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cory questions

10K views 70 replies 8 participants last post by  fishyinpa 
#1 ·
hello there. Well i was told that corys get along well with bettas. So Ive looked at several stores already,so far no small ones. Im gonna keep looking though! Lol. My betta is in a 10 gallon tank,recently upgraded to it. So here are my questions if i can remember them all. Heh.

From what im told you need 6 corys to be happy lil fellas,but i am also told not to add more than 2-3 new fish to a tank at a time. So,on that note,is it okay to get say 3 now and then 3 more a lil later on?

And how much longer should you wait till you get more? Also i know they should be put in QT for awhile. How long should i keep them in QT? Some sites say 2 weeks,others say a month.

I would set up a critter keeper most likely for QT for them. I do have an extra heater 25w and a small filter i can put on it. What temp should it be set at?

Should ikeep it bare bottomed or put something in it?

Also i read hikari is the best to get for them? the wafers...what else can they have? I already have fd bloodworms,shrimp and daphnia for my betta. Hmmm....do they need flakes too?

When is a good time to feed them.. I think i read at night a lil before lights out...

Do they like alot of plants in their tank? I have 5 fake silk ones in there right now. Also have 2 caves. The bottom is gravel and those colored stones. is that okay?

hmm i think thats it...i might be back though! Lol. thanks to anyone who replies. Im really excited to look for some cories.

Oh wait one more haha. What kinda cory ya think is easiest to find? As in the ones that stay small. I found online so far 4 that stay small. Obviously the dwarf and pygmy,but also the salt & pepper and false bandit. If there are anymore to look out for,id appreciate it. Im gonna find pics to these ones i found so far,put them on my phone so when i go to look at them i can compare and makes sure it is what it says lol. Dont always trust the stores haha.

So yup im done for real now. :)
 
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#2 · (Edited)
All great questions and of course I don't have answers at the moment (still doing my research on them) but one thing stood out for me: your gravel and the size of the stones. I know that their barbels are very delicate & sensitive. I changed out my gravel for sand as I knew cories were going to be added to the tank. I'll QT mine for three weeks.
 
#3 ·
Hmmm okay thanks! Now what kinda sand lol....is there a particular kind to look for at the store? Or is it cheaper elsewheres.
 
#4 ·
Do you prefer black sand or white sand? The cheapest white sand I've found is play sand at Home Depot. It's about $5 for a huge bag. Depending on your tank size you may not need much. I used about 6 lb out of a 40 lb bag. So now the rest of the bag sits on the side of the house until I figure out what do to with it.

Black sand is more expensive. I used Tahitian Moon Sand for my larger tank and it's about a $1.00 a pound. 20lb bags were what I found for the black sand.

Either one is nice and both require lots & lots of rinsing to remove any dust that will cloud your tank after you add it. The white sand took more rinsing than the black sand before the water turned clear. The white sand has smaller particles.
 
#5 ·
Hi. You might want to look into Panda cories as they stay rather small. Hasbrosus, Hastasus, Pygmeus all are small but can be hard to find.

I agree that sand is the best way to go with cories. You can get play sand at Lowes or Home Depot for about $5 for a 50 lb bag.

As for your other questions, setting up a QT tank would be a smart move. I usually QT for 3-4 weeks. If any problems show up the "clock" resets and their QT starts all over once the problem has been cleared up (such as ick, fungus, etc.). Get 3 cories, QT for 3 weeks, once they're ready to be moved to the main tank buy 3 more and put them into QT.

They aren't too picky about their foods. Flake, sinking shrimp pellets, wafers, frozen/live brine shrimp/bloodworms are what mine eat. They ignore the veggies (zucchini, peas, cooked carrots) I occasionally put in for my other fish though.
 
#6 ·
Oh okay, thank you so much!
 
#10 ·
Haha. yeah,veggies in my chinese food counts for me. My buns and pigs eat the salads not me!
 
#12 ·
LOL:lol: Are you guys as bad as my kids about eating their veggies? The other night at dinner I reminded my son to get some veggies also and he reminded me that the tomatoes in the sauce of the pasta were enough.:roll:
 
#14 · (Edited)
LOL:lol: Are you guys as bad as my kids about eating their veggies? The other night at dinner I reminded my son to get some veggies also and he reminded me that the tomatoes in the sauce of the pasta were enough.:roll:
I've gotta go with your son on this one. Do you know how many tomatoes actually go into making pasta sauce? LOTS & LOTS :lol:

Remind me again, what was our original topic?? Cories & veggies??
 
#16 ·
lmao you guys are funny! Your dinner sounded yummy dramaqueen. Ooh yeah your son is right..it counts! lol.
 
#18 ·
Nice. lol.
 
#19 ·
Tonight for dinner I had English Toffee (I had already had a HUGE lunch prior). The B/F asked what the heck I was thinking. I explained that all the nuts on the toffee were protein. I think I can justify most anything when it comes to food :)
 
#21 ·
We had PIZZA for dinner...with lots of veggies (and meat). LOL

And, yeah...tomato sauce is actually a great way to sneak veggies into the meal.
 
#23 ·
Technically, tomatoes are fruits so they've got a lot of sugar in them.

Three cories at a time sounds good to me. You could get a lot more of the really tiny types like pygmies (maybe 10 or 12) but I'd stick with about six of the larger ones. Pandas are on the smaller end of the larger cories, but they can be quite expensive. I highly recommend peppered cories as they're active and inexpensive. A group of six would be nice. I also agree that sand is nearly a must-have unless your gravel is very smooth. If it's too much of a pain to remove the gravel you have now, you might be able to just mix together the sand and gravel (so long as the gravel isn't very rough).
 
#24 ·
Oh okay thank you iamntbatman. Peppered? is that the salt and pepper i saw online or is there another peppered kind lol. So many different cories! Gotcha on the sand thing,can ya get a smaller bag of sand at lowes/home depot than 50lbs, i dont have room or a need for that much sand haha. Well some for my gerbils probably,but not that much! Ah well. Else if there is a kind at the fish store i can get? Im not sure what to look for in that regard. Im not sure if my gravel is rough or not,guess ill play with it and see. I also have those smooth clearish stones in there. You can see a pic of it on the betta photos thread if youd like. I am going to another fish store tomorrow over in NJ supposed to be like really big and very helpful lol. So we shall see. I hope i can find some kinda cories there! So far no luck around here,all i find is the big ones. There was one place that said panda cory,but this fish didnt look like a panda nor a cory. So i dunno. This place has like 5,000 gallons of freshwater fish and like 9,000 of saltwater i guess thats alot more than around here.
 
#25 ·
The paleatus are called peppered in some places and called salt and pepper in other places. It is the reason we refer to fish by their correct names. That way we are all talking about he same fish. Actually a paleatus will get quite large when you want to shoehorn 6 into a 10 gallon. The habrosus at about 1 1/4 inches adult size can easily fit into that tank with a population of 6 to 8. They make a very nice fish in tanks that are small or have other fish that are small. They look like this one in my endlers tank.



I like the looks of the hastatus too but they are shy and you won't see them as much.
 
#27 ·
Oooh okay. I like the habrosus too.
 
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