too much agitation for corys?

[momtank]

I am new to fishtanking. My tank finished the break in cycle a few weeks ago, and I added coolie loaches and corys. The corys are wild caught Melini ("fake bandid corys"). Since I am new to the hobby, and these are my first corys, I have a few questions. I have a 36G tank with a slightly oversized filter (50G) with a biowheel on one side of the tank, and an airstone in a decoration on the other side of the tank. So I am wondering if the current at the surface could bothers the corys? Is there any advise that anyone has about corys that pertains to wild caught varieties?
And I have read that it is normal for them to occasionally come to the surface to breathe, but mine sometimes go thru phases where one or both swims up and down and back and forth in the upper levels of the tank quite fast. Is that normal too?

 

[jackiomy]

Very normal. Mine do that alot. They love the current. I have a powerhead with airbubbles and they will swim in the stream all the time.

 

[BreellaBlue87]

Same, my cory's swim up to it and let it carry them away.

 

[jpappy789]

In corydoras the intestine is modified to act as an air breathing organ.

 

[OldMan47]

Cories will play in the water currents. It seems that one of their favorite games in some tanks is to use the water slide that the filter creates. If you have room for more cories, you would see more playful activity by getting more than the two of a single species. In groups of 5 or 6 they become the tank's clowns.

 

[fishorama]

Some corys like more current than others. I have a HOB filter & powerhead in my cory tank, the loxozonus love it, the melini, not so much. As long as there is a calm area it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[vanillarum]

I have 8 cory sterbai juvies in my 40 breeder tank with my zebra plecos. They love swimming in the air bubbles from the aquaball1212 powerhead. They know just where to swim under it to get back to the beginning of the bubble stream ! They put on quite the show !! Good luck.