cory school mixed or same?

[Quill]

I have 2 cory and have been told in another thread that they need at very least 3 but 5 and up are best. Does that mean the "same" cory or will they be just as happy mixed? Smiles, Quill

[Lupin]

Best to keep the same species than too many species and less number of each.

[pinkertd]

:iagree: The idea behind keeping 5 or more is they need the company of their own variety/kind to be happy and school. I often wonder how a fish knows which other ones in the tank are just like them cause they've never seem themselves so it's not by looks! :D But they know!

[Quill]

Thanks! Now I just have to figure out what kind of cory I have! :help:

[Squawkbert]

If you have no idea and can't figure it out looking here (http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/genus.php?genus_id=1), post a pic.

[Quill]

ok...I looked at all the pictures and there are several that looks similar to the cory I have.
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk292/stoverquill/cory.jpg

[Squawkbert]

I'm thinking "Peppered Cories", C. paleatus http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=271

[Quill]

Thanks, I looked at the pic of that one on the web site and I agree (my pic wasn't very clear). hope to go to lps and get a few more this evening. Smiles, Quill

[pinkertd]

They are cuties! And they are gonna be so happy to have more Peppered buddies!!

[KuchDaddy]

I had two peppereds for a while and finally added 3 more, and they really seem to be happier with other corys to pal around with.

[jpappy789]

Lovely cories!!!

[Quill]

They are cute little things!!! And so active...I love to watch them. They are fast becoming my favorites. :)

[Quill]

Bought three more peppered cory today! :) Thats total of 5..should make for a happier family. Also, as I mentioned in another thread I rescued some of their eggs today:headbang2: and put in a breeder box. Hope they hatch!!!!

Thanks for all your help. Smiles, Quill

[corynut007]

hi i have 5 Peppered Corys also 2 albino bristlenose pleco 3 juli corys and 4 albino corys they all seem to get along together when they are feeding looks like a a bunch of hogs rooting in the gravel for the food also 8 danios and platys looking to add more corys soon have a 60 gal setup

[gatotsu77]

I've often wondered if my corys would be happier if given a couple more to each species. I've got 2 "spotted" and 3 "peppered." (sorry for the common names Lupin :p:) Amongst the 5 of them, they spend a lot of time in one big group, though I will find one of them wandered off from the group every now and again.

[OldMan47]

Gatotsu, having one or two of a kind of cory rooting around the bottom of a tank for food, as they all do, is not the same as having 5 or 6 alike that form a play group all over the tank. Either way, the fish will be healthy and if you don't have room for more its OK. Given the choice, I will always try to keep only one kind in a tank. That way, no matter how many I decide to put in the tank, they can play their games, hold their parades, and generally be more entertaining and not just live a healthy life. There is more to life than survival, even for fish.
I made a mistake in my big community tank and got 3 or 4 peppered cories, paleatus, then went to another store to round out the population a while later and got 3 more. The problem is the second group were not paleatus, they were habrosus or cochui, I'm still not sure. They look a lot like paleatus but are much smaller. They get along fine with the paleatus but I can't find any more of them to fill out my group.

[Corax]

I disagree.. I have a mixed school of 8 in my tank and they all run together.. 2 Emeralds, 2 bronze, 2 albino, 2 peppered.. 8 of the same would be uber boring, IMHO..

[ESOXLUCIOUSS]

I have a mixed school of 10 cories and they all play together

[ct-death]

I have:

- 5 "Spotted" Corydoras melanistius
- 3 "Schwartzi" Corydoras schwartzi (2 more in a 30G)
- 5 "True Julii" Corydoras julii
- 4 "Green-Gold" or "Orange-Stripe" Corydoras sp.
- 3 Pandas! (in 10G)

- Plus many, many more in the past (Trilli's, Peppered, Bronze/albinos, and many I never identified when younger)

They all swim together, especially at feeding, but the school behavior is limitted to species in groups of 4-5+ IME. They also swim into and over each other constantly, but I would like to add 4 factors from my own experience:

1) Corys loves Corys, the more the better and less shy and skitish they become IMO
2) Althought they appear to interact, from my experience this type of interaction crosses over to any bottom dwelling species and is not Corydoras specific.
3) Their behaviors change dramatically once you establish a species specific group of 4-5+ (in fact, the bahviors are kindof cool to observe in groups as they change from species groups from 2-3 to 4-5 and then again from 7-8+)
4) If you observe them when they Sleep and Play, it is almost exclusively amongst themselves (minus the occassional bumping into another bottom dweller which initiates a reaction of course).

Anyways, just my 2cw ;)

[SanguineApple]

I have 5 sterbai and 3 albino aeneus. While they have no qualms about interacting with one another there is clearly a different behavior between those of the same species. The sterbais definitely parade together, dancing along the front of the tank. The albinos do not display this behavior at all, and it's probably because I only have 3 in the tank. Also, they most certainly sleep in their specific groups. When I first got my corys I was told they would all school together so I got the two kinds because at the time the LFS only had 4 of the sterbai. I should have really waited and would have had I known better. I can't imagine how spectacular it would be to have 8 sterbai playing right now.