Unhappy Cory Cat

[Stneinst]

Last week I bought the final members of my 20 gallon aquarium. I had 4 zebra danios, 1 dwarf guarami, 1 african dwarf frog, and just added 2 mollies and a Cory catfish.

The mollies took a little while to claim some tank territory as the guarami was not a big fan of them. They all seem pretty peaceful together now. My problem is that the Cory catfish is refusing to eat and barely moving in general. I tested the water. Ammonia and nitrites are at zero.. Nitrates were a bit high at 40 ppm, so I did a 50% water change. Seeing if that helps.

I believe he may just be scared/alone. But I don't feel comfortable adding additional fish since the tank is pretty much at capacity if not slightly over already.... Do I return him?

thanks!

 

[Dallascowboys16]

Yeah I would return him. By the way mollies can get up to 5 inches and really don't belong In a 20 gallon tank. I know it's a common misconception that mollies can live in smaller tanks but the can potentially get very large. Hope this helps!

 

[rmiller]

Cory's are great fish, but they are very social. As Dallascowboys16 pointed out, mollies can grow fairly large, tho 3-4 inches is typical with ones from big box stores. The way I see it you have 2 choices, either return the mollies and add more cory's or return the cory and call your tank stocked.

 

[Thumper828]

I had one panda cory for a while. It stayed hidden, not very active. I added 4 more pandas and it really changed. Very active and playful. They are my favorites...........

 

[Old Scales]

I agree with Dallas and Rmiller. I'd take back the mollies and make the cory count 4 or 5. You will enjoy the Corys more with their great little personalities. I'd guess 4 corys would have about the same bioload as two mollies. OS.

 

[AngelFishGirl]

As stated, return the mollies.

As for Cories, they are very social and will die off in not in a group from stress.

Try getting a group of 4 Pygmy Cories.

 

[Jbrock]

He needs friends, be sure to get the same kind of Cories to give him company

 

[allysonwonderland]

Honestly I would just add more corys without returning anything. Even according to aqadvisor.com, which is pretty conservative when it comes to stocking, adding 4 more corys won't put you to or over 100%. It was at 93% stocked for a 20 high, and only 73% stocked for a 20 long. I'm not sure what kind of mollies you got, but the sailfin and sailfin hybrids get bigger than short fin varieties. In the stocking calculator I put two sailfin hybrids (dalmatians) to be on the safe side. If you have the smaller variety, your bioload is even smaller. The ONLY way it said you were overstocked with 5 total corys was if you had two full sailfins! I would get your little catfish a few friends without worrying too much

I just put 4 in my tank and they're very active, alternating between swimming through all the pathways as a group, and splitting up to pick at all the decorations in the tank. I'd like to add more at some point!

 

[rpgmomma8404]

I've stayed away from mollies because from my understanding that do better in brackish tanks. Personally I would take them back and get more cories but that is just my opinion.

 

[Canary bird]

Definitely get more corys, I have 5 in my 2 bigger tanks and I've just added one of my own 2 month old peppered corys in with 5 bronze and he's loving it now he's part of their family in 2 days I was worried about mixing the types but I have a huge Pleco in with my other peppered corys and I think he would scare him too much, but well settled in with the bronze