Cory cats

[Dom11]

All I have in my 6.5 gallon is two corys. And I'm adding a betta when it's fully cycled and nothing else


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[aqua_holic]

All I have in my 6.5 gallon is two corys. And I'm adding a betta when it's fully cycled and nothing else


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

I think I understand where the confusion is coming from. I did not mean that your tank is currently overstocked from a bioload point of view (cycle status notwithstanding). That's just one aspect. Your tank is overstocked because the fish don't have adequate space, nor can it support the necessary school size. If you have to sacrifice school size in order to fit the fish in your tank, then they don't belong in that tank. Now I don't need to have kept Corys in a 6 gallon tank to know that it's too small, because I've determined a 10 gallon to be too small through my own experience keeping them in tanks from 10 to 90 gallons. But I like my fish to have room to swim around, since that's all they have going for themselves.

 

[Dom11]

But I'm watching them swim around now and there's loads of space. I completely understand fish need room to swim around. It's just annoying cause there seems to be plenty of room


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[Haileyjade]

My apologies. In one of your other threads you had mentioned that you bought cherry barbs. Glad to see you moved or rehomed them.

Albino cories are typically sold young. What looks like a lot of space now will not be when they reach adulthood. Additionally, as others have said, they are a highly social fish. I would not keep less than 4, with 6 being my personal preference. Pygmy cories would be a better alternative for the space you have. Paired with a betta, they should do fine provided the betta doesn't have too much attitude.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Dom11]

Thanks for the help my sister has a 190 litre tank and only had 2 corys for years and seemed very healthy and fine with normal cory behaviour and have remained small for many years. Only one of the two is a little lager than the ones I have


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[dalto]

Thanks for the help my sister has a 190 litre tank and only had 2 corys for years and seemed very healthy and fine with normal cory behaviour and have remained small for many years. Only one of the two is a little lager than the ones I have

There are many different species of Corydoras. They grow to different sizes. Most "albino cories" are Corydoras aeneus which towards the larger end of the spectrum for Corydoras.

 

[aqua_holic]

But I'm watching them swim around now and there's loads of space. I completely understand fish need room to swim around. It's just annoying cause there seems to be plenty of room


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

Thanks for the help my sister has a 190 litre tank and only had 2 corys for years and seemed very healthy and fine with normal cory behaviour and have remained small for many years. Only one of the two is a little lager than the ones I have


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

Loads of space and nano tank are two things that just don't go together... As others have eluded to, your fish are still small. With good care, they won't stay small. The fact the the fish didn't grow in the 190 liter is likely a reflection of how they were kept. Now stunted growth has a few other contributing factors, but it's primarily an environmental issue. Not to put them down, but I definitely wouldn't consider that to be any kind of a success story.

 

[Haileyjade]

Surviving is not thriving. If you want your fish to thrive, upgrade the albinos to a larger tank and add more. Or, rehome them and pick up some pygmy cories. I guarantee you will see a difference in fish health and happiness.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Dom11]

How can you see the difference in happiness? If someone said to you they had a 10 gallon tank and 3 cories and said they look so happy when swimming, you'd say how good that is due to the tank being bigger. Now if I say my cories are swimming and digging and look happy you say you can't tell if a fish is happy by swimming and "surviving is not thriving"


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[Haileyjade]

I did not mean happy in the sense that you and I feel. Not eating in a sign of stress. Stress is not indicative of a 'happy' fish.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Dom11]

So the only well to see if a fish is 'happy' is to see if it's eating?


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[Haileyjade]

A 'happy' fish is a fish whose basic needs have been met.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[aqua_holic]

So the only well to see if a fish is 'happy' is to see if it's eating?


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

Keeping fish in a variety of settings provides a good idea about what their true behavioral nature is. Tank size plays a large role in a fishs behavior, as does school size. It's impossible to know how profound of an impact these things have without having experienced it for yourself. That is to say, if you've only kept your fish in a small tank, then you have nothing to compare your experience to and wouldn't know how else they might act. That's where the experience of others comes in to play. "Happy" fish are not stressed fish - they swim, eat, grow and spawn. Happy fish behave as they are supposed to.

If you were to talk to those that keep dwarf Corys, many, if not most, will say a 6 is too small for them as well.

 

[Dom11]

I'm wanting to get rid of the current substrate in my 14 gallon tank and replace it with very fine gravel so I can put the corys in there. The only problem with moving them in there is that I have 2 zebra loach's and heard they don't get on


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[treemanone2003]

A 'happy' fish is a fish whose basic needs have been met.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

Which includes the necessary research PRIOR to purchase and the ability to resist becoming an impulse buyer.


Sent from my iPhone that doesn't like me. Or you.

 

[aqua_holic]

The loaches and Corys should get along perfectly fine. However, keeping incomplete schools in a tank that is still too small can change that. Again, I know it's not what you want to hear, but the loaches in your 14 is the same exact situation as the Corys in the 6. It's a VERY common situation for people to find themselves in. I would like nothing more than to say "that's a really nicely stocked tank" to people - I don't want to constantly tell people that their tanks are poorly stocked, but things are what they are and in the effort of helping people, it has to be said.

Too, while the 14 is way better than the 6, it's still considered by many to be too small for full size Corys. People can quibble about what the "real" minimum is, but one thing is for sure and that's that they're all minimums, meaning you are providing the very least you can.

I think the best course of action would be to return them all and start over with fish more appropriate for the size tanks you have. If you're not inclined to do that then I would return the loaches and move the Corys to the larger tank. If you're not inclined to return any fish then I guess put the Corys in with the loaches.

 

[Dom11]

I do agree with most of that. However, I have had the zebra loach's for 2/3 months. They have been absolutely fine swimming around and digging just like cories and they just don't seem like a shoaling fish unlike corys do. I know most fish prefer to be with many of their own kind but the zebra loach's have seemed absolutely and are great to watch


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[Dom11]

So how about I get another cory, put the 3 corys in my 14 gal with the 2 zebra loach's?


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[Dom11]

Just to let you know, I have today put the two corys from the 6 gallon into my 54 litre. I even bought and changed the substrate just for the corys haha. So now in my 6 gallon, I bought a betta today!


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[dragon14]

Yay!!!!