Feeding corys properly

**NickFish** · 12-29-2007, 08:51 PM

I wanted to make sure my corys were getting fed properly and therefore I have looked everywhere for what to feed and how much to feed. People here have been a great help but I also learned a lot from this post and decided to share it here.

I did not write this.

This was written by a user named 'Cory Lover' on this forum-
http://thefishquestforums.freeforums.org/portal.php
with his permission i have posted it here to try and answer many of the same cory feeding questions that I had. Hope it helps!

Hello everyone,

Corydoras are one of the most mis-fed species of fish there is in the freshwater aquarium hobby. Most people (as pet stores lead them to believe) think Cories will live off the leftover flakes and grunge on the bottom of the tank, which is very mistaken. Corydoras need a variety of food just like other fish, and in these next couple paragraphs you'll learn how to feed your Cory properly.

To start, a good staple diet for Corydoras are shrimp pellets. They are healthy, and sink right away. Look for the HBH brand, they make good quality ones (stay away from Wardley shrimp pellets, they have been known to cloud water and they get very messy). A good ratio is 1-2 shrimp pellets a day per Cory, but if you have other fish, like cichlids, that may eat them before the Corydoras can get them, give your Cory at least four.

Then, start adding algae/veggie wafers every second day. Try to get the Hikari Brand, they make excellent Cory food. It gives the Cories some vegetable matter, which is essential in their diet.

Once you start feeding your Corydoras both of those, you're doing well, but you should still give your Cories more variety.

Hikari Sinking Wafers (a Cory favorite) is even better for your Corydoras then shrimp pellets or algae wafers. So if you can pay a little more, I would highly recommend getting these too. Feed around 1 wafer per cory per day

Like all fish, Corydoras need some non pellet/wafer food, and they need something thats more 'real', and also for you, not outragously expensive. Hikari Bio-Pure Freeze-Dried Tubifex Worms fit the bill perfectly. They are cheaper then live or frozen foods, but in my experience Corydoras like them more. They come in small cubes, and the problem is they float so Corydoras can't get them easily. But, there is a way to get them to sink. Wrap some aquarium metal weigths (plant anchors work well) gently around the cube, then throw it in the tank and watch a feeding frenzy begin at the bottom of your aquarium.

If you feed your Corydoras properly, you'll have more lively and beautiful Cories then you've ever had before.

Matt

**Fishalicious** · 12-30-2007, 12:30 AM

Great info!!! I am always so sad to read that a lot of people believe they are just there to clean up.....

I am also really glad to read I feed mine properly

I already do the above in the article as well as feed them frozen food now and again

**YaYgoldFish** · 12-30-2007, 12:34 AM

I feed pretty much the same stuff, but 20 pellets for 5 corys sounds a bit much, i put in 2 or 3 a day and they have a hrd time finishing. And instead of the tubifex worms they get frozen blood worms.

**Fishalicious** · 12-30-2007, 12:36 AM

Shrimp Pellets are tiny... so I reckon 2-3 per cory is no problem...

I love watching cory's eat bloodworms - it is like they are sucking up spaghetti LOL Love it!!!

**YaYgoldFish** · 12-30-2007, 12:39 AM

Maybe mine are bigger? Their half an inch long and pretty fat. Once I put one in the tank in the morning and about 6 hours later only half was eaten.. I only have 3 adults and two that are half an inch long..

**Fishalicious** · 12-30-2007, 12:51 AM

Both brands of shrimp pellets I have are tiny... little specks ... just slightly smaller than this guy ->

**YaYgoldFish** · 12-30-2007, 12:54 AM

Really? I use Nutrafin, their about this size. |||||

Man we have nothing to do on a saturday night

**Fishalicious** · 12-30-2007, 12:57 AM

Hahahahah yeah let's discuss food pellet sizes

I use Ocean Nutrician Shrimp Pellets & Tetra Shrimp Pellets

**YaYgoldFish** · 12-30-2007, 01:03 AM

I'm not sure why, but in EVERY lfs near me only has Wardley, some Omega One, A little bit of Tetra, And LOADS of Nutrafin/max.

Except for my favorite lfs has some hikari., and this Huge bag of goldfish and koi pellets for 10 bucks, but I dont trsut them Since its all written in chinese.