Lighting and corydoras -- how much is too much.

[tuvok]

One of the things that I have noticed is the difference in the behaviour of my corydoras when the 10hr day (as determined by the timer for the hood light fixture) turns to night. The 38g tank is illuminated by a 20W regular fluorescent daylight bulb.

During the day the smaller fish are reasonably active while the two larger ones are a bit shy and tend to hang out in the flowerpot cave or the roots of a medium sized java moss plant.

Once the hood lights go out the fish, including the larger ones, seem a lot more active. During the day they also tend to be more skittish and inclined to darting around if you move too much around the tank, however, once the overhead light is out they do not seem quite as excitable, even when the room lights are still on.

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with providing comfortable light levels for corydoras. My feeling is that during the day they would prefer things to be dimmer, or they might just appreciate more hiding spots to feel more comfortable, however, I would like to hear from anyone on what sort of lighting levels corydoras prefer and what adjustments could be made to make them more at ease.

 

[peleg38]

Dark is good

I think Corys in general prefer a darker environment. From what I've seen with mine and what I've read about others they are just naturally more active at night. I have 5 panda's in a very high light environment though (96w X 40g) and once they become comfortable they do swim around during the "day." If yours are new it may take a while for them to become comfortable and move about more. In the mean time I'm sure they would appreciate as much cover as you can provide.

 

[tuvok]

Thanks for the input. I'm looking into doing some more rockwork to give them some more cover I just need to plan it so that it is still easy to clean.

 

[f8ldzz]

I just changed out my incandescents to CF's to 22watts for the 10G.
The corys didn't skip a beat.
My yellow labs are all spooked though!
If the corys have been aclimated and comfortable for a while in the tank, I don't think they would care...

 

[cloud]

Corys prefer darker environments in general. But as long as the water's clean they can addapt to pretty much any environment in my experience.
If they're acting shy it's more likely to be the size of the species group they're in.

 

[TKOS]

Mine do fine in a 10 gallon with 28 watts of light. There is lots of cover but they tend to hang out in the front where it is more open. Providing cover is a good idea so that fish can retreat if they need to feel more safe, but don't worry too much about your light levels. They are considered rather low.

 

[tuvok]

If they're acting shy it's more likely to be the size of the species group they're in.

Right now they are a group of six by themselves in a 36"Lx12"Wx20"H (filled to around 14" right now). No other fish yet as I need to plan out a quarantine setup before any other fish get introduced.

 

[cloud]

Right now they are a group of six by themselves in a 36"Lx12"Wx20"H (filled to around 14" right now). No other fish yet as I need to plan out a quarantine setup before any other fish get introduced.

Sounds good to me. They'll probably feel more secure as time goes by. So long as you don't move stuff around too much.My Sterbais were pretty shy at first.
Try feeding them the pellets in the same place at the front of the tank each day. Thay'll get to associate the front of the tank as good place for a greedy catfish. And like others say, if they have a few places to go for privacy if they need it then they often feel more secure about being out in the open.