Do they like darker environments? My peppered corys seem to hide a lot beneath the bridge you see on the left side of my avatar...
Just making sure this is normal...
Just making sure this is normal...
Is it natural for cory cats to hide?
- Thread starter Jess7
- Start date
I have 2 panda corys and 1 peppered cory.... they hide in the darker spots under driftwood, plants when they rest. When they're not resting, they're so active all over the gravel.
Ok, cool! I was starting to get worried...
Also, I heard it was better to have more of a sandy substrate for them then gravel, is this correct?
Also, I heard it was better to have more of a sandy substrate for them then gravel, is this correct?
It is better, but if you already have the gravel, I wouldn't really worry about it. Also as long as their barbels are in good shape, the gravel is not hurting them, I think sand is recommended b/c they like to dig around, and because some of the gravel out there is not rouned, its more sharp and digging in that stuff can cause them problems!
Not really. They will happily root through just about any kind of substrate--aggressively with smooth grains, less so with sharper grains. I've kept them in gravel and sand, and never noticed any difference in health or behavior.
Not speaking of my corys, but my friend had a couple in really rough looking gravel, and there barbels were always in bad shape. I always assumed that was part of the problem, b/c she took really good care of the tank! But mine are in a gravel substrate and are just fine, I always see them flipping the gravel around to get underneath it! very cute fish 
Hmmm... the gravel is pretty "big" and I was thinking of changing to a substrate better for the plants too, but I'm going to do more research before messing with their home...
Cories might be more active when the light is dimmed or at night when it is dark. My three leopard cories are rather skittish (even though my aquarium is densely planted), and hide often as well. They are very active at feeding time though.
I have 6 pepper cory's and they are everywhere at anytime. Sometimes they hide when resting and sometimes they are just in the open spaces. They don't rest for long before it's back to work.