Which Corys?!

[Satsumas]

I am definately going with corys for my 20gal long but i can't decide which ones!!

I was and still am set on Panda's but others keep creeping into my mind, like false bandits and julli's. The smaller the cory the more i can keep so i do want to have a group of ones that will grow to 2" maximum.

I like the Panda's, Julli's, False Bandits and Peppered corys the most but out of those the Panda's are the only ones that will reach 2" maximum so i think i should go with these but it's so hard to decide!

Also if i go with some 2 inchers how many can i keep in a 20 gal long? The tank is 3ft exactly. Or if i went with some 3/4 inchers how many of them could i keep? Ideally i want to lightly stock, the tank will be heavily planted and around 2.5 wpg of lighting.
Other fish in the tank at the moment will be... 10 Rummy Nose Tetra, 2 Bolivian Rams and 2 Shrimp of some kind probably Bamboo's. Also i may move my BN Pleco into this tank.

TIA

 

[flushingfish]

I have Poleatus Corys and I love them. I'm also a fan of Jullis

 

[JustOneMore20]

Since you will have the shrimp and rams, and possibly the BN, I'd just get 6-8 cories that stay around 2 inches. I love my Panda cories. They are very friendly in larger groups and are fun to watch. If you went with the Pygmy cories (Habrosus, Hastatus, or Pygmy), they stay an inch, so you could have 8-10 IMO.

Bandit and Panda cories are 2 types that I love.

 

[flyjawn]

i have one paleatus, one albino and one green/gold colombian. they are all great but my albino takes the cake. he's constantly in motion and has no fear. he'll swim into my hand while i'm cleaning.

they live in a 20G with 2 Bolivian Rams and they're all happy so far. in fact the albino likes to clean the rams...

 

[Satsumas]

I'm not too keen on the pygmy corys looks wise. I think i'd prefer something a little larger and robust aswell.

I like the looks of the panda's and bandits the most but panda's are smaller so i could have more. I was planning on 4 originally as i want to go easy on the bioload but i'm tempted to go with 6!

 

[flyjawn]

my corys are utterly offended!!!

i like the look of panda cory's too though. they're really cute.

 

[JeffreyL]

corys

I don't have any experience with bandits, but between pandas and jullis, the pandas were much more social with each other. The jullis largely ignored each other while the pandas would 'play' together. Follow the leader and dogpile on the shrimp pellets were two of their favorites. Have fun with the little guys.

 

[kansei]

My Bronze Corys have quite a personality and add a shimmer to the bottom of my tank ,also find them very hardy.

 

[Zagz]

Panda cories are adorable IMO. They aren't the largest cories but are darn cute.

 

[Satsumas]

Sorry about that flyjawn.

I think i will go with 6 now, for the corys benefit mostly but mine i suppose aswell as they should be rather happy and hopefully playful. It won't do the bioload any favours though!

It sounds good to have: 10 Rummy Nose's, 2 Bolivian Rams and 6 Panda Corys.
Then again i am interested in some Shrimp aswell and that BN Pleco could do with being moved!

How many should i introduce first? Should i add 3 at one time then next week add the other 3?

 

[iceywater101]

I like your stocking plans sounds alot like my tank. I dont think you could pick a bad cory I have 5 albino and I love them they are so fun to watch. The only thing I would do different would be to get a pair of otos instead of the bn Pleco. The otos would be better for your plants.

 

[Satsumas]

Thanks icey!

I have heard that BN's can 'over-rasp' and on some more fragile plants that could be damaging. Also I think she might uproot some stuff, especiallyf groundcover.

I've had oto's before but they didn't have enough to eat and died!
I had algae but that was spot algae so they couldn't tackle it, they also never seemed to notice any algae wafers! I'll stock the tank with the fish i want, then decide wether to move the BN or perhaps get something else.

 

[shayfish]

My bn plec doesn't touch my plants. He spends all his time rasping onto the bogwood or pushing through a pile of cories to the zucchini or algae wafers. I wouldn't worry about it...

 

[Satsumas]

I don't know wether to move the BN accross or not now! I think it would be for the best if i did but there's no rush so i'll leave it for a while.

I think i'm set on the Panda Corys! I'll probably get 6 of them!

Thanks for the replys!