panda cory and betta

i would say no because cories should be kept in groups of at least 3 and there's not enough room in a 5g for a betta and 3 cories.
 
wataugachicken said:
i would say no because cories should be kept in groups of at least 3 and there's not enough room in a 5g for a betta and 3 cories.
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Hi,

Totally agree. Cories need to be kept in groups and a five gallon is way to small for Panda Cories.

Cory Lover
 
Actually I disagree. Corys do just fine singly and in pairs, though they are more interesting in schools.

I've kept corys in all sorts of tank sizes and school/non-school configurations. And honestly I have never noticed them to be any more or less happy in smaller or larger tanks, schools or non-schools.

Personally I am of the opinion that much of the idea that schooling fish need and require schools to flourish is just bunk. I have had several of these types of fish over the years that ended up alone because the school died off over time and I opted not to replace it, yet that last fish lives for many months or years perfectly happy without anyone to school with. Conclusion: schooling fish are just schooling fish, they are not "schooling to survive" fish. Keeping a school is therefore purely for the interest of the aquarist, not a requirement for the fish to do well.

The next thing is tank size. This is largely another idea that doesn't hold water (hehe I make pun!) in my opinion or experience. The corys in my five gallon tank seem no less happy than the corys in my 55g. In fact, I have lost more in my 55g than in my 5g! This same theory has gone for many other small fish that are said to need ridiculously large tanks to survive. ( I have even read posts from people who insist that you shouldn't keep a betta in anything less than a 30g tank!!)

Okay...I am totally babbling on. Long story short, a pair of small corys will do just fine in your 5g tank.
 
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echoofformless said:
Actually I disagree. Corys do just fine singly and in pairs, though they are more interesting in schools.

I've kept corys in all sorts of tank sizes and school/non-school configurations. And honestly I have never noticed them to be any more or less happy in smaller or larger tanks, schools or non-schools.

Personally I am of the opinion that much of the idea that schooling fish need and require schools to flourish is just bunk. I have had several of these types of fish over the years that ended up alone because the school died off over time and I opted not to replace it, yet that last fish lives for many months or years perfectly happy without anyone to school with. Conclusion: schooling fish are just schooling fish, they are not "schooling to survive" fish. Keeping a school is therefore purely for the interest of the aquarist, not a requirement for the fish to do well.

The next thing is tank size. This is largely another idea that doesn't hold water (hehe I make pun!) in my opinion or experience. The corys in my five gallon tank seem no less happy than the corys in my 55g. In fact, I have lost more in my 55g than in my 5g! This same theory has gone for many other small fish that are said to need ridiculously large tanks to survive. ( I have even read posts from people who insist that you shouldn't keep a betta in anything less than a 30g tank!!)

Okay...I am totally babbling on. Long story short, a pair of small corys will do just fine in your 5g tank.
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Hi,

In the Cories natural habitat they live in large shoals (of about a hundred or more) and are very social fish. They can be kept alone, but they thrive in large groups. In a five gallon tank they don't have that much room to explore and will probably get stunted. Thats just my opinion and I might be wrong.

Cory Lover
 
well, i'm sure some might leap on me for this, but have you considered a pair of otos?
 
Well as you can see below I have the 3 peppered cories but only two of them are ever side by side. The third one is the "outcast". So that supports the "shoals of cories not necessary" side of the mini-debate. I personally like to have schooling fish in schools, but my cories have different plans.

Just a thought though. One of the female bettas I have likes the Omega 1 veggie rounds I have for the cories. She'll try to nudge them away from the one she wants. You might have this same with a male betta. I've never kept a male betta with cories so I don't know. My 20 fry bully my betta boy. lol


Fishcatch, I kinda like the idea of ottos. They are a bit smaller, if I'm not mistaken, so more suitable for the 5 g.
 
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