Shy cories

"MarAzul" wrote in message
news:TVjce.5132$_o.3830@fed1read03...
"Bill" wrote in message
news:2Sfce.191$%o.170@fed1read05...
On 2005-04-28, MarAzul wrote:
Another thing to consider is that some species are more 'sociable'
than
others. My bronze, panda and metae are out and about all the time,
but any
of my spotted species are usually fairly calm and sedate. If do go
the route
of adding more, maybe some bronze or pepper cories would be a nice
addition.

I'm not sure what the common name is, but they are spotted. There are
a
couple pictures of the species (not of mine in particular) at
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/callicht/corydora/311_f.php.
Do
different species of cory all get along well? Should they also be
kept
in groups of 4-6 or more by species, or are they okay in smaller
species
groups as long as there are at least 6 as a genus?


I think that all depends on what species you're talking about, and who
you're talking to. ) In general, cories get along with each other, no
matter what the species. From what I've observered though, some species
tend to school more redily than others. My spotted cories schooled with
each other and with the other cats in the tank with no problems, and I
know they weren't all the same.
Some people will tell you that it doesn't matter if you have 6 cories
of different species, and it probably doesn't negativly affect them,
but I'm not a fan. In a large group setting (say15-30 cories), I prefer
to have at least 4 of the same species. I think it looks nice, and I
think it make them a bit more secure in their environment. If you're
interested in breeding, it's better to have more as well, as cories
don't (as a general rule) hybridize. With the cat's you have, it may
not be easy to properly identify what you have, but like I said, these
are general guidelines. )

As for your feeding, are you sure they're eating the shrimp pellets?
If they
are, great, but I never got mine to eat them. And cories are
scavengers, not
algae eaters so the algae disk you feed them won't do much for them
in the
long run. It's better to get a general Bottom Feeder disk instead (it
usually has a pic of a cory on the front). Mine get a few disks once
or
twice a week but their main diet consists of frozen bloodworms or
brine
shrimp.

I've watched them go after the shrimp pellets (second from the bottom
on
http://www.omegasea.net/products2.html) with gusto. Also, I
misspoke
-- they're getting "Sinking Wafers"
(http://www.hikari.info/tropical/t_03.html, complete with cory
picture
on the packaging), not algae wafers. Thanks for the suggestions for
other foods. Do you think that freeze-dried bloodworms would be okay?
(I already have some for the bettas.)


Those are the disks I used. My cories love 'em (and I've had a bala
shark or two munch down on them). I've never had much luck with freeze
dried. They don't sink well and I've heard rumors that freeze-dried
isn't the best nutritionally for fish. I feed my bettas the frozen
bloodworms (once they've thawed) and they LOVE them! They didn't care
about the dried worms. It's a case of YMMV. If it works for you, go for
it!

Have you thought about adding one of your bettas to the tank to see if
that helps stimulate the cories? It may not work with all bettas
because some are natural bullies, but I have a betta in with a hoard of
cories and they get along just fine..

Mar


I've had Bettas with Corys, worked great. The substrate can also affect
Cory's browsing behaviour (sand and small rounded gravel is best) as can
the color (natural & darker as opposed to very bright or high contrast).
Light levels (more comfortable in subdued lighting and heavy ground cover
(throw in some leaf litter, low plants and driftwood they can go under).
I used to throw Terbang leaves in (they could play hide & seek). Tough
to predict how they will socialize between species. Might have more to
do with their age and tank-mates as they were growing up. I once brought
in a large shipment of wild-caught from the Amazon, about 10 species,
similar sizes. They seemed to show a loose favouritism in who they would
hang out with, but not enough to make any predictions. In general,
except for the obvious different 'size classes' such as Pygmy, Panda,
Bronze etc, they make their own choices.
--
www.NetMax.tk