Cories Not Eating

[Bettafanatic]

I have six cory catfish that I got last week, and have been unsuccessful with feeding them. I bought sinking pellets for them but they don't seem to recognize it as food. They'll sense the food there and forage around but go right over the pellets. Even when some beefheart my platies left over dropped to the bottom for them to scavenge, they didn't even recognize it. What should I feed them and how can I make sure they're eating?

 

[CoryFan]

Pre-soaking them might help. Mine wait until they soften. Mine also nibble on brine shrimp cubes that we stick to the glass at times.

 

[Cichlid Kid]

Frozen bloodworms, minced earthworms or frozen brine shrimp could work if they're wild caught.

 

[Bigzmey]

in addition to suggestions above my corries love green peas and Hikari algae wafers.

I always check at store what they feed fish which I buy just in case.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

my cory's since still small eat New Life Spectrum .5mm sinking pellets.. if that helps

 

[stevedocs]

I crush up tetra flakes really small soak them then use a syringe to just sort of inject it into the sand, so none of my other greedy buggers can get it, then my cories can forage away

 

[Bigzmey]

my cory's since still small eat New Life Spectrum .5mm sinking pellets.. if that helps

Yes, my love them as well.

 

[librarygirl]

They could still be getting used to their surroundings. If you're feeding food different from what they were fed at the store it might take a bit before they take to it. What pellets did you use? Mine like pretty much anything: new life spectrum or hikari .5 mm pellets, sinking shrimp pellets, spirulina sticks, algae/veggie wafers. Keep trying different things. Eventually they'll figure out it's food.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

They could still be getting used to their surroundings. If you're feeding food different from what they were fed at the store it might take a bit before they take to it. What pellets did you use? Mine like pretty much anything: new life spectrum or hikari .5 mm pellets, sinking shrimp pellets, spirulina sticks, algae/veggie wafers. Keep trying different things. Eventually they'll figure out it's food.

My cories love the sinking shrimp pellets personally.

 

[DavidAl]

This is not uncommon. In fact, I recently experienced this with some panda cories. As someone else stated, call the store you bought them at and ask them what they fed them. Feed them the same thing and over time mix in different foods, gradually increasing the amount of the new food while decreasing the amount of the old food. Do this with different brands of food until they accept everything.

David

 

[Bettafanatic]

Thanks for all the advice! Sorry I haven't looked earlier; AA stopped sending me email alerts. I will try out all these things and take your advice. Thanks everyone!

 

[Cichlid Kid]

Have any of them started to eat anything yet?

 

[Bettafanatic]

No not yet. Still have to try out the different advice but I'm experiencing some issues with the tank today so it may have to wait until tomorrow. I have some algae wafers so I'm going to try those first. I'll have to call the store when I find time as well.

 

[Cichlid Kid]

Sorry to hear that. I wish i could help more rather than just offer advice.

 

[Kepo]

Just curious, do their barbells look normal? Some times they can get worn down by either the substrate or water issues and they will basically waste away, not eat, fail to thrive.

 

[Bettafanatic]

The barbels look fine to me. I have no earlier experience with cories so I wouldn't know but common sense tells me that they look fine. I can try to get a picture but those cories are so skittish that they dart into hiding whenever I get with a one foot radius of the tank. Their favorite meeting place after these flights are under the heater. It's pretty cute, actually. I'm thinking of getting three more so that the school will be eight and they'll be less nervous. Would that work? One died (unknown cause) so there's only five now.

Anyways, I tried giving them pre-soaked algae wafers today. I added two, one of them was just to distract the platy family since I knew they'd steal all the cories' food. While the platies were stuffing their faces at one end of the tank, i added the second closer to the heater in hope that they'd feel more comfortable about eating somewhere they consider safe. I do think that they sensed the food there. Whether or not they ate, I can't be 100% sure. There were little bite marks in the tablet when I took it out, but it might have been from some platy fry that found the second one. I'm going to try again next feeding and this time be more observant and separate the platies and the cories more.

Another question. I'd like to try giving them something like bloodworms. How can I get them to sink before the platies devour them? Should I leave them in cube form instead of smashing them to individual pieces like I usually do?

 

[Cichlid Kid]

Ime the frozen bloodworms do sink. If your talkin about freeze dried ones I'd soak them in a cup of tankwater first then try turning the lights off when u do offer the food. Maybe they're still skittish because your tank is a little to "busy" for them with all the platys zippin around?

 

[Kepo]

The barbels look fine to me. I have no earlier experience with cories so I wouldn't know but common sense tells me that they look fine. I can try to get a picture but those cories are so skittish that they dart into hiding whenever I get with a one foot radius of the tank. Their favorite meeting place after these flights are under the heater. It's pretty cute, actually. I'm thinking of getting three more so that the school will be eight and they'll be less nervous. Would that work? One died (unknown cause) so there's only five now.

The barbells should come to a sharp point. If they are worn down they would be rounded at the tips. Just a thought since if they are worn off they can stop eating and waste away. I have a group of juvenile pandas that were very skittish and hid in the back when I got them. Thought I was going to lose them since they also were not eating and their fins looked shabby after a week or two but since then, they have taken a liking to sinking shrimp pellets and look much improved. It might just be finding the food they want to eat. My little ones don't touch the veg wafers I put in for the Plecos.

 

[Bettafanatic]

The barbells do come to a sharp point. I'm going to try dropping them a cube of frozen bloodworms.I just have to hope the platies don't find it and attack it.

 

[Bettafanatic]

Ime the frozen bloodworms do sink. If your talkin about freeze dried ones I'd soak them in a cup of tankwater first then try turning the lights off when u do offer the food. Maybe they're still skittish because your tank is a little to "busy" for them with all the platys zippin around?

There are only four adult platies. There are a lot of Platty fry but they are much less energetic. I'm selling them soon anyways.