Corydoras or Kuhli Loaches?

[Salty&Onion]

Now I really can't decide, I do have lid issues and loaches, the escape artists really worry me and corydoras are also social and very active.
Loaches and my lid issues really worry me as loaches are escape artists, and I wouldn't want to lose one.. I'll actually see how it'll look with my DIY lid.

If I would get corydoras, I would take 6 or how much should I get for my 33 gallon tank?

Ok.. here comes a confession... I do overstock and have an overstocked tank, but I do overfilter and I have a sponge filter for 380 ltr tanks and is cycled already and no ammonia spikes.
How corydoras would do in my overstocked and overfiltered tank?

I just need couple cories vs loaches facts to help me decide..

 

[DwarfCichlidLvr]

What's your stock?
Id do corys. The more the better.

 

[trash.binh91]

Why would you get more fish if your tank is overstocked?

 

[Salty&Onion]

Why would you get more fish if your tank is overstocked?

............I do overstock and overfilter..... I'm already looking for a second filter..... I'm sorry, that's what I do

 

[trash.binh91]

............I do overstock and overfilter..... I'm already looking for a second filter..... I'm sorry, that's what I do

But is there enough space for them? I get the overfilter part, I'm just worried about the space part.

 

[Salty&Onion]

Don't worry, I'm not like a person that would just harm innocent lives. There is enough space for them to swim and goof around

 

[I nEEd mEnTAl HeLP]

Dimensions?
I am a bit confused about what your question is, mostly cuz of the title, but if they are compatible with your stock and there is enough room 6 probably wouldn't be a problem. If its a 33 gallon long, which I think has good floorspace, depending on species you could do 10-12 ish maybe?

 

[Salty&Onion]

80x35x45/46
Yes, there is enough room for them

 

[Byron]

I have a bias because I do like cories, whereas I am not enamoured with kuhlii type loaches. But the kuhlii lopaches might never be seen, or rarely, because they are primarily nocturnal. Cories on the other hand are usually out and about most of the day. I have a 40g with 41 cories, and if I did not have this tank/fish I doubt I wold even bother with tanks. The enjoyment they give me is considerable, compared to my other tanks of different fish.

If you decide on cories, you need a decent number, and in a 36-inch/90cm length tank (which we are assuming is the 33g, correct?) you want 12-15. I am always saying this, and I appreciate that others have difficulty understanding the logic or the importance, but this really does make a big difference to the well-being (health) of the fish.

"Overstocking" means different things to different people, and while it is certainly possible to have more fish in a tank than the system can be expected to support, there is also the fact that more of a shoaling species can often have less impact on the biological system than too few. The fish "live" differently. Not easy to explain.

Filters have less to do with it than people realize. The filter moves the water around, and creates surface disturbance, and this is really their only benefit. The biological filtration they do in a tank of small fish is not even needed, if you have a sand substrate (which is where the vast majority of bacteria live) and especially with plants, and floating basically solve any issues.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Byron has helped me so much with my cories. He knows his stuff. I had never had them before. Now, if you can’t find me then I’m in the fish room watching them. Even my husband now joins me to watch them. They are so funny! I have 18 in my 55G and will probably get a few more after my ich clears up. I do suggest a lid though because they sometimes zoom straight up to the top. I don’t know how they do it but they don’t break through the water. Like they have an emergency break but wouldn’t take chances. I’ve had one loach in my life and I found it stuck on my canister.

 

[JuiceBox52]

What's your current stock in the tank?

 

[Salty&Onion]

Thank you @Byron , I'll do 12 cories for now and I'll see how it goes and maybe later on I'll add 3 cories.
As for the overstocking part, do mean that it doesn't actually make any problems? If yes, I know what you mean. I have now 1 year, maybe 1 year and a half experience of overtocking my tanks. After cycling my tanks, I've never had any problems with ammonia, ammonia spikes or water quality problems or any ICH or any diseases themselves. No nitrite problems, just having 20ppm of nitrate, but that's because my tap has 15ppm nitrates normally which means I should be getting 5ppm of NO3 in my tanks. That's why I use Prime for, and I do 50-75% water changes too to dilute everything bad in my tanks. The nitrate helps me with plants a lot too, when you mentioned the floating plants I instantly thought about Salvinia, from what I have heard is that Salvinia takes up ammonia too, since my tank is fully cycled, I'm having 0ppm of ammonia constantly, just nitrates too high, but they'll get sucked up by plants in and act as a natural fertiliser for them. I agree on this stuff with you, including the filter part.

@Deanasue , do they just zoom up and 'jump' out of water, or they zoom up and then crawl out of the tank like loaches do?

 

[JuiceBox52]

Thank you @Byron , I'll do 12 cories for now and I'll see how it goes and maybe later on I'll add 3 cories.
As for the overstocking part, do mean that it doesn't actually make any problems? If yes, I know what you mean. I have now 1 year, maybe 1 year and a half experience of overtocking my tanks. After cycling my tanks, I've never had any problems with ammonia, ammonia spikes or water quality problems or any ICH or any diseases themselves. No nitrite problems, just having 20ppm of nitrate, but that's because my tap has 15ppm nitrates normally which means I should be getting 5ppm of NO3 in my tanks. That's why I use Prime for, and I do 50-75% water changes too to dilute everything bad in my tanks. The nitrate helps me with plants a lot too, when you mentioned the floating plants I instantly thought about Salvinia, from what I have heard is that Salvinia takes up ammonia too, since my tank is fully cycled, I'm having 0ppm of ammonia constantly, just nitrates too high, but they'll get sucked up by plants in and act as a natural fertiliser for them. I agree on this stuff with you, including the filter part.

@Deanasue , do they just zoom up and 'jump' out of water, or they zoom up and then crawl out of the tank like loaches do?

They just zoom up, they dont try to escape

 

[Salty&Onion]

They just zoom up, they dont try to escape

That'll be easy then lol, my DIY lid should survive this

 

[Sarah73]

Thank you @Byron , I'll do 12 cories for now and I'll see how it goes and maybe later on I'll add 3 cories.
As for the overstocking part, do mean that it doesn't actually make any problems? If yes, I know what you mean. I have now 1 year, maybe 1 year and a half experience of overtocking my tanks. After cycling my tanks, I've never had any problems with ammonia, ammonia spikes or water quality problems or any ICH or any diseases themselves. No nitrite problems, just having 20ppm of nitrate, but that's because my tap has 15ppm nitrates normally which means I should be getting 5ppm of NO3 in my tanks. That's why I use Prime for, and I do 50-75% water changes too to dilute everything bad in my tanks. The nitrate helps me with plants a lot too, when you mentioned the floating plants I instantly thought about Salvinia, from what I have heard is that Salvinia takes up ammonia too, since my tank is fully cycled, I'm having 0ppm of ammonia constantly, just nitrates too high, but they'll get sucked up by plants in and act as a natural fertiliser for them. I agree on this stuff with you, including the filter part.

@Deanasue , do they just zoom up and 'jump' out of water, or they zoom up and then crawl out of the tank like loaches do?

Well, hehehehehehe, so I keep both kuhli loaches and corydoras. I have over 40 kuhli loaches in my 60 gallon along with around 20 corydoras in my 60 gallon. I have over 40 corydoras in my 20 long(because they are all babies and growing!) and I have 20 in my 10 gallon hehe! So, kuhli loaches, in my experience have NEVER jumped out of the tank. I see them 24/7 along with the corydoras. I have a big gap from where the lid and filter touch, and I have never ever ever had one kuhli loach jump out. I see my kuhli's swimming around all the time. Especially up and down the sides of the glass . I see all of my bottom dwellers out all of the time. Now, to get to your question, it is really up to you. There is a lot of upsides and downsides to both species.