Crazy Corys Anonymous

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I ll be getting 6 Sterbai Cory s this week! This thread is really making me look forward to it even more! Fun stories.
 
Two stories - Long, long ago...

After a almost 2 hour drive home with fish in 40G breeder planted tank I had just bought. I hurried to get out all the fish, some weren't in the best shape.

The algae on the tank was thick bright green on every part of the glass, I could have made algae paper! The mulm layer was 4", so after I had caught all the fish out of the murky water, razor bladed the glass and vacuumed the bottom about three times,we discovered there was another fish, a Cory.

So in the still thick, murky gunk, looking through the water with a flash light, laying on the floor, (the tank was still on the piano dolly we rolled it in on) we caught him, then we saw another, AND another. We were trying to catch them in a cup due to the barbels, and they kept getting to the corner and slipping between the corner and the curved part of the cup, no matter which way I seemed to put the cup. Finally got a squared Tupperware which helped. Just that took about 2 hours.

The last one I was catching jumped out of the water like Free Willy and squeaked and scared the heck out of me. I knew they could do that but had never heard it and I was focusing so hard on catching it it really startled me!

The two Bronze Cories I mentioned previously in the LOST in the daughter's Edge story were from this tank.

The guy I bought the tank from didn't even know they were in there, or remember...I think it had been 6 months to a year since he'd changed the water.

The other story this one just remembered was about the barbels. I had bought two Emerald Brochis and since I don't like to put lfs water in my tanks, I drained the water and caught him in the net, he got stuck but it was a net with the bigger holes in it and I was able to cut and tear the net. And get him in the tank pretty fast.

So I caught the next one in a new net, and duh, what do you think happened but she caught both of the barbels in the net so for what seemed like an eternity I was wrangling a 2" fish trying not to get poked with the poison Cory darts and that net was more fine and couldn't get them out so had to cut around the net and it ended up having two tufts of net, one small and one a little less than a half inch stuck on there.

I didn't realize they had barbels with BARBS on them. :eek: Just thought they were pointy :facepalm:

It was out of the water for several minutes and I was scared she was going to die so I put it in the water like that! On the way to the bottom of the tank the little piece fell off and then for several days it swam around with the big one still on it but it did finally come off, lol!

But I wasn't laughing when it happened!!!

This post will be titled Crazy Cory Keeper!
 
Well, this thread actually taught me something. :eek: The squeaking is normal! Mine just started this last night at like 1 AM, leaping out of the water like Free Willy over the wall and squeaking. Needless to say, being sleep deprived, halfway to brain dead dealing with ignorant people all day, being in a quiet room with the sound of the air bubbler in the background, and on top of it all having ADD, it rather scared the *monkeys* outta me. Then this morning, a second one started it! I could not figure out what was going on. But since it seems normal from what I've read, I won't panic too much about the strange noises coming from my tank.

And for any people that are considering buying cory cats for their tank:
1) Do it if for nothing other than entertainment. :popcorn:
2) Put a lid on your tank!!! They might be only 2 inches long, give or take, but those suckers can Free Willy leap like you've never seen before!!!
 
So, I'm waiting for my cory cats to spawn now. Guess I'm that good of a fish momma that they want to. :blink:

Well, as I'm checking everyone out frequently, waiting for any sign of "activity", I look and see two cory cats in the corner. I have three cory cats. Where is the third one?

I looked everywhere I could think of. No sign of the little guy. I looked in the skull cave and thought I saw what might be a fish floating inside. I knew one of mine was starting to show some aging, but I didn't think it was THAT bad. Just kept running into the lava rock after getting bites of air when the others traveling a similar path would dodge it.

I got the flashlight, since it was dark in the cave, and was expecting a dead cory cat.

Nope!!!

Not in the cave. Where on earth could he be? I've looked in all the caves, in the plants, at the surface, behind the filter, everywhere I could possibly think the little guy could get to. I start to double check it all, hoping I was just an idiot and missed him.

The little bugger was hiding behind the moon rock cave between the cave and the sand, in a little tiny gap made by the cuttlebone I have for my snails.

And of course, when I find him, he swims out and says in cory cat language, "You found me!! Let's play again!!"

And, of course, I'm like, "Yeah. Not happening. I thought you were dead in the cave, dude."

Yes, I talk to my fishies. No throwing of vegetables at the crazy chick. :hide: Lol.
 
So, I'm waiting for my cory cats to spawn now. Guess I'm that good of a fish momma that they want to. :blink:

Well, as I'm checking everyone out frequently, waiting for any sign of "activity", I look and see two cory cats in the corner. I have three cory cats. Where is the third one?

I looked everywhere I could think of. No sign of the little guy. I looked in the skull cave and thought I saw what might be a fish floating inside. I knew one of mine was starting to show some aging, but I didn't think it was THAT bad. Just kept running into the lava rock after getting bites of air when the others traveling a similar path would dodge it.

I got the flashlight, since it was dark in the cave, and was expecting a dead cory cat.

Nope!!!

Not in the cave. Where on earth could he be? I've looked in all the caves, in the plants, at the surface, behind the filter, everywhere I could possibly think the little guy could get to. I start to double check it all, hoping I was just an idiot and missed him.

The little bugger was hiding behind the moon rock cave between the cave and the sand, in a little tiny gap made by the cuttlebone I have for my snails.

And of course, when I find him, he swims out and says in cory cat language, "You found me!! Let's play again!!"

And, of course, I'm like, "Yeah. Not happening. I thought you were dead in the cave, dude."

Yes, I talk to my fishies. No throwing of vegetables at the crazy chick. :hide: Lol.

No veggies. Shrimp pellets are possible though.
 
I'm convinced my cory cats are the cutest fishies ever.

One of mine seems to be losing his eyesight badly. It started to show back while waiting for someone to spawn. He kept face planting straight into the lava rock like he couldn't tell it was there, while the others easily dodged it.

Today, he looked horrible. Found him hiding behind the anacharis while the other two swam fin-in-fin as usual. He would sift around the plant only, didn't really venture too far away from it. When he did try to leave it and act normal, he would run into a fish and sort of panic. He would be rather quick to go back to his perch behind the anacharis.

Now, for the past few minutes, the other two have been looking after him. They have gotten him from his perch and have been swimming all around the tank. They keep him in the middle and when it's time to turn, they go in a vertical line and get close to him like their signaling him to turn this way. Sometimes, they brush him lightly. They all came up to the front of the tank like this, and while they were sifting, when he was close to a wall, one of them would sort of tap his side or the side of his head.

This is so cute to watch. Dracula and Lestat won't let Lurch be left alone and they make sure he's a part of the group. :smitten:

Totally keeping cory cats in all the tanks I get and they won't get eaten in.
 
The bronze cories are probably mating!! just an FYI

For the funny story...

When they weren't getting cozy, I dropped several bottom feeder wafers in for them and they are maybe 3mm circles. The three, 1 female and two males lined up and looked like they were doing hockey drills racing the wafers to the opposite side of the tank with their noses. If I hadn't been so mesmerized by their "game", I would have grabbed the cell phone camera. By the time I thought about it, the 7" long Siamese Algae Eater swooped into the middle of their game and laid down in their path to nibble their hockey pucks! :lol:

It was just so funny how they were lined up shoulder to shoulder racing across the front of the tank!

Back to the first excitement, hope I can get some babies.
 
Well it's very true what they say about getting the school numbers right. After being left with three smudge spot cories who were very nervous and would hide under a log if anyone went near the tank I decided to try and get some more.
I managed to get three very tiny ones yesterday and the transformation in the tank is amazing, the little ones are zipping around and the big ones are following them around as if to say 'no we shouldn't be doing this!' So much more enjoyable to watch
 
I have three tanks and have many different types of cories. But my two sterbais are super shy. I've tried them in the big tank with a total of 8 cories, no luck. They still hide. I've tried them in the smaller tank with 6 cories, all small like them. All the other cories zip around, but the sterbais are still hiding. So now I've got my 15 set up as a shrimp/fry tank with two sterbais and three otos. The sterbais are the biggest thing (by far) in the tank, yet they still act afraid of everything. What gives??
 
From my personal experience I would get them some more sterbi friends my smudge spots were with pandas and were super shy still but now the 'kids' have moved in they are zipping around even when I go up to the tank!
 
I was debating on whether or not to get a Cory but after reading some of these stories I definitely am getting one
 
you'll need atleast 3! More the merrier though they are MUCH more active in shoals. They race, skitter, and come to the front of the tank when I walk by. Mine know me, and will come waggle a hello. well I hope its a hello, most likely its a feed me!!
 
I was debating on whether or not to get a Cory but after reading some of these stories I definitely am getting one

Make sure you get more than one I believe 5+ is the best number for them to be happy
They are fabulous fish ?
 
I had 4 Sterbai Cories, lost one to a head on with an overly rambunctious Rubberlip , soooo took the Rubberlip back to my LFS yesterday & came home with 6 more Sterbai. Trying to have a harmonious tank, I have a very stressful job & I just love these little guys. My new ones were all over the tank right away. Waitin for the tank lights to come on so I can do a head count!
 
Man my new cories have really brought some life into the tank, when the lights went on today I found one of the little ones trying to school with my tetras! When he got fed up f that he went off and pushed one of the other new cories making him go for a ride in the bubbles! They are crazy fish. Tried to get a pic of him with the tetras but they're still a bit nervous when I go near the tank
 
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