How to feed cories appropriately?

[crimsonpython24]

Hello all,

Does anyone have tips on how to give cories the right amount of food? For me, it was hard to tell cuz they don't swim to the surface whenever I feed like danios do.

I use these tablets but I often overfeed because I don't want them to starve, where the uneaten food often results in some kinda gross stuff that I must wipe out every week during a 40% water change.

Can anyone please help?

 

[Byron]

Several points here to mention, starting with the type of food. Corydoras are not vegetarian and they never eat algae or plant matter; they will be seen browsing algal mats on surfaces, but they are looking for microscopic food bits, not algae. Their digestive systems cannot process plant/algae matter well.

Sinking foods that are high in insects, insect large, and crustaceans should be the primary food. Omega One Shrimp Pellets is ideal, and perhaps even better are the Fluval Bug Bites. These foods sink, and the bug bites can be stirred in the water to make them sink rapidly. The cories will then filter feed on them from the substrate (which should be fine smooth sand).

As for quantity, I always put in the flake food for the upper fish and then immediately add the sinking food; the upper fish will be more interested in the flake most of the time. And fish do not need as much food as manufacturers tell us...one feeding a day, even missing alternate days, does no harm to healthy fish. You should never see leftovers as you describe. I have some 40 cories in one tank and they take maybe an hour depending upon the food type.

Frozen (fresh frozen) bloodworms and daphnia are also relished by cories, and can be fed once a week as a treat if you like. But the mentioned prepared dried sinking foods are very nutritious.

 

[Boundava]

Just to add to the great info above...
They also love frozen/freeze dried tubifex worms and live blackworms if you know of a petstore that sells them. Sometimes if I put in a shrimp for the pekoltia and cichlids and they will also graze on that.

 

[ITViking]

I use Fluval 'Bug Bites' to feed all my bottom feeders, Cory's Pleco, etc. High concertation of insect protein. They seem to love them.

 

[Boundava]

I also feed them Repashy bottom scratcher. I feed a lot of the repashy foods to my fish, they love it.

 

[coriesinhawaii]

I alternate Hikari sinking wafers with Hikari carnivore sinking wafers and a frozen food (bloodworms, mysis shrimp, or brine shrimp). Imagine that the cory’s stomach is about as big as his eye when estimating how many wafers to put in. You can adjust based on how much uneaten food you’re picking up during cleaning.

Interestingly, I can actually tell if mine haven’t gotten enough too. They’re more persistent with continuing to comb the substrate for food if they’ve been underfed versus just being gluttons. If they’re just being gluttonous they get disinterested after a while and move on to other activities. But I’m not sure if that’s true for all cories.