[hopeful fish]

Hi Everyone!

I am thinking about getting some cory cats in my 10 gallon. Right now, I have a gravel substrate. One person on a different forum had the same gravel and said her cories were fine, and I really don't want to have to change my substrate, so what do you guys think? I have this gravel:

Petco Dark Blue Aquarium Gravel at PETCO

Would this be OK for the Cory Cats?

Thanks!

 

[KPainter]

I have my cories on sand, which they love to dig through and root around in. Not sure how they'd do that with gravel. It's not sharp, but I'd still worry about their barbels getting worn off.

 

[hopeful fish]

I am also growing a carpet of plants. Will this help protect them?

 

[KPainter]

I have to think not, but mostly because they really like to get into the substrate, even filtering the sand through their gills. It's a riot to watch them snuffling around. They do like plants, though! Mine lay around on the sword leaves like they're little fishy hammocks.

What other fish do you have in your tank?

 

[hopeful fish]

I am doing a fishless cycle right now. I am going to have a betta (with A TON of caution, I know), a zebra nerite snail, and some shrimp. If I end up having to change my substrate, how could I do this?

 

[jentralala]

What kind of cory cats?

Most cories get too big to be in a 10 gallon, especially since they really do best when in schools of at least 5. That's just too much for a 10 gallon to really handle :/

 

[KPainter]

Just scoop out all the gravel and replace it with sand. At this stage, you'd be in good shape for that. Play sand like you get at Home Depot or Lowe's works great. It just needs a lot of washing.

And yes, I agree that a 10 gallon is a little small for cories, but I could see doing a group of 3-5 of the smaller, dwarf varieties. Cories definitely like to be in groups. Mine lay in a big pile sometimes, all over each other. They're one of my favorite fish of all time.

Is there anyway you could upgrade to a larger tank? Even a 20 gallon long would open up the number of fish you could keep and make happy.

 

[hopeful fish]

I am planning on the Corydora Hastatus or Habrosus. I am thinking a group of four. I cannot upgrade, because I will be going to school and will have to be able to move the tank. How much will it mess up my cycle if I change to sand? How deep should I make the sand (I currently have 1 inch of dirt on the bottom and 1 inch of gravel for the top)?

 

[KPainter]

I don't think it'll mess up your cycle too much. Besides, with plants you don't really need to cycle as much - the plants really help soak up all the fish waste and convert it. I don't know about dirt and sand. I just have sand. Maybe someone else can chime in on that.

 

[jaysee]

What kind of cory cats?

Most cories get too big to be in a 10 gallon, especially since they really do best when in schools of at least 5. That's just too much for a 10 gallon to really handle :/

Agreed. if you can't even keep a minimum because the tank is too small, you should wait to get them until you have a larger tank. Sacrificing the school size to make them "fit" is not responsible fish keeping, IMO.

 

[hopeful fish]

Do you guys think that getting a group of dwarf cories and a betta is pushing a ten gal? Other people said it would be fine...

 

[jaysee]

I think that dwarf Corys are much better than regular ones. However, People say that they aren't much of a bottom dweller - FYI. There are 3 species of "dwarf" Cory though - not sure if that's true of all of them or not.


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[Byron]

If Corydoras hastatus or Corydoras habrosus are the intended cory, as mentioned previously, then in a 10g you want no fewer than 9 of them. These two species need larger groups, and a nicely planted 10g will be fine for 9-12.

Both also will be healthier over sand. I've had them over both fine gravel (much finer than that in the photo here) and over sand, and they lived longer with sand. A professional catfish importer/breeder clued me in to the sand.

C. hastatus is rarely on the substrate; this species loves to shoal mid-water. While it might be fine with a Betta, it is risky. Betta are not community fish, and individual Betta clearly have differing temperaments, but I tend to follow the majority to be safe.

C. habrosus is more s substrate cory, though it likes to move ujp to browse any surface like plant leaves, wood, etc.

Byron.