Cory

[BBJ]

Hi everyone. I am thinking about getting some corydoras for my 10-gallon and 5-gallon aquariums. How many would comfortably fit in a 10-gallon? I might get some panda cories. Or, if they breed easily and are as easy to care for as panda cories, maybe some dwarf onticulatis. My pH is about 7.0. Can you provide some basic care info and any things I should keep in mind when feeding/caring for/ or buying them? Or signs of illness to look out for? Would they get along with mosquitofish? I have veggie wafers intended for plecos, cories, and other bottom feeders already in stock for my Mystery snails. Is this a good food for them? Could I keep some panda cories in my 10-gallon and some dwarf onticulatis (if this is spelled incorrectly please correct me) in my 5-gallon? Or both in the 10-gallon? Sorry for so many questions. :) Thank you so much.

[DoubleDutch]

10G is too small for Corys in my opinion.
BtW they are omnivores om the carnivorious side (use shrimppellets as staple food instead of veggie ones).

[BluewaterBoof]

I agree. Cories like to be in large groups and a 10gal isn’t really large enough for the group to forage in.

An alternative to pandas is pygmy cories. They stay fairly small, around the size of a neon tetra, and are more suited for smaller tanks.

Otocinclus cats are delicate and need clean, stable, soft, acidic water in order to thrive. Many people experience a high mortality rate with them over the first weeks/months due to inadequate water parameters. Your pH only paints a part of the picture for you. You should get a gH/kH test kit as well as a TDS meter to get a better idea of how clean and soft your water is before attempting to stock oto cats. I’ve never really seen an oto (I’ve kept many) go after generic fish foods found at big box pet stores. They prefer soft natural algae that grows in the tank, fresh veggies such as zucchini slices, and high quality pellets that can be found from specialized online shrimp food sellers like Dennerle/Shrimp King.

[SueD]

As an alternative to the pygmy cories (corydora pygmaeus), look at corydora hasbrosus, which is also one of the dwarf cories. These resemble the larger cories more closely and would be suitable for the 10g. https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/corydoras-habrosus/

For the 5g, you could look at either the cory pygmaeus or the cory hastatus. Both of these tend to be smaller than the habrosus and are just as fun to have. I've had better luck with hastatus than with pygmaeus.

As mentioned above, otocinclus can be tricky to keep. I've had my best success when adding these to a larger community after the tank has been going for a while.

[Nautilus291]

I had a group of pygmy Cory's once and they are the cutest little things! I think you will enjoy a school of those in your tank sizes compared to the bigger ones which won't have enough room to act natural.

[BBJ]

If my tank is too small, I guess I'll get some otos. I would preferably buy pygmy corydoras, as they are easier to care for, but my closest LFS (thirty minutes away) doesn't have those. I'm afraid to mail-order because the mailman almost killed the live animals (and killed the plants) by leaving a package that said "this way up, live animals/plants, fragile" all over the box in red permanent marker out in the sun. Plus, it's nearing fall and I wouldn't want them to be too cold or too hot in the last few weeks of summer. So it's clear they will be bought from a fish store.
What can I do to make sure my otos make it in their new tank? I was going to get three but after some more reading it looks like they prefer bigger schools.

[DoubleDutch]

Wait till the tank is established completely.

[Slaphppy7]

Agree with the above, otos should not be added to a new tank setup, they'll never make it, they forage continually on algae and other micronutrients that only an established tank will have.

These are the rather new tanks that both have m/f guppies in them already?

[BBJ]

Oh, the tank's already been cycled for close to four, maybe five, months. I meant it would be a new tank for the ottos. :)
And the guppy tank is cycled too. The extra 5-gallon will be done cycling later this month.

[Slaphppy7]

Oh, the tank's already been cycled for close to four, maybe five, months. I meant it would be a new tank for the ottos. :)
And the guppy tank is cycled too. The extra 5-gallon will be done cycling later this month.

So you have 3 tanks?

Can you post some pics of them?

[BluewaterBoof]

What can I do to make sure my otos make it in their new tank? I was going to get three but after some more reading it looks like they prefer bigger schools.



Otocinclus cats are delicate and need clean, stable, soft, acidic water in order to thrive. Many people experience a high mortality rate with them over the first weeks/months due to inadequate water parameters. Your pH only paints a part of the picture for you. You should get a gH/kH test kit as well as a TDS meter to get a better idea of how clean and soft your water is before attempting to stock oto cats. I’ve never really seen an oto (I’ve kept many) go after generic fish foods found at big box pet stores. They prefer soft natural algae that grows in the tank, fresh veggies such as zucchini slices, and high quality pellets that can be found from specialized online shrimp food sellers like Dennerle/Shrimp King.
..........

[BluewaterBoof]

https://youtu.be/umyZ18ayNLE

I used RODI water for my oto tank. Didn’t lose a single one out of the ten I bought. As I said in my previous post, you need very soft and acidic water for them to be the most comfortable. You can get gallon jugs of distilled water from a grocery store for less than $1 and mix it with your tap to soften it up.

[BBJ]

Yes, I have 3+ tanks. I can probably get some pictures tomorrow. :)

[DoubleDutch]

About C.pygmaeus and hastatus : those are midwaterdwellers. In my opinion a 15G still is too small for the smaller types Corydoras (behaviourwise and waterquality wise). But okay .