[Firebelly girrl]

OK this weekend im going out and buying a 20 gallon long tank or a 15 gallon. Hopefully the 20 if its not to expensive, because i love the size of a 20 gallon long, i think you just get so much more room and a variety of fish than a regular 20 gallon...anyways, i deffinatly want cory cats.
Ive set up the other posts but if you can tell me anything you can about them if you have them.
Such as temp, feeding, set up, filtration?
Ive never had catfish before so im sure sure if they need anything specific.
Also how many would fit in a 15 gallon? 20 gallon long?
Im sure a good amount good fit in a 20 gallon long, i dont really want the very tiny ones that only grow 2 inches, i like them more in the 3+ range. So what kind should i look for? I went to the real petstore today (not petsmart/petco) and they had a few different kinds to choose from, so if youve had good experiences with yours, let me know what kind.
Also i like very active ones! i love sitting and watching the tank so i like stuff to be moving, and ive heard they dash around if you have enough of them.
also i want gravel, not sand, i have sand in my piranah tank and i hate not being able to vacuum and have to clean the tank out every 3 weeks because of all the poop i see just disinagrating on top =/! i like being able to use the vacuum to get rid of the nasty stuff. Ill just get small, light pebbles since i heard they may burrow. In my old goldfish tank i just loved graveling it out! i felt like i was really cleaning out the tank and saving it from getting so polluted =)
Any help on this guys would be great!!!
Thank yaaa!

 

[leifthebunny]

Corys come in a wide variety. I just found out my LFS has some really cool looking orange ones. I currently just have panda, bronze and peppered cories in my tank. They do well in 72-82F. I'd recommend getting a rock or other such to form a cave for them and it wouldn't hurt to add some plants. My panda cories tend to prefer hanging out under my hornwort while the others just wind up all over the tank just moving around. The main thing about stocking is how much filtration you have on the tank. I wouldn't start with too many to begin with though. I'm not aware of cories requiring any specific filtration types, but I'd avoid the under gravel filters.

As for specific varieties to get. Bronze cories are pretty active and get to 3" as do the peppered cories.

If you do decide to do plants, you might want to put some shrimp into the tank such as cherry or rudolph red-nose. They stay pretty small (<1") and are good for cleaning.

 

[Amphitrite]

I second leifthebunny on the bronze and peppered corys - both are lovely. Another favourite of mine is sterbais - they are absolutely adorable.

I would have plenty of hiding places and plants for them to swim around. I find that having caves in my tank makes them feel more secure and they never hide away.

As for the sand in your other tank, why exactly can't you use the gravel vac to clean it? I use mine weekly by just hovering slightly above the sand and find that all the dirt is lifted straight off.

 

[Firebelly girrl]

Sounds good, I heard before that if you DONT give them hiding spots, they WILL hide...in whatever you have in there lol. Well my vacuum is really big, like 5ish inches across and soon as i put in down near the sand, it lifts the sand up too, i should try to get a smaller one so i can just try what you said. Thanks for the info!

 

[tophat665]

I've got a shoal of 5 Albino Bronze Corys in a 20 high with 2 Black Skirts, 5 Flame Tetras, an adult female bristlenosed pleco, and some Amano shrimp. Overstocked? Probably. Heavily planted, though, and no one looks or acts stressed. These are definitely my favorite crew of cories - they are always out and abouit in the front of the tanks. Pretty sure two of the females are egg bound at the moment (Not that that will last in this tank.)

So the albino bronzes are cheap, personable, active, and get the full 3+ inches.

My Pandas are also fun, but they stay smaller. My sterbas and my pygmys hide all the dratted time. (And my favorite cories are striped loaches, but you don't want to hear that, so ignore it.)