Questions on Corydoras

[stormhawk]

A tank of their own is best, if you are planning to spawn them. Guppies can and will eat cory eggs and fry.

[cyruslaguna]

is it a good idea to have short plants for them to find a place to lay eggs, or should a small clay aquatic vase do the trick?

[stormhawk]

They prefer plants. Usually Java fern/Anubias or Java moss will do. They tend to deposit the eggs at points close to where the water flow is stronger.

[seanskye]

Recently noticed 2 of my pgymy corys sticking very closely together.
They've been showing such behavior eversince i started feeling guilty and did more frequent water changes with ICED water due to the weather!
They've left the group of 8 behind and swim together constantly.
Possible pairing?

I have a 1-foot tank with pygmies and similies and have observed 'pairing' behavior too. Never cleaned the filter, never changed the water, only topped up the water level so I can say the tank is quite mature. Just today I noticed not 1, not 2 but 3 clutches of transparent eggs with dots ... time to remove the baby catfishes!

[PureSpiritz]

Hi all,
How much fine gravel do I need to buy for a 2.5 ft tank?
Also, where can i buy these fine gravels at an affordable price?

[aquanatix]

A small amount will be more then enough,what you're going for is just a thin layer over the bottom and not and inch thick like usual substrates used in planted setups.
You can probably get a small bag from any LFS but if you're in the west then you should already know C328
Here's my setup for reference...
cory_tank.jpg

[benedetto13]

Hi,

How often do i have to stir up the sand if my sand layer is thick? Been roughly one month, all my corys are doing well.

[aquanatix]

Not sure if stirring up sand is needed?I for one have never intentionally siphon sand base.Only sucking up whatever waste i can see lying on sand bed with hand pump during water change.Maybe experienced keepers can share some thoughts in regards to issue?

[tetrakid]

Personally, I will not put a layer of sand at the bottom for adult Corys, especially the gentle and cute Sterbais.
I just bought a few of them last week, but did not know what they were, except they are cute fish, like 'sea hamsters'.

To me, even fine sand is hard (think sandpaper). Because the the corys' barbels are delicate sensing organs, frequent
rubbing against sand will inevitably cause abrasion wounds on the barbels and around the mouth.

I'd rather there's no sand at all, though humans prefer them in the aquarium for reasons of decorative beauty.

[doppelbanddwarf]

In the wild corydoras actually forage among fine sand for food. Their barbels are actually adapted to find food among the detritus. A fine layer of sand would help them feel more at home IMHO.

[tetrakid]

Yes, I am with you on that. Perhaps I am the type who can feel pain of my pets, or make spoilt brats out of them.

In the wild corydoras actually forage among fine sand for food. Their barbels are actually adapted to find food among the detritus. A fine layer of sand would help them feel more at home IMHO.

[doppelbanddwarf]

I don't quite get your point. I think they would feel more comfortable with a layer of sand compared to a bare tank.

[tetrakid]

There are good ways and bad ways to treat animals (fish are animals). If I were a Cory Sterbia, I may thank my guardians for providing such an 'opulent' and attractive living environment, complete with sand carpet and all.

But jokes aside, what I meant was when I got my Sterbias, I observed the way they tackle their food with their soft and delicate snouts. It is the fact that these creatures have not still not evolved hardened, or at least less delicate barbels and snouts, which caused me to do away with sand. Though the Cory may (or may not) enjoy rumaging through hard sand to get at their food, it breaks my heart to see their delicate barbels being subjected to such roughness. Being inexperienced, I may be wrong.

I don't quite get your point. I think they would feel more comfortable with a layer of sand compared to a bare tank.

[stormhawk]

Ted, you'd be surprised how well these corys dig in fine sand. A thin layer of say 1-2 cm is sufficient to see them behave in their natural way. Deeper sand is not recommended for the sake of maintenance. They spend a lot of time rooting about in the sand looking for worms especially. Their way of feeding on sand beds is very interesting. They basically swallow the sand with the food and filter the sand out via their gill rakers. After a short while, the whole sand bed will look like a mine field. They can also be kept in a substrate that is rough, but not advisable. The crucial thing here is to ensure that the sand is clean and free of contaminants.

[tetrakid]

@stormhawk

Yes, Cory Sterbais are interesting creatures. I believe they can also be very 'rough' creatures too, especially when they are hungry.

I bought mine because I was impresssed by their cute appearance. The part I like best are their eyes, which exude a unique 'sad' and adorable look. And this is why I don't prefer Cory Pandas and other variants which have their eyes masked by a different colour, making their eyes less visible.

[Sazeyplus2]

Purple mark on albino cory head, and seems to be getting bigger. Perhaps an injury?? All other fish (5 guppies,2 corys) are fine. Little guy seems unwell, too-sitting on aquarium floor, not active at all. Only thing different between today and yesterday was that I fed them blood worms. Any ideas???

[stormhawk]

That purple mark may be a sign of disease, in this case, a possible sore. Isolate the affected fish immediately, in case it is contagious.

[tetrakid]

There should be no doubt that rumaging in fine sand is beneficial to barbels just like brushing our teeth removes surface debris. I am more worried about abrasion sustained by all-day rumaging, especially in rough and irregularly-shaped sand. While in the wild they have no choice but to rumage the roughs, personally, I would not want to risk injuring my cute Corys' soft and fragile barbels.

[vannel]

Hence why you should employ a very fine sand base with no sharp edges. Sudo sand is widely used for that purpose and the sand has been formulated for cories specifically (as per the packaging). Other sands are available in the market. I recently purchased a super fine sand from PetMart in Serangoon and it was a consistent grain size that was even finer than Sudo sand.

In fact, many believe a bare tank leads to more barbel issues due to the lack of medium for beneficial bacteria to properly take hold.

[Sazeyplus2]

Ok, but how do you clean a tank with sand? My cories barbels seem fine. And how do you explain the one Corey so happy in an empty tank? Whenever I go to a pet or aquatic store, the cories are swimming all over the place?? Thanks again