cory suggestion

maxthedog123

maxthedog123

Can't have too many Tiger Barbs...
Jun 6, 2007
604
0
16
Cincinnati, OH
I am stocking the first 30g tank in my sig. Currently have 9 glowlight tetras and 4 dwarf neon rainbows (awesome fish, btw). The plan is to have a pair of bolivian rams in the tank as well.

Before getting to the rams, I will stock some clean up crew. I am thinking:

2-4 ottos
1 bn pleco (maybe)
corys or loaches

I love loaches, but I really don't have room for them. I haven't had corys since I was a kid, but am really warming up to them. I saw paleatus cory at the LFS, but I read somewhere on the net that those get larger than other corys. (Also seen contradictions on that.)

Anyone have a good suggestion for corys? I probably will think of stocking maybe 3 of them. Are there corys that are smaller than others?
 
Most don't get larger than 2-3 inches. I have False Julii (usually labeled as Julii) that are one of the most beautiful, adorable Cories. They won't get larger than 2.5 or so inches. Other small favorites are albinos, bronze, pandas (they get a drop larger and people love these guys), Sterbai (expensive) and several others. Personally I think the Julii are slightly more expensive but adorable. Some love the white albinos and they are probably the most active of all. The 30g is enough for the Otos but remember that they must have enough algae to eat. I'd say 4 is the limit. Plecos get very large as do loaches.
 
Max,
yes, my C. paleatus are significantly larger than my C. arcturus or c. julii/falsejulii/triliniatus. the spotted corys (julii/false julii) are the smallest of the 3 that I have and in my opinion the neatest looking. Corys are just plain cool and fun to watch.

Keep Smilin'
John :)
 
I love my yoyo loaches, but at 4" each, there's no room at The 30G Inn. The BN pleco stays 4-5", but also may get a bit large for the 30g for my taste.

Would 3-4 otos and 2-4 cories be a good scavenger crew?

My main experience with algae is in my 55g where my BN pleco eats a TON of it. Will otos do a good job?
 
JohnInFlorida said:
Max,
yes, my C. paleatus are significantly larger than my C. arcturus or c. julii/falsejulii/triliniatus. the spotted corys (julii/false julii) are the smallest of the 3 that I have and in my opinion the neatest looking. Corys are just plain cool and fun to watch.

Keep Smilin'
John :)
Click to expand...

I really liked the emerald cory until I saw loch ness sized ones for sale at the LFS. If the julii's stay pretty small, I'll look into them. It seems like you see those quite frequently at the store. Is there a difference between the julii and false julii??
 
C. panda & C. adolfoi (a personal fav. & near top of wish list) both stay pretty small, compared to C. aeneus.

As far as loaches, Khulis are among the smallest, commonly available species.
 
maxthedog123 said:
I really liked the emerald cory until I saw loch ness sized ones for sale at the LFS. If the julii's stay pretty small, I'll look into them. It seems like you see those quite frequently at the store. Is there a difference between the julii and false julii??
Click to expand...
Yes. You will definitely not get a julii which are spotted and not as hardy as the latter which have the spots connected to form ink-like patterns. Both are pretty and the latter are adorable and beautiful. Spotted Julii are very rare in LFS and I would guess very expensive and not worth it.
 
If I were you, I would go with 3 otos and a school of cories/loaches and another rainbow. Peppered and Sterbai cories stay around 2-2.5". Pandas get 1.5-2", and dwarf (Habrosus & Hastatus) and pygmy cories get about 1".

For loaches, Kuhlis average 3" and dwarf chain loaches are usually 2" at the most. Kuhlis are a lot more common.
 
I personally love Skunk and Panda cories! My skunks are full grown at about 2 inches and the pandas are still growing but won't get much bigger. Also, the Albinos are cool too! I never liked them but i recently have warmed up to them and now I love the Albinos with their red eyes! Just make sure you don't leave them as "scavengers" as you said before. They need a regular diet too. Also, the thing with Otos is that they'll eat all the algae in your tank until theres nothing left and then there won't be anything to eat and they'll get hungry (Trust me, I know). Its hard to get them to eat anything other then algae, some don't even touch algae wafers! Some people have been able to get them to switch from algae to zucchini and algae wafers but so far i've had no luck. Just something to keep in mind when you get them. :)
 
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