Best food for corys?

[ftbetta]

I have some sterbai corys, and I need to buy them some more food. I've read differing things about whether they should have mostly shrimp/protein pellets, or have some vegetable stuff mixed in. The only thing in the tank right now is the cory's. They have been eating the API sinking shrimp pellets bottom feeder stuff, and I had some omega one veggie rounds at one point that they refuse to touch. some of the things I've been looking at is:

Stuff like this (omega one small veggie kelp pellets)where it seems to have mostly protein but also some "green stuff" lol - Salmon, Whole Herring, Wheat Germ, Wheat Flour, Kelp, Pea Protein, Rice Bran, Spirulina, Whole Shrimp, Marigold Extract, Astaxanthin, Canthaxanthin, Potassium Sorbate, Ethoxyquin (Preservative), BHT (Preservative), BHA (Preservative), Natural And Artificial Colors, Ascorbyl Monophosphate (Source Of Vitamin C), Niacin, Inositol, Folic Acid, Biotin, Riboflavin, Pantothenic Acid, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement.

Or the omega one veggie mini pellets, that seem to have greens first, then some proteins - Whole Kelp, Spirulina, Salmon, Halibut, Whole Herring, Cod, Shrimp, Wheat Flour, Wheat Gluten, Astaxanthin, L-Ascorbyl-2-Phosphate (Source of Vitamin C), Natural and Artificial Colors, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Folic Acid, Biotin, Inositol, Tocopherol (Preservative), Ethoxyquin (Preservative).

Or should I just stick with like a basic shrimp pellet? or what would be a recommendation? I would prefer some sort of pellet that has a healthy mix all in one sort of thing, rather than trying to feed a few different types of foods.

Thanks guys

also, sub question. from peoples experience, about how long does a sterbai cory live? I've had mine for about 5 years, and am just wondering if lifespan comes into play at some point soon? I've seen things that say 3-5 years, and others saying up to 15 years. Just curious what sort of situation I'm in lol

 

[Sgooosh]

hikari sinkers
omega one shrimp wafers

they can live up to 20 years i am told

 

[Colin_T]

Frozen but defrosted bloodworms, brineshrimp, daphnia, mysis shrimp, prawn/ shrimp.

 

[Guyb93]

Mine hve a high protein diet in fairness living with cichlids they eat what they don’t , I wouldn’t go out my way to feed bottom feeders they will eat pretty much anything that touches the sand , if they are being picky , I’d say they were spoilt lol

 

[ftbetta]

hikari sinkers
omega one shrimp wafers

they can live up to 20 years i am told

sinkers would be the - "sinking wafers"? there are several sinking options by this brand.

Just trying to learn and educate myself here. I had thought that in general you were supposed to avoid foods that have ingredients with "meal" in them. and this one seems to have a bunch of that - fish meal, wheat germ meal, soybean meal, crushed silkworm pupa, dried seaweed meal, etc. Do the fish actually mind the "meals" or I don't even know what meal technically means, just ground up?

 

[ftbetta]

Mine hve a high protein diet in fairness living with cichlids they eat what they don’t , I wouldn’t go out my way to feed bottom feeders they will eat pretty much anything that touches the sand , if they are being picky , I’d say they were spoilt lol

haha I guess mine are quite spoilt then. Because I used to have other fish in the tank and occasionally would give them freeze dried brine shrimp, and when that eventually fell to the bottom they really didn't eat that either haha. What a bunch of brats

 

[Sgooosh]

sinkers would be the - "sinking wafers"? there are several sinking options by this brand.

Just trying to learn and educate myself here. I had thought that in general you were supposed to avoid foods that have ingredients with "meal" in them. and this one seems to have a bunch of that - fish meal, wheat germ meal, soybean meal, crushed silkworm pupa, dried seaweed meal, etc. Do the fish actually mind the "meals" or I don't even know what meal technically means, just ground up?

i am not sure...
i think its fine, just avoidr fillers

 

[Byron]

also, sub question. from peoples experience, about how long does a sterbai cory live? I've had mine for about 5 years, and am just wondering if lifespan comes into play at some point soon? I've seen things that say 3-5 years, and others saying up to 15 years. Just curious what sort of situation I'm in lol

Ian Fuller had a cory that died in its 40th year. That was something of an exception, but it does show that they can have quite long lives. Most cory folks tend to think 20-30 years is to be expected, if the fish is healthy (genetically as well as the care it receives--and the quality of food).

 

[DoubleDutch]

Ian Fuller had a cory that died in its 40th year. That was something of an exception, but it does show that they can have quite long lives. Most cory folks tend to think 20-30 years is to be expected, if the fish is healthy (genetically as well as the care it receives--and the quality of food).

Correct a C.sterbai of 42 year old hahaha.

 

[Byron]

All of the species in the Corydoras genus are carnivores; none eat plant or vegetable matter. When they are observed poking their barbels through algae on surfaces they are not eating the algae but looking for microscopic critters living on these surfaces.

Their natural foods in their habitats, which is always where we start in assessing a species' nutritional needs, include insects (many types crawl on the substrate of watercourses) and insect larvae, worms, and crustaceans (freshwater shrimp). Insects/insect larvae is the primary food source.

All cories are filter feeders, taking up a mouthful of substrate (which is why it must be smooth river sand) and filtering out any food, expelling the sand out through the gills. They do not have teeth.

Insect-based sinking foods are therefore prime foods for cories, along with shrimp pellets. Frozen daphnia is ideal, and frozen brine shrimp. Worms should be fed sparingly, as they can cause digestive problems, especially bloodworms (once a week max).

Do not feed all-plant/vegetable foods; the Omega One Veggie Rounds are OK once a week, if other fish (loricariids, Farlowella, etc) that need plant matter are in the tank, and these contain shrimp as well.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I feed my Corys Omega One Shrimp Pellets and Fluval Bug Bites.

 

[Colin_T]

Just trying to learn and educate myself here. I had thought that in general you were supposed to avoid foods that have ingredients with "meal" in them. and this one seems to have a bunch of that - fish meal, wheat germ meal, soybean meal, crushed silkworm pupa, dried seaweed meal, etc. Do the fish actually mind the "meals" or I don't even know what meal technically means, just ground up?

Avoid fish foods that have terrestrial plants and grains in.
eg. wheat meal, corn, soy, rice flour, rosemary, etc

Things like ant larvae, silkworm pupae, dried seaweed is fine.

 

[coriesinhawaii]

sinkers would be the - "sinking wafers"? there are several sinking options by this brand.

Just trying to learn and educate myself here. I had thought that in general you were supposed to avoid foods that have ingredients with "meal" in them. and this one seems to have a bunch of that - fish meal, wheat germ meal, soybean meal, crushed silkworm pupa, dried seaweed meal, etc. Do the fish actually mind the "meals" or I don't even know what meal technically means, just ground up?

I alternate between Hikari sinking wafers (orange bag), Hikari carnivore sinking wafers (purplish red bag), and frozen food (bloodworms/brine shrimp/mysis shrimp).

Can’t really answer the question about it having a lot of “meals” in it. I know that Hikari is considered a quality product by a lot of people in the hobby and my fish definitely like it and are in good health.