Best food for Cory and Otos?

[reef12]

Well was wondering what is the best food for them.

Seems I always have a problem keeping them eating and living.:c3:

Thanks

[Nick_Pavlovski]

Otos want parboiled sliced: cucumber, zucchini, squash
Smashed spinach leaves.
Some may nibble at algae wafers, but not all.
They want green algae - grow green algae on stones you can swap in and out of the tank.

Corys will eat general purpose flake foods and small sinking pellets. They are primarily carnivorous.

[angelcakes]

Otos want parboiled sliced: cucumber, zucchini, squash
Smashed spinach leaves.
Some may nibble at algae wafers, but not all.
They want green algae - grow green algae on stones you can swap in and out of the tank.

Corys will eat general purpose flake foods and small sinking pellets. They are primarily carnivorous.
nicks basically said it all........you can also feed frozen bloodworm to youre corys

[NickFish]

Yep!

I feed my cories Hikari sinking wafers, sinking pellets, frozen tubifex and frozen blood worms.

My otos get algae rocks, romaine, zucchini and algae wafers.

[Evil Slimy]

Besides the foods mentioned above, my cories really seem to enjoy Wardley's shrimp pellets (http://www.completepetmart.biz/200345.html). They are rather large, but they become soft and very brittle once they absorb water so they are easily consumed by smaller bottom dwelling fish.

[reef12]

Thanks sounds like good advice.

[Ryuu]

I feed mine algea wafers...

[shockshockshad]

Shrimp pellets are great, but not wardleys. They are the cheap kind and they have preservatives.

[NanoTankGuy]

I have a friend who feeds his corys Nutrafin max sinking shrimp pellets among other things and they seem to love them.

[Evil Slimy]

Shrimp pellets are great, but not wardleys. They are the cheap kind and they have preservatives.
Thanks for the tip. Indeed they do! Do you have another brand you recommend?

[LosC]

Hikari makes great food for Corys and other bottom dwellers. I feed my Corys; Hikari sinking wafers, Hikari algae wafers, Top Fin shrimp pellets (I believe shrimp pellets lack alot of the good stuff therefore it's not good to have your corys solely on shrimp pellets), left over frozen foods. My Corys enjoy Hikari freeze dried tubifex worms cubes. I stick the cubes on the tank wall, I get a kick out of watching my corys swim up to the cubes along the wall.

[Evil Slimy]

I don't feed those exclusively. The bottom of my stand and my freezer look like a fish food store. I recommended the the pellets because they stay hard as they sink past the tetras and other top level feeders and soften up at the bottom. Still... Given the BHA I'll have to see if I can find a healthier substitute :)

[kaoticice]

Go for frozen foods like bloodworm, brine-shrimp, mysis, etc for corydoras. Then try parboiled zucchini for otos and tank full of algae..
For dried food, any commercial food will be fine. Higher quality ones are like hikari, NLS, omega-one, etc, etc..

[reef12]

I have a bag of those Hikari algae wafers also bought a frozen Brine shrimp spirulina Mysis shrimp combo from H2O life.

I guess some more frozen foods are in store.

So anybody ever try Live Tubifex?

I use to have it brought in from a Guy that raised them somewhere lasted about a week in the fridge,but only if the wife don't mind two containers of red looking worms in it.:c2:

[Nick_Pavlovski]

Problem with live Tubifex is making sure the Corys get to them in time, before the Tubifex burrow into the substrate and you lose them forever.

A way around it is to buy a glass petrie dish, put it in the tank and then let the tubifex lie on it.

[Fishguy2727]

I only feed New Life Spectrum and they are all doing great, better than anything else I have tried. If you are on gravel and have problems with stuff getting in there, check out the article on bowl feeding in my blog.

[luvfins]

Tip for shrimp pellets....put them in a little dish inside the tank so they dont sink into the substrate. If they dont all get eaten you can carefully take out the dish and put it in another tank to be finished off :) No mess. no waste.
I have the Wardley shrimp pellets and wouldnt reccomend them. I have a huge container, Im thinking about using them as cat treats lol

[luvfins]

Fishguy now it looks like I stole your idea lol

[Fishguy2727]

My solution is sand, better than gravel in so many ways. There is also an article about sand in my blog.

If your cories and other bottom feeders are smart, try a deeper container like a jar. Higher sides make for less loose mess and it is easier to remove the extra food without just dumping it into the water. The fish just have to be smart enough to go into the top. Perhaps taking small steps with slightly taller and taller containers will help them learn.