So.....When are they gonna start eating??

[WaterBaby]

I bought 2 corys on Saturday, and here it is Tuesday and I don't think they've eaten yet..

Now I do know that they need time to acclimate themselves to their new surroundings, and they can go for days without eating, but when there's food around, wouldn't they even nibble??

They don't seem "sick". They spent the first 2 days racing around checking out the tank, and have settled down a bit.

I know that they are not eating any left over food, because this is a newly set up tank with just one betta. I feed the betta his betta bits one at a time and there are no "left overs".

I am trying to feed the corys sinking algae wafers and shrimp pellets, both of which I have to remove in the morning, cause they're not touched.

Any suggestions?

[ChilDawg]

Can you tell us how large the tank is?

Also, the tank parameters?

There might be something stressing the Cories in one of the first two categories...

Also, they don't eat immediately, I've found...they wait for the smell to hit them and then chase it...they just might not eat while you're around but eat later when they smell it...

[WaterBaby]

The tank is a 6 gallon eclipse.

Ammonia-0
Nitrites-0
pH-7.6 to 7.8 (my card's hard to read)

This is a recently set up cycled (with established tank bacteria) tank.

The betta is doing fine. The corys don't seem stressed.

[ChilDawg]

Okay, two things to watch for...

First, as I said above, Cories are notorious for finding food much later when the scent hits them...

Second, Bettas are hit or miss on aggression toward Cories. My current one can't have tankmates while my prior one was very accommodating.

[WaterBaby]

Lots of hiding places.. Haven't seen the betta "attack" and I have been looking for this. He actually seems a little spooked by them. He runs when they come close.. I think they are a little too active for him. He seems pretty easy going, but I'll still keep an eye out. If it gets too "hot" in the tank, I'll move the corys to another tank.

I haven't seen any ripped or torn fins on the corys yet. They were all put into the tank relatively close in time, so I don't think that the betta had a chance to establish territory yet.

[ChilDawg]

If you get a chance, watch their mealtime...

Here's the deal, it's really cool...

You can drop food right in front of their face, and then they won't find it right away...and they'll take a Family Circus-style route to get there. I'm sure that they find and eat, you just have to watch for longer.

[WaterBaby]

I guess if they're around for another 2 weeks, they're eating something :D

Seriously, I'll keep an eye on them :)

"Tanks" Chil !!

[ChilDawg]

No prob, WaterBaby! Always glad to help out!

[WaterBaby]

Off the corys went into the other tank. When I went to check on the tank a half hour ago, It was like "shread city".....

One of the corys had shreaded fins and tail.

Guess my Betta is a killer after all....:D

[ChilDawg]

I can't believe that I called that one...I'm sorry that I did, but I'm glad that you figured that part out.

I would suggest Melafix for the wounds on the cory, and I'd be willing to bet that they won't be off their feed (if they were) in a couple of days max.

[GoLdFiSh_GrL]

hi

[ChilDawg]

Was that really worth a post? Please don't do stuff like that here.