Feeding cories

ladayen

OK so in my tetra tank... see under aquarium tab. I have 2 cories, but the problem is when I put in food the other fish eat it all before it hits the bottom. Should I put in more food until it floats down or should I find a way to put the food directly on the bottom.

Andarial

You can give them sinking pellets, they like those, also cories prefer being in larger groups. They can be kept in groups of three but prefer groups of five or more of their own kind. IE peppered should be with peppered and so on.

ladayen

yeah I'm gonna get a couple more pepper cories in a few days. Couple more bronze cories asap as well. Any new food will have to wait until then though. What should I do in the meantime? I've noticed my Bronze Cory in particular has been lethargic for a day or so now, ever since I changed the other fish in the tank. I'm wondering if thats why.. he's hungry.

Andarial

Well if you have a feeding wand/turkey baster/syringe, you can place some food in a bowl full of aquarium water and suck it up to squirt it down closer to the gravel. It works somewhat similar to sinking pellets where the flakes or frozen food sinks down to the bottom of the fish tank quicker. There could be other reasons why he's lethargic though, have you tested your water parameters recently? Or are there any other strange signs? Like missing scales or some type of disease? If not then you might be right and he just might not be getting enough food.

1077

I feed the approx dozen to fourteen cory's in my 80 gal tank an hour or two after lights are off for the day. Otherwise,, the approx 60 assorted tetra's,barbs,pencilfish, rasboras,whiteclouds, would consume the food long before cory's could get to it.
I agree with above ,,when fishes act lethargic,,test the water to see that parametr's are in order= zero for ammonia and nitrites,and nitrAtes under 40ppm .

ladayen

ok.. so I grabbed a turkey baster and mixed some tank water with some flakes and squirted it right down to the bottom. Cories went right for it, so hopefully that will perk him up. Parameters aren't perfect but low.. forgot to record the readings this morning but they were like .1 ammonia .1 nitrates and 20 Nitrates I think. Possibly did cause a mini cycle with changing and adding all the new fish. oh and as to what the bronze looks like.. well no change since I got him.. but he does look a little beat up. Wondering if the old Goldfish used to pick on him. Can see pictures in my aquarium tab "tetra tank"

Jakiebabie

I drop in Algae Wafers or Shrimp Pellets both once in a while, every few days. One or the other. I have 8 Cories, a huge fat Raphaelle Cat.. and a 7 inch Pleco.
The turkey baster works great. keep one in your fish supply box for just such occasion.

brownmane

I have a similar routine to 1077's. I turn off the aquarium light for the night and have the room light on to allow my fish to have "twilight", and then feed the cories sinking pellets or wafers. I have a specific spot in my aquarium (20 gal) that I drop the food. The tetras don't seem to see the food as well as in daylight and the cories usually start looking for the food as soon as I turn off the light.

I have two panda cories that are not shy and three bronze cories who only come out when the lighting is very subdued. The pandas arrive almost immediately to the feeding spot, while the bronze take about 10-15 minutes to come out.

eatmysox

If you can find them in the area try california black worms. They are my corys favourite.