Corys

[welshfish1]

hope so they dont seem to stick together either very often they seem to swim off on their own a lot. Can I mix cory groups or should I just get more sterbai?

 

[Little_Nemo]

The Peppered Cory I purchased were £3.95 for one.

 

[twodoctors]

The Peppered Cory I purchased were £3.95 for one.

That's very expensive! Peppered cory are more like 3 for £6. Sterbai are expensive here, at £6 each.

Adrian

 

[Inchworm]

The sharpness of the gravel or sand wearing off barbels is pretty much a myth. Barbel erosion is largely a function of water quality. There was a nice experiment done with a tank with crushed glass substrate -- about as sharp as you can get -- with frequent large water changes, and a tank with sand and no water changes -- and the barbels eroded on the fish in the tank with sand and no water changes. (The study is on the Skeptical Aquarist's website, but it seems to be down at the moment.)

It is not that the sharpness of the substrate has no effect. I think that the sharpness does introduce cuts, and if the water quality is low, those cuts are more likely to be infected and result in erosion. But a main root cause is the water quality. Good water quality allows the cuts to heal without infection, poor water quality leads to barbel erosion no matter what substrate there is.

No, this is not true. This was a one off experiment, done by one person, one time. The results he claims to have had were most likely luck. Until I see this replicated a fair number of times, I cannot give it any credit whatsoever. For that matter, I know of no other experienced cory keepers/breeders who would even suggest keeping corys on a surface that could possibly be abrasive to their barbels.

Most often the problem that corys have with gravel, especially coarse gravel) is that uneated food bits work their way down into it and provide a good breeding environment for harmful bacteria. Since the corys spend so much of their time at the bottom, they are exposed to it. With sand, food tends to remain on the surface until eaten.

Take care to do regular water changes and, if you keep corys on gravel, vacuum the substrate often and well.

Edit: I will be moving your thread into the Corydoras section.

 

[Better is Betta]

The easiest to get and probably keep would be either Peppered Cory's or Bronze. They should be ok with your other fish as long as the temp isn't too high. Also it is highly advisable to have the cory's on sand rather than gravel as the gravel can hold harmful bacteria and the cory's can wear their whiskers away. On sand they will have a field day snuffling around in it. ideally you would need a decent school of cory's most people say around 6 but honestly they are happiest with more, it all depends on what sized tank you have and your current stocking of other fish. As most cory's are baught as juvi's it is really hard to try to sex them, but thankfully they are not an aggro fish and males don't fight or patrol territories so by just getting a group you are sure to get a mix of males and females.

I would suggest that you have a read through some of the posts in the Corydoras section of this forum and get some more insight into these great fish.

What temperature do the corys like as I have mine in with discus and its sitting on 29c I haven't had them for long is this too hot for them.

 

[fluttermoth]

Most cories would prefer a lower temp than that; sterbai might be ok, but I can't think of any others that won't have their lifespan significantly shortened.