Albino Cories
- Thread starter vio88
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All species of Corydoras are shoaling fish, and they are highly social interactive fish too. This means the more the better for the fish. Minimum numbers can be deceiving as the fish will always be in better health with more, but with cories you do not want to have fewer than five or six. Depending upon the tank space more than this will always improve the fish's well-being.
Maintaining groups of the same species is preferable, but cory species will socially interact across species (unlike many other shoaling fish species) so it is less of an issue if the cories are the same or differing species. I do still try to have a few of a species when I can but some of my 50 cories are one, two or three of the species while a few species have seven or eight. Fry growing up in the tank account for some of these.
Maintaining groups of the same species is preferable, but cory species will socially interact across species (unlike many other shoaling fish species) so it is less of an issue if the cories are the same or differing species. I do still try to have a few of a species when I can but some of my 50 cories are one, two or three of the species while a few species have seven or eight. Fry growing up in the tank account for some of these.
ok makes sense. When I got my three albino corries the lady at the pet store told me that they liked to be in groups of 3 and min. of 3. I don't think I can have 3 more in my 20 gallon tank as I also have 7 guppies in there. Is it horrible to have only three corries? That lady also told me that cories eat algae but I haven't seen them eat algae and the internet tells me that they eat leftover food not algae being the reason I was buying cories. I am starting to think that I can't believe anything the pet store employee tells me.
Cories need no fewer than five; some species (the "dwarf" ones) need close to double this. Nothing less if we care about the fish's health and well-being. You can have six in your 20g, with the 7 guppies. Regular (once each week) partial water changes of 50-60% of the tank volume, not overfeeding, and you will bee OK. Plants, even if just some floating species, make a big difference not only to water quality but to the well-being of the cories that prefer shade to direct overhead lighting.
False on all aspects. Cories browse surfaces, many of which will have algae mats on them, looking for microscopic particles of food, some of it live. But none will "eat" algae. And they cannot exist on leftover scraps, they must have sinking foods specific to their dietary requirements. Shrimp pellets like those made by Omega One are ideal; I also feed Omega One's Veggie rounds. You should always have at least two different types of food for all fish to bee able to alternate.
I am being completely honest, not kidding, when I say this is exactly correct--never rely on advice from anyone in a fish store unless you know that they have knowledge. Most do not, frankly. Independent fish stores (as opposed to chain stores) tend to be more reliable, but again only if the person is a hobbyist and has the intelligence to understand the complexities of this hobby.
I really like your quotes in blue and green at end of reply. I agree but sometime it is hard to follow through. I have had a bit of a struggle with nitrates, perhaps over feeding or not cleaning enough so I will wait a month or two to get a handle on that and then look into getting 3 more cories and some more plants. I do have 2 java ferns atm. I have been hoping the cories would help me not overfeed by them eating the extra flakes but have been also giving them tetra pleco wafers (algae wafers), and API bottom feeder shrimp pellets. How do I really know if I am feeding the cories enough? Also the cories won't die simply because there are only 3 of them right? So there isn't too much rush in getting 3 more.
Taking the last question first, no the cories will not die, but they are under stress. And stress is the direct cause of about 95% of all aquarium fish disease. So eliminating stress is key to healthy fish. I would get another three cories (total six then) soon.
Now, the nitrates...can you explain? What is the nitrate test level? And have you tested the tap water alone for nitrate? It is possible to have nitrates in the tap water and this you need to know so you/we are going after nitrates the right way.
Nitrates occurring within the tank are solely due to organics from fish food; the nitrate from the nitrification cycle will be these. The more fish, and/or the more they are fed, the more organics: the more ammonia so the more nitrite and then the more nitrate; ammonia and nitrite will be handled by the nitrifying bacteria or/and plants of course, but the Nitrospira bacteria using the nitrites produce nitrate and this will be in proportion to the organics. There are natural de-nitrifiers in the tank, some bacteria (different species) that may be anaerobic in the substrate. Live plants significantly reduce naturally-occurring nitrates by using ammonia/ammonium so rapidly. And significant partial water changes, keeping the substrate clean and keeping the filter clean all work to reduce naturally-occurring nitrates.
Java Ferns are slow growing, so this means they use less nutrients. Floating plants are your best helpmate (along with snails!) in dealing with nitrate and organics. Water Sprite is my favourite, but Water Lettuce and Frogbit are also good. Fish like the shade these provide too.
Fish should always be hungry, and when food is placed in the tank they should be eager to eat it. One flake a day is sufficient nutrition for upper fish like guppies, tetras, etc; cories are a bit more difficult to feed as they chow down on sinking pellets/tabs/disks and this is a slow process to eat. But I would not add more than three shrimp pellets for example, maybe only two, depending upon the size (this for six cories). My neighbour once asked me how I know how much to feed, and after thinking about it I could not give her an answer; I said it is something you ascertain as you go and the observations are almost impossible to describe. I just know...somehow.
Well on April 24 the nitrates was 80 ppm so I cleaned the tank real good and since it has been 40 or lower. Last I checked being yesterday it was 30 ppm. I have checked the tap water and there was no nitrates. Should I check the tap water multiple times or was the one time I checked enough? Ah ok thought java ferns grew fast but they don't seem too. The shrimp pellets I have are quite small like the size of a pin head or so. Well another part of the reason I don't want to get more cories right aways is that I will be gone for 2 weeks in June here. So I thought it would be best to wait until I get back. Then too I would get more plants. Well I suppose more plants might be better to get first since they would help keep the tank healthy while I am gone. Oh and what is this about snails? How do they help?
OK on the cories/plants waiting.
Nitrates at 80ppm is serious, and when it is not in the source water but occurring solely within the tank it should be easy to deal with. I would do several water changes, like one or even two each day, changing 60-70% of the tank volume at each, to get these down fast. The lower the better, but we now know that many fish are being affected by nitrates over 20 ppm and even this is very high for some. I mentioned the causes previously, so be aware of those. Don't overstock (another three cories is not overstocking, ironically adding three more to have six will be less impact on the system than just three because they need those groups or they are stressed), don't overfeed (even miss a day or two each week, or feed alternate days), vacuum the substrate, keep the filter rinsed.
Snails (the small innocuous ones) eat organics which includes all the fish excrement. This breaks it down faster so the bacteria can deal with it sooner. Snails do not add to the bioload because they are only consuming organics already in the system (unless of course one "feeds" the snails extra).
Good to know thanks. I found some water spangles or salvinia minima. Originally the person thought it was water sprite she had but got the names mixed up. What do you think of those? She also said it wouldn't be snail free so it looks like I will get snails too.
Salvinia species are quite nice floating plants. It is very small, though larger than duckweed, but once established it will usually begin to reproduce quite rapidly. This helps with water conditions, but less with shade as it is so minimal. The nice thing about Water Sprite, Water Lettuce or Frogbit is their substance; largish dangling root masses are favourite food hunting areas for most fish, and the shade value is greater.
Snails are your friends in the aquarium. I have dozens, hundreds probably, in my tanks; I know they are there only because of the organics they eat, and that is certainly a very good thing.
I had snails a while ago but one died, not sure why and the second I think died from being stuck in an ornament. It was floating about the tank. From what I have read they like to just float and find it fun but it was getting pummeled by the water coming out of my filter and I thought that must be unpleasant, to go around just to be pummeled again. So I set him inside an ornament thinking he could let himself down and not keep getting pummeled. I didn't see him for a week or so and then I checked and he had died and rotted within that ornament. So I am thinking this time just leave them do their thing even if it seems painful. Is that the best idea?
Yes, I would not worry.
Hey so I just got 3 Julii corys. I thought when at the pet store that different species were ok but some others on the internet say its not so good. It looks like in your past post that you said it was fine. Just thought I would say something because if 3 cories of two different species isn't ok well then I give up trying to make them happy. I never got enough info before getting these fish and it is proving difficult to adapt after the fact.
The issue with keeping different species of cory together is that some will cross-breed. This is very common among species within the same lineage [will briefly explain this in a moment], so the fry are not a true species. Such fry must absolutely never be introduced into the hobby. If you keep the cories together and fry do appear, you should be prepared to maintain them until they die, and not distribute them. I won't get into the ethical and environmental reasons for this, but it is the accepted position of biologists and ichthyologists, and everyone in the hobby should adhere to such guidelines or find a different hobby.
Aside from the above, there is absolutely no problem keeping different species of cory together; they will chum around no matter the species, though some do show a clear preference more for their own species (panda cories are like this).
To briefly explain lineages. First, some terms to get straight. A clade is a group of species that all descended from the same last ancestor. A genus is a clade (or is intended to be) so all species within a genus will have common characteristics physiologically, physically, and usually beyond this to behavioural. With the advent of DNA over the last three or four decades, we have learned a great deal about evolution and the relationship of all life. It is possible to trace back the ancestry of any species to its origin. As a result of this, we have learned that some of the clades we classified prior to any knowledge of DNA are not valid. A clade--and for our purposes in this discussion we can take clade as referring to the genus--is termed monophyletic (mono meaning one or sole) when all species assigned to that genus have descended from the same last ancestor. If there are species within the genus from a different ancestor, the genus is referred to as polyphyletic (poly meaning many).
The genus Corydoras presently has more than 160 described species. Phylogenetic analysis of their DNA by several ichthyologists has determined that the genus is polyphyletic, and that there are actually nine distinct lineages within the genus. There is considerable work still needed, but there is no doubt that eventually there will be nine genera replacing the one genus Corydoras. Some taxonomic changes have already occurred; the genus Brochis is now considered to be synonymous with Corydoras because there are a couple of species within Corydoras that are in fact within the Brochis lineage, so technically the species Brochis splendens is now recognized taxonomically as Corydoras splendens.
Species within a genus are closely related, and when those species form a clade they are more likely to cross-breed. And many cory keepers have seen evidence of this; in my own tank, I have two or three cross-bred fry now. These will remain with me until their death as it would be irresponsible to introduce them into the hobby.
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