It's a gamble, I know, but had to take it.

So, it's been over a decade since I had fish as pets and I am not very familiar with cories.

One of the cories is very active and my husband describes it as agitated, but, with all this extra space, perhaps he is just very happy and has the zoomies.

Attached is a little video. Can you guys watch it and tell me if this is normal cory cat behaviour and if they look healthy to you? Don't mind the one missing an eye!

 

[Valkyrie_Lips]

They look rather skinny, my money is on malnourished. I've never had cories, but to me it looks like he is using his barbells to search for food on the sand. I could be wrong though so wait for other more experienced members to chime in.

 

[Byron]

I do not see anything in the video to cause concern. Corydoras, like many fish, do not like being netted, bagged, moved to a new environment...and they often are hyper active, glass surfing, until they settle which can be a few hours to a few days.

One very important thing though...you need more of them. This is a shoaling fish, and on top of that they are social. The more the better, it will allow them to be less stressed going forward, and that means better health. A group of close to 10 is advisable.

 

[Machli]

I do not see anything in the video to cause concern. Corydoras, like many fish, do not like being netted, bagged, moved to a new environment...and they often are hyper active, glass surfing, until they settle which can be a few hours to a few days.

One very important thing though...you need more of them. This is a shoaling fish, and on top of that they are social. The more the better, it will allow them to be less stressed going forward, and that means better health. A group of close to 10 is advisable.

Thanks for the reassurance. And yes, we'll get more after a week or two. These were literally all that the fish store had in stock. Thanks again!

 

[Machli]

They look rather skinny, my money is on malnourished. I've never had cories, but to me it looks like he is using his barbells to search for food on the sand. I could be wrong though so wait for other more experienced members to chime in.

We'll plump them up, but they are quite small/young still. Not more than 1.25 cm in length yet.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I've bred these a few times now. The behaviour is normal, in terms of searching for food, while being a bit skittish in a brand new environment too, not alarming.
Looks like two young males to me, perhaps a little on the skinny side, but not alarmingly so.

If you can offer some live and/or frozen foods and some quality dry staple food, even better. Remember that corydoras feed mostly on tiny insects, not algae as a lot of people think. They will go wild for an algae wafer, but it mustn't be a main part of their diet, only an occasional treat. A diet with mostly small edible critters is what to aim for. Bug Bites is a good staple food since it's high quality and almost all black soldier fly larvae. Mine also get live mosquito larvae and microworms, and frozen cyclops, brine shrimp, daphnia, moina etc.

 

[GaryE]

In support of the others, I see two thin males, and young males. Don't blast them with quantities of food. They'll come around fine with quality, not quantity. I would make bug bites a staple, and add some frozen. But overfeeding is a danger, especially when you are feeling sorry for fish that had a hard time. It's easy to kill with kindness.

They are lucky, but so are you. They are fantastic fish.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

In support of the others, I see two thin males, and young males. Don't blast them with quantities of food. They'll come around fine with quality, not quantity. I would make bug bites a staple, and add some frozen. But overfeeding is a danger, especially when you are feeling sorry for fish that had a hard time. It's easy to kill with kindness.

They are lucky, but so are you. They are fantastic fish.

This is a great point! When I said my fish get all these types of food, I didn't stress that they don't get them all at once! lol. Just a variety of quality foods, fed on different days, tailored to the main sources of protein they need being insects. But it's definitely too easy to over-feed, especially if you're concerned about their weight, and then there are water quality issues to worry about. Fed normally, they'll fill out in no time!