Cory cat eating habits

[MoSinister]

I am quickly coming to the conclusion that a cory is nothing like a pleco, even though they are both catfish. This was my first impression since he hid while the lights were on and I'd see him swimming around when the lights were down and I didn't approach the tank. I'm now assuming that was induced by the move he was forced to endure getting the tank to my house. I've not kept a cory before, but got one with a tank I bought, so now I'm trying to figure out his eating habits.

The tank originally had a common pleco as well (it's a 15g tank, so I donated the pleco to the lfs). Now the algae wafers that I thought that the cory was eating alongside the pleco are sitting on the bottom untouched, except for a few nibbles from the danios and a guppy. Does a cory not eat algae wafers? I understand he eats the leftovers from the other fish, but haven't seen him even sniff the wafers.

The problem is, I never really see any fish food get past the surface eaters. I guess I could increase the amount of flake/FD bloodworms that I'm feeding every day, but I'm concerned about overfeeding because it's like the first (maybe second or third) biggest mistake made by new fish owners. How can I be sure he's getting his fair share?

I'm actually surprised at the lack of cory info that I seem to be finding out on the net beyond the very basics. Any experienced cory keeper would be welcome to share advice.

 

[BrianNY]

A cory is not a pleco. A lion is not a house cat. Both catfish and felines but huge differences. Cories are social. They love to be with their own kind and will swim and play. They are not herbivores and algae wafers will be mostly ignored.

They will pick scraps from the bottom of the tank. Make sure they get their fair share by feeding a bit after you've turned the lights out.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Have you tried sinking shrimp pellets? My cories love these. I make sure to throw a few in to my tanks with cories so that they eat something. Mine must be weird because they love algae wafers (meant for the otos)...but will eat the shrimp pellets too.

I would get the cory some buddies...atleast 3 more. Having a group may make him eat a little better since they are shoaling fish.

For info about them, try searching for Corydoras. That is the full genus name...though we usually just say Cories.

 

[tkos]

I agree, get at least 2 to 3 more of the same variety of cory cat. And get some sinking shrimp pellets. They will love those. Mine do eat algae waffers as well, though I feed those once a week as a change in diet. I also feed a complete sinking tablet by Hikari. Scraps aren't enough for cories, though they will eat excess flakes that make it to the bottom.

 

[joannde]

Mine love both the bottom feeder sinking pellets made by Hikari as well as the sinking algae wafers. I also hold a few flakes between my fingers while in the water so that they sink quickly - the cories always manage to get some of those even tho the other fish are pretty quick !

 

[Tukie2kie]

My cories eat shrimp pellets, but perhaps ask the petstore they were at what they feed their cories. Mine fed them shrimp pellets so thats waht I got and everytime one sinks down they eventualy come runnin ones they "discover" it for themselves. I have 3 and sometimes 2 of them will follow eachother mine dont really school at all, and one is always hiding when the light is on. The other two coudl care less if the light was on or off.

If shrimp pellets dont work just go back to the petstore you got him (hopefuly to get him some buddies as well) and ask what they were already feeding them there.