Cory catfish question

[Louie]

Hello,
I am interested in adding Cory catfish to my heavily planted 55 gallon tank , the tank has been set up for few years and only contains lots of cherry shrimp which over the years have bred to ''non cherry'' dull colors , lol.

It has no C02 but my concern is the temperature of the tank which is 76 during day and 72 at night . I'm in Key west and don't use a tank heater but house air conditioner is set for those temps .

My shrimp thrive so rather not change anything .

Are night temps of 72 to cool for cories ?

Any types anyone recommends ?

I plan to get 6 .

Thank you

 

[GuppyGuy333]

I can't speak to the temperature. you might have to look up individual species because they might have different requirements.

I have aeneus corydoras ( i think these are the most basic ones you can get/cheapest) in my 55 gallon planted tank and i love them. they kind of have an iridescent green sheen to them that i think goes well with my plants and black sand. I have seen them go by different names: bronze, emerald (there is actually a different kind called this), green. or the ones i have seen labeled this way in stores are doppelgangers to the aeneaus kind. the ones that are normally labeled albino corydoras are often of this variety.

there are a few different kinds you can get that can be found at basic fish stores. Sterbai, julii, peppered. i have never kept these but i have seen them multiple times in stores and they seem to run kind of high (at least 2x the price of one green aeneus)

I have also seen skunk and panda corydoras. Though i have heard panda corys are not that tough and often die when you add them to the tank.

There are also a pygmy variety. And many people that like corys like ottocinclus catish too.

also for corys (I think for most of the varieties of them) they are social fish and need to be in groups of 5-6 at minimum. So props for planning on getting six. the more there are the more natural behavior you will see from them. i actually got 4 juvenile ones today to add to the four i already had (two died from my original six).

Good luck! Corydoras are worth having!

 

[aseradyn]

I kept bronze corys in a 120g unheated tank in Houston, with room temps ranging from 60-75 in the winter, and 70-85 in the summer. They did great year round. Very active, bred like rabbits. One of my first threads on this forum was asking for advice on how to get them to STOP, already

 

[DreaminginBlue]

Corydoras are a great addition to any tank! Personally, I love the panda corys, especially the longfin pandas. There are other types that are pretty as well, like the albinos and julii.

As for their temperature-
"These fish prefer a planted tank with temperatures around 60 to 75 ° Fahrenheit (20 – 24 ° Celsius) although they can take lower temperatures than this. Their high temperature tolerance seems poor and 30 °C (85 °F) is the highest safe temperature."

 

[Louie]

Thanks a lot everyone for your time . I decided to go with the Panda cories . I called a fish farm I buy from in Miami and they have the regular types and long fin in abundance so I'll head over there this coming weekend .

I like the green types but I used to live in Miami across the street from a golf course . I would go in through a hole in the fence and check out the fish and turtles in their marshes . There was a big school of green cories but don't know exactly what type .

The water ranged from hot in shallow to minimum pleasant to the touch in winter but when we had ''cold'' spells they would disappear deeper . Musk, soft shell ,sliders turtles and especially herons took a massive toll on them but the school was big again by end December .

I know they have that protective spine but herons gobble them up .

So for me the green cories are common .

 

[Louie]

Thanks a lot everyone for your time . I decided to go with the Panda cories . I called a fish farm I buy from in Miami and they have the regular types and long fin in abundance so I'll head over there this coming weekend .

I like the green types but I used to live in Miami across the street from a golf course . I would go in through a hole in the fence and check out the fish and turtles in their marshes . There was a big school of green cories but don't know exactly what type .

The water ranged from hot in shallow to minimum pleasant to the touch in winter but when we had ''cold'' spells they would disappear deeper . Musk, soft shell ,sliders turtles and especially herons took a massive toll on them but the school was big again by end December .

I know they have that protective spine but herons gobble them up .

So for me the green cories are common .

 

[Louie]

I kept bronze corys in a 120g unheated tank in Houston, with room temps ranging from 60-75 in the winter, and 70-85 in the summer. They did great year round. Very active, bred like rabbits. One of my first threads on this forum was asking for advice on how to get them to STOP, already

Have you ever seen Texas cichlids in your state ?

I'm in Key west but when I used to live in Miami, I would see huge one's in a particular canal . I found them to be the only cichlid which would stand up to the Midas Cichlid.

 

[aseradyn]

Have you ever seen Texas cichlids in your state ?

I'm in Key west but when I used to live in Miami, I would see huge one's in a particular canal . I found them to be the only cichlid which would stand up to the Midas Cichlid.

No, but the rivers and lakes here are as much mud as water, so you'd only see them if they swam up and bit you. Same with the gators, so I stay out of the water [emoji1]

 

[Louie]

No, but the rivers and lakes here are as much mud as water, so you'd only see them if they swam up and bit you. Same with the gators, so I stay out of the water [emoji1]

Yes I don't go in any lakes or rivers in Florida though most are clear just the beach though late summer is shark season and I only go a few feet out.

I didn't think bodies of water in your state were murky .

 

[aseradyn]

Depends where you are. Around Houston, where I am, it's mud, but go up into the hills and it clears up.

That's a pretty fish, so if I make it back over to the Rio Grande area, I'll be keeping eyes open for it [emoji106]

 

[skrapeNKA]

There are also a pygmy variety.
[...]
Good luck! Corydoras are worth having!

There are three pygmy types; habrosus, hastatus, and pygmaeus. I keep corydoras habrosus in with my RCS and they are great addition. They're active during the day and it's fun to watch the tiny little fish sporadically dart to the surface! I forget off hand which it is, but one of the other two pygmy species spends more time in the mid level of the tank than the bottom if you're looking for more vertical activity.

 

[Coursair]

There are three pygmy types; habrosus, hastatus, and pygmaeus. I keep corydoras habrosus in with my RCS and they are great addition. They're active during the day and it's fun to watch the tiny little fish sporadically dart to the surface! I forget off hand which it is, but one of the other two pygmy species spends more time in the mid level of the tank than the bottom if you're looking for more vertical activity.

Both C hastatus and C pygmaeus are mid water fish...plus perching on plants. Mine did go to the bottom as well. C habrosus is the most traditional Cory of the nano species.

Pic of my C habrosus. Old pic