Cory Question

[David J. Braunegg]

I have 2 Corydoras punctatus (Spotted Cory) in a tank with some Platys.
I understand that Corys are nocturnal, but sometimes I worry about
them. They rarely move, except at feeding time. The ones I see at the
LFS are fairly active. Do they need a school/shoal of more than two to
be happy? If so, how many should be together? Will they be more active
if there are more of them?

Thanks,
Dave

[RedForeman ©®]

I've had two, and one died, leaving the other very 'un'happy, until I got 3
more... I didn't think they'd be buddies, but after a few weeks, they have
become schooling buddies...

IMO, I'd get no less than 2 more... if your tank can handle it.... they
usually dont' put much of a load on your bio, but size DOES matter...

--
RedForeman ©®
oh, and BTW, herman is gay....


"David J. Braunegg" > wrote in message
...
> I have 2 Corydoras punctatus (Spotted Cory) in a tank with some Platys.
> I understand that Corys are nocturnal, but sometimes I worry about
> them. They rarely move, except at feeding time. The ones I see at the
> LFS are fairly active. Do they need a school/shoal of more than two to
> be happy? If so, how many should be together? Will they be more active
> if there are more of them?
>
> Thanks,
> Dave

[Jim Morcombe]

I have 3 Albino Corys and 3 brown ones.

They are identical except for the colour.

They don't seem to mix much.

During the day they are all pretty quiet and often just disappear under the
plants.

During the evening, while the lights are still on, they play around a lot.

They are always swimming to the surface and gulping air - it is fun to
watch.

(There is plenty of air in the tank so it is not from oxygen deprication)

Jim

nanoreef > wrote in message
able.rogers.com...
> David J. Braunegg may have written:
>
> > Do they need a school/shoal of more than two to
> > be happy?
>
> Yes. Atleast 3. 5 or more are prefered. When kept in larger groups
> corys are very active and fun fish.
>
> Your next question is probably: "Do they all need to be the same type
> of cory?" The answer is a big maybe. Some posters have written that
> mixed groups of cories have schooled together. I have not no such
> luck, nor has anyone I know. On the plus side I have never seen mixed
> cories fighting.

[David J. Braunegg]

I think I will try to get a few more Corys, maybe three. Now, the trick
will be to get more of the same species. They had been listed as
Corydoras punctatus at the LFS when I bought them, but I was there this
past weekend and they had a different fish with the same name. From one
of the catfish websites (www.corydorasworld.com or
www.planetcatfish.com, I think) I learned that the spotted Corys are
often mislabelled. It seems that I actually have a Corydoras
leucomelas. I'll drop in to the LFS every so often until I see the same
fish again.

Thank you for your help. Fish are living beings and I really would like
to try to treat them right.

Dave


"David J. Braunegg" wrote:
>
> I have 2 Corydoras punctatus (Spotted Cory) in a tank with some Platys.
> I understand that Corys are nocturnal, but sometimes I worry about
> them. They rarely move, except at feeding time. The ones I see at the
> LFS are fairly active. Do they need a school/shoal of more than two to
> be happy? If so, how many should be together? Will they be more active
> if there are more of them?
>
> Thanks,
> Dave

[Gail Futoran]

"David J. Braunegg" > wrote in
message ...
> I think I will try to get a few more Corys, maybe three.
Now, the trick
> will be to get more of the same species. They had been
listed as
> Corydoras punctatus at the LFS when I bought them, but I
was there this
> past weekend and they had a different fish with the same
name. From one
> of the catfish websites (www.corydorasworld.com or
> www.planetcatfish.com, I think) I learned that the spotted
Corys are
> often mislabelled. It seems that I actually have a
Corydoras
> leucomelas. I'll drop in to the LFS every so often until
I see the same
> fish again.
>
> Thank you for your help. Fish are living beings and I
really would like
> to try to treat them right.
>
> Dave

Another Cory very similar is melanistius. I have had one of
those for over a year and until recently had no luck finding
more. Compare pictures of melanistius w/ leucomelas. I
don't know where you live but occasionally I've seen them
in, of all places, Wal-Mart. Most of my LFSs local
Petsmarts get the more common Corys (bronze & peppered).

My older C. melanistius is in a 30 gallon tank with three
bronze Cories (one an albino). Those three "school"
together; the C. melanistius tends to hang around by itself
in a back corner of the tank behind some plants, although in
the same general area as the other three. It's healthy and
reasonably active, but it will be interesting to see how to
reacts to two more of its kind, once they get out of
quarantine. Those two are "schooling" in a 5 gallon
quarantine tank, so that gives me some hope for the older
one in the 30 g.

If you have good LFSs in your area, you might ask if they
can keep a look-out or even order your Cory by it's Latin
name. All they can do is say No.

Gail

[D&M]

I've got over 6 different breeds of cory's in my one tank. Different things
make them active. Fresh water change will make a couple of the breeds
active, a week after the water has been changed, another breed will become
active. Feeding gets the one type excited. Skunks are slow movers, but
they'll cruise the tank. The fat females are hardly ever active except when
breeding, then they're the life of the tank. Most active are the panda
cories, constantly playing in any jetstream, syncroswimming. Even they will
be lazy for 1-2 weeks, becoming active again. Temperature also sets the
activity. Lower 70's gets a couple breeds going, higher 70's puts them to
sleep, but wakes up a couple other species.

"David J. Braunegg" > wrote in message
...
> I have 2 Corydoras punctatus (Spotted Cory) in a tank with some Platys.
> I understand that Corys are nocturnal, but sometimes I worry about
> them. They rarely move, except at feeding time. The ones I see at the
> LFS are fairly active. Do they need a school/shoal of more than two to
> be happy? If so, how many should be together? Will they be more active
> if there are more of them?
>
> Thanks,
> Dave

[NetMax]

"Gail Futoran" > wrote in message
...
> "David J. Braunegg" > wrote in
> message ...
<snip>
>
> If you have good LFSs in your area, you might ask if they
> can keep a look-out or even order your Cory by it's Latin
> name. All they can do is say No.

<grin> good luck. It's not that they can't ask, but that the suppliers
might not be able to accomodate them. The off-shore suppliers (China,
Hong Kong, Singapore) make up their own names, or play fast & loose with
the latin names. The North American wholesalers will think they know,
but they often buy through the trans-shippers who are off-shore ;~).
The florida farms might be better for this, but the best IMO is your
local breeders. Contact your local Aquarium society and ask who they
have listed as Cory breeders, or visit some meetings. When you add a
bunch of Cory siblings to your tank, you can be sure they will stick
together.

NetMax

> Gail

[Vicki S]

I have seven albino corys in my tank now and they are very active fish.
They don't bother anyone and make me laugh with their antics. In the
past I have had fewer corys and they didn't seem to do much besides sit
around. So my 2 cent is to have more.

Vicki