Adding additional Catfish to my tank

MattD

I currently have a 20 gallon with 2 Sterba Corys, and at the present time, they're very shy, and they'll only come out to eat, at night, or when no one is in the room - I know this because when I walk in, they'll be swimming, but will quickly retreat.

I'm sure they like their home, but since they're the only two, I think they may want some company. My question is: will adding 2 or 3 more Sterba Corys encourage them to come out more often? Will they accept the newcomers, or separate themselves? Does the age of the specimen matter? Mine are roughly 1.5" - 2", so I'm assuming they're full-grown since I've seen baby Sterbas and they're quite small. Also, regarding their diet, they've basically only ever been fed flake foods by me. I've tried algae wafers, yet they go untouched, even throughout the night. Bloodworms never even make it to the bottom, and most of the time they float anyways. Any suggestions on what else I could give? I've tried 3 or 4 types and they only really accept flake foods.

Thanks!

willow

hi
i'd go with adding more to the group,
have you tried catfish pellets ?
mine eat two types .........
JMC catfish tablets and Tetra Tabimin complete food.

jones57742

Something is wrong with this picture.

1) My seven are out 95% of the time during the day and are not frightened by me.

2) This is a feeding frenzy over one of my beef heart mixtures.


3) They act like this when fed plankton, brine shrimp, shrimp mixtures and fish mixtures.

4) They also enjoy, to some extent, sinking shrimp pellets.

IMHO I would add 3 more.

TR

Falina

Doesn't thi type of cory get a bit bigger than 1.5"? 3"ish? Maybe I'm wrong - I'm just thinking about ones I've seen in lfs's...

MattD

They get up to 3", but are 'usually considerably smaller'.

I've noticed that, since adding my male betta, they seem to be out a bit more during the day when I'm in the room. I don't know why they're scared (shy?) around me, I do nothing but treat them well. Thing is, when it was JUST them in the tank, they used to be out ALL the time, I would even do maintenance to the tank and they wouldn't hide. I'm beginning to think they're frightened of the other tank occupants. This is why I think adding to the group may make them feel a bit safer. Although my lfs's current batch of Sterba's are all babies, I'll still consider buying them though, regardless of age.

leifthebunny

It might be a matter of how many "safe spots" you have in the tank. The more caves and such that you provide for them, the safer they will feel in coming out. Though some are shier than others. I have 2 bronze (Aeneus) cories and 2 green laser (Aeneus as well) cories and the green lasers spend all day hidden in a large Java Moss patch while the bronze zoom around the tank like they own it. :p

MattD

Oh there are hiding spots all right. In my sunken ship with a large cracked hull, a large cave, spots behind the cave, behind the ship (they both back onto the rear of the tank), a large piece of driftwood.

There's no reason for them to be scarrrrrrred. :( :( :(

MattD

Well, I added 2 more cats and it hasn't changed. The old ones are still just as scared, the new ones seem less affected by my presence.