Cory's for a 10 gallon

[often dignified]

I've heard that they like to be in schools... but how many would be good for a 10 gallon? I don't think there would be enough food for them to eat in my tank if I got a school of them. Could I get 1 or 2 and would they be fine?

Oh I forgot to say that I have 2 platies currently in the 10 gallon, they're very active and enjoy the room, so I don't have much of a fish load right now.

Here's a pic :)

http://www.edinboro.edu/~t181604w/tank4.jpg

[Leopardess]

Cories aren't scavengers at any rate. Yes, they will scavange for food, but they NEED to be supplemented with a wide variety of foods, just like other fish. They like bloodworms, brine shrimp, sinking shrimp pellets, algae wafers, etc etc. If you do not feed them, they can slowly starve to death. (Unless you massively overfeed your tank, which is a whole new set of problems).

I would get no fewer than three cories (preferably the same kind). Yes, three will fit.

Look into pygmy cories also, they max out at 1"


PS: are you planning on getting more plants for your tank? It not only looks better aesthetically, but provide the fish with a sense of security, reducing stress which can lead to disease. Also, if you get cories, they like caves or lots of plants to hide in...

[TKOS]

Get three cories. That is sort of the minimum. I have 2 bronze (one is albino) and a peppered. The peppered saty about 1.5 inches and the bronze get to be about 2 inches. Look atthe fish food section and you will see all sorts of sinking foods. I bought three different kinds for variety: an algae tab, a complete tab and a shrimp pellet. They love them all and I give them 1 tab for all three or 2 pellets per day. They then eat left over flakes and crushed snails and every other week they get some frozen brine shrimp. A varied diet is a healthy one.

Add a couple more platies and you will have a very nice tank, but watch out for babies.

[rich]

panda cories stay small

[LMOUTHBASS]

sinking shrimp pellets or sinking crumbles must be given to your cories all too often people think they just find food then the poor things starve - i hope you see this before you get cories!!! they are a great fish keep 3 of them they'll be fine as long as you give them some of these foods

[Gunnie]

I have a 10 gal. at work with 3 cories in it. One of my co-workers says she sees growth weekly. I think you will be fine with 3 cories. 2 of mine are the peppered variety, and the third one is a bronze (I think). They are great fish. I also have 7 in a 20 gal. long community tank at home. I love 'em. They also like tubifex worms. When the worms unstick from the glass and float to the top of the water, my cories at work will actually swim to the top where the worms are and continue to nibble until the worms are gone!

[Aquarius0015]

Will different species of cory school together? Or do the peppers and bronze stay apart?

[TKOS]

My cories get along really well. I often find them sleeping on top of each other. They do spend most of their time scouring the bottom alone but seem quite happy. I think there was even an attempt at some breeding the other day.

[often dignified]

Yes, I'm getting more plants. I'm waiting to get a bunch of Anacharis buds that I'm growing in a 5 gallon... once I get 3 or 4 I'm going to trim them off and bunch them together. I dropped in 3 more of those self growing bulbs tonight too. I already have one bulb started, it's on the right side of the picture and it's doing great.

I went and looked at Cories tonight, and the only ones in this area are Emerald Green ones, so I might get some in a couple of weeks. I went to the book store too and read about all the different ones, and I now realize that I could give them sinking food. I also have a jar of Tubifex worms... my Platies don't seem to like them very much so maybe the Cories would like them.

I would also like to get a few more female Platies too. I've only had this tank up for a month and it's my first too.

Thanks everyone :)

[Aquarius0015]

I bought some of the drop-in "miracle" bulbs, too! They are aponogeton hybrids. They grew very slowly under my incandescent lights, but when I got the full spectrum fluorescent compact bulb, they shot up. Out of about 6 bulbs, 3 sprouted. They have grown about five inches this week alone. Soon I will have to trim them, but I want to try the other variety of miracle bulb, much cheaper than any pet store, plus *no snails*!

[Leopardess]

Research those emeralds a bit more. Some of those "True" emerald "cories" aren't a cory at all, but a very close cousin. They get a significant amount larger too. I have personally seen them at about 4-5" and the one I have now is at least 3."

The true emerald catfish are called "brochis splendens" I believe. here are some links, though a few of them say they do not get as large...but I have seen it and have found other sites that say they do. Some great pics though...But even at 3.5" they will be too large for a 10g.
http://homepages.tesco.net/~davyreynolds/fishindex/fish/B/brochis_splendens.htm
http://www.webcityof.com/ffpw3.asp?IID=414
http://www.pvas.com/articles/kinyon-brochis-splendens.htm - good article, I believe

http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=21&pCatId=944

Also, I have albinos, pandas, bronzes and emeralds in my 55, and they prefer to stick together in their own little groups, rather than schooling together.

[aquariumfishguy]

Just to add to the topic of feeding cories, I would like to say that I feed mine the "Scraps" and they seem to thrive. By scraps I mean extra flakes that fall to the bottom of the tank...I purposely do this so they eat so I suppose its not scraps except that it does pass by the other fish (mainly livebearers).

...so while the fish certainly wont starve to death if you feed flake foods, do make sure to "push" some flakes down in the water so that they sink to the bottom, otherwise we cannot promise that your fish will be fed! ;)