Something wrong with my Corys?

[Loupe]

In my sig tank that is 6 months old I have 4 corydoras julii, unsure of sexes. When I bought them they did not move and I assumed it was new tank nerves. They stayed still under a log for the whole day and were very timid. Now it has been four months and they are the same. Everyone I know has told me that corys are playful and energetic. Mine aren't.
By the way they have no visible signs of disease and I know that they aren't bullied. Please help.
James

 

[cherrybarbbaby]

I'm in the same boat!!

I have 4 jules and 2 bronze (I had 3 but one died)and my julis are very playful-they ignore my caves and play all day and night.....while my bronze hide in a cave
24 hours a day. Its been a month and no sign of them.


I have to lift up the cave to make sure they are still alive.

I thought about putting them into a 5gal tank (w/filter and heater) but I don't want to because it sort of defeats the purpose of having a "community" tank.

My betta is the only fish I have that gets his own tank
.....I am one step away from returning my brozies to the pet store

 

[JessiMommy]

Add me to the list. I had an albino cory who was pretty playful considering that he was alone. I got him 2 friends about 2 months ago and they all got along & played well for a few weeks. Now they rarely make an appearance. I too have to lift up their hiding place to be sure they are alive... why? why??

 

[snowyangel]

Maybe its the species? Because I know someone with an adult albino cory and all it does is hide in its cave except for feeding time. But when it comes to my 5 pepper cories I can always see all them in broad daylight, anytime. Maybe another factor could be the fish you have with them? Believe or not some fish will nip cories, and they dont have to be bottom feeders to do it. All of my cories I saved from a walmart tank and all these tiny peppers were being nipped by black skirt tetras, even the glowlights that were in the same tank had chewed off fins from these guys. When you looked at the tank, non of those cories would move an inch. When they were introduced into my tnak they all of sudden became active. Weird stuff....

 

[cherrybarbbaby]

well I got tired of seeing them ...or should I say not seeing them so unhappy.

I broke down and got a 5gal for the two shy bronzies. I could not take the stress any more!

Now they have a new home w/ filter and heater all to themselves.....they don't hide anymore, until they see me coming

I've decided not to take it personal.

 

[silver]

Well,........

Hopefully you are all feeding them freeze-dryed shrimp pellets because this is what they eat!! Maybe they aren't coming out because there is simply no food for them to eat and that's when they come out the most and at night to scavange around. You may not be seeing them simply because they are awake when you are asleep. Mine only come out and are "active" when it's food time. If you feed your fish 2 or 3 times a day then you should be seeing them at least those 2 or 3 times. If not, I'd think that was a little wierd. But be careful to only feed each cory 1-2 pieces of the pellets because it does cloud up the water pretty good if you overfeed.

I actually starved 3 of mine to death........

I know, it's horribel, but this is when I first got them. No one told me that they didn't eat flake food and I was fairly new to the hobby. I couldn't figure out why they were literally starting to drop like flies. Then I came to this forum to ask for help and I don't know what the replies were, but somehow or another I ended up at my LFS and bought some of the shrimp pellets and started feeding my corys that instead of flake food, DUH!! .

No more died.......


Silver

 

[Inchworm]

I don't know why some corys are more active than others, but I can see this happen with mine too.

I have 9 pandas which, in a 20 gallon tank, hid in their cave almost all the time. Recently, I moved them to the 55 gallon and they became playful and outgoing. The same for my bronze and albinos. When they were in a 10 gallon tank, after being treated for bacterial infection, they played sometimes, but mostly lined up along the side of the tank and sat. As soon as I moved them back to their old 20 gallon tank, they were their old selves, playing and digging in the gravel most of the time.

I wish that there was an easy answer for these questions, but there is not. Just make sure that they are healthy and that there are several of them so that they can school together. I find that they seem to do best if the temperature is around 76 degrees, so you might check that, or maybe rearrange some things in the tank.

I'd be very interested in hearing anyone else's experiences with this problem.

 

[Morrgan]

Perhaps the light is too bright? Adding some floating plants would create shadowy spots, something cories like.

As Inchworm already said, another possibility is that the tank is too small for them. Possibly combined with not having a big enough shoal. I had a couple in a 16 gal US for a year or so, and they were not very active. Mostly sat in a corner all day. When I got a 34 gal, I moved them there and got them a few more friends. Their behavior changed completely! Nowadays they're active for most of the day, happily exploring the bottom.