Cory eating POOP?

[Dwarf Puffers]

Yes, corys do eat poop. I have a panda corydora. I am new to this species and I wouldn't have beleived it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. My cory, "Hoover", swam up and ate some comming right out of another fishes bottom. So, yes, would have to be the answer.

If he did, he may have thought it was a worm, and considering he "swam up", couldn't use his whiskers to deny his feeling. He probably spat it out.

...and their niche includes browsing on whatever their whiskers touch and identify as good nutrition. With almost 100 fish in my aquarium I rarely see fecal material and my 9 Corydoras are constantly browsing on the bottom...

Would you like to know what a cory's whiskers are used for? Identifying food, IE some rotting plant matter, dead fish, underwater bugs, etc from objects. The whiskers taste. That's why cories rest in front of food before eating it. They're checking if it's food. They have those whiskers for telling the good stuff from mud, branches, pebbles, and yes, POOP.

...Although your post did sound convincing ...

If you plan on keeping it, get at least 3 more. They should start schooling nicely. Buy some algae wafers and/or shrimp pellets. The guy at the LFS is either A) an idiot that probably doesn't care about fish, just the money, or B) is misinformed and, like all but 1 of the people I've really met in my life at a pet store, knows nothing but thinks he does. He is obviously not very smart, because I'll be surprised if you can pull up a site that cories don't like company.

-DP

 

[Lupin]

Excellently put, DP.:thumbsup:

 

[Beasts]

Dwarf Puffers,
I really don't understand. I have watched cats and dogs lick their own "private parts" while cleaning themselves. Carrion eaters routinely eat maggot infested, nasty smelling carcasses. I have seen dogs treating goose feces like dessert. Reptiles, as well as carnivorous fish, eat whole animals without having their butcher remove the lower intestine, anus and that mud caught on the rabbits left hind foot. Their appetites differ from ours. We would not think of consuming a lot of things that other species do. That is part of what makes this earth a very efficient ecosystem. One species trash is anothers' treasure (banquet). I respect each of these species and enjoy the company of dogs, cats, snakes and many species of fish as pets. Fecal material is not inherently "bad". Neither are the species who consume it. Thank goodness they exist or we would be a whole lot more than knee deep in it! I have no trouble accepting my Corydoras consumption of whatever they find palatable, even if I would rather get REAL hungry before it would enter my mind to do the same.
I thoroughly enjoy a good argument/discussion. Back at ya.
Beasts

 

[J double R]

you know, if it wasnt an inhumane experiment, i would buy a few cory cats and set them up in my 20g, just to feed them fecal matter from my other fish and prove that they DON'T eat fecal matter.

yes, they scavenge. but not in the way that people are thinking. they scavenge because they are bottom feeders. i don't own a single cory cat, or any bottom feeder for that matter, and i can't remember the last time i saw feces in any of my tanks, with the exception of a fish that was in the process of defecating.

feces deteriorates quickly, especially with coarser substrates, high flow, and fish (such as the corydoras catfish) swimming around stirring it up.

noting a lack of feces and attributing it to bottom feeder consumption is a novel idea, but not well-researched.

 

[easilyconfused]

I don't believe anyone said that they would survive solely on feces. However, they may require some for certain nutrients. When chickens, pigs, rabbits, etc, are put in cages, you have to increase their at least their dietary B-vitamin intake.
Limsuwan and Lovell (1981) looked at the intestinal synthesis and absorption of B-12 in channel catfish and found that there is significant intestinal absorption. While they did not find that the fish did not undertake coprophagy when given the chance, they still felt is may be a way to obtain B-12 if the diet is deficient in cobalt or there was antibiotics disrupting the normal microflora. They did look into whether there was any absorption from the water column via gills, and they found no evidence of it so they concluded that the primary source is intestinal absorption. Which would mean, either synthesis by their own intestinal microflora or by coprophagy.

There was one other good paper about the incidence of coprophagy in Mackrel fry but it was an interlibrary loan.

So, judging by the research out there, it is likely that they may utilize coprophagy as a means of obtaining certain required nutrients if their own intestinal microflora cannot synthesize adequate amounts.

 

[Beasts]

easilyconfused,
Thank you. And, yes, I have to admit that I had to look up coprophagy. You may be easily confused but then you turn around and find the answers. Excellent!
Beasts

 

[easilyconfused]

You welcome Beast. I'm not saying they do it as a main food source or will do it consistently. As an animal scientist, and now going for a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, I have seen anthropomorphism too often and more often than not, it's wrong. What people frown upon because it's disgusting or unsanitary DOES NOT mean that animals see it the same way. People too often forget how far we've come from animals. Maybe we performed coprophagy at one point in time. Now however it is gross and disgusting because our immune systems can't handle it. If you ask a bunch of parents however, you're bound to get more than one that will admit, eventually, that their kids have performed it. That is if they get over the fact that their kids did something digusting, OH MY! That's a family disgrace!.

 

[janetdc1]

ROTFL!!!! Well, I have to say I have thoroughly enjoyed this er-um-debate-
I came to this to find info on bottom feeders, because I am considering getting some for my son's tank- and I found this all so ironic because moments ago I was watching my mollys and platys- who, no matter how well fed, will, yes, eat poop. a few of them won't touch the stuff- a few of them seem to pursue any tank mate that is defecating in anticipation of the "treat" that they will get if they are patient enough. Right before my eyes I watched my funny little balloon dalmation molly eat it- and my red platy-They did not spit it out- I watched to see if they would, but no- they swallowed it whole-hook, line and stinker-hehe-
so, no one can tell me that they don't eat it. sorry to those non believers out there.
J

 

[BetaBetta]

CORIES DO NOT EAT POO. Cories are like some gobies, that sift through whatever junk they find. If the cory likes what it finds, the food goes down the throat. But, CORIES DO NOT EAT POO.

 

[-KT-]

Are people not feeding their fish enough so they have to follow around other fish eating their poop, I have never seen any fish do that before. This whole debate is so ridiculous.