Peru Gold Stripe Cory

Byron

This is good, on all counts.

Stormfish

They're all chumming around. All four got together at one point tonight to feast on a Hikari algae wafer. Happy fish makes me happy.

TwinDad

That is a great looking Cory. I wouldn't mind finding some of those locally.

Stormfish

I accidentally sucked one up into the gravel vacuum yesterday. Took me a second or two to realize why the flow had stopped.

S/he seems to be ok though. I'm used to everyone getting out of the way when I vacuum the gravel, but the corys are so easy going and fearless, s/he didn't move. And I didn't see him/her between the rocks and driftwood.

Byron

That points up something I didn't see before, the substrate. I would suggest you change it to a darker but more importantly a finer grain, either fine gravel (1-2 mm grain) or coarse sand (playsand works well). I can assure you the fish will notice it. They are used to digging into the substrate, and that is near impossible with gravel particles almost as large as the fish's head.

It's not the barbel degeneration issue, but the fish's natural tendency to poke and dig and sift sand through their gills, which in itself is important.

But while you're changing, please consider a darker substrate; the corys will be more relaxed. Playsand works so well because it is identical in appearance to the natural substrate sands in much of Amazonia. Some dried leaves and of course lots of sticks and branches would replicate their habitat and give them a very nice feel of being "home."

Byron.

Stormfish

I'm adverse to changing out the gravel because the tank is so heavily planted. A lot of the plants have really formed good root structures. I'd be afraid of damaging them and losing plants. E.g., the cryptocoryn undulata in particular.

I went with light gravel because it's near impossible to see ADFs on darker gravel. The whole reason I got this tank was for them.

As for leaves and branches, I've done the best I can, I think. All the plants are real and the Corys really seem to enjoy perusing amongst them. All the plants have made the bottom darker for them as well. Lastly, I have 3 good sized pieces of Malaysian driftwood in the tank, which they like to pick at. The tannins also keep the water slightly darker.

So all that said, I don't think I'm ready to start the arduous project of switching substrates just now. Here are some shots, so you can see what I'd be dealing with to even think of beginning that:

Byron

That is beautiful. So i would set up another tank for the corys. They are so lovely, they deserve the best.

Stormfish

They'll get a new tank with a finer substrate when I can afford to do so. They'll also get a shoal of Julii Corys to chum with as well.