Is It Ok To Mix And Match Corydoras?

[Elrohirthehasty]

I have one emerald, his 2 friends died quite some time ago. I would like to get 2 more corydoras. Could I mix and match i.e. have one emerlad, one julii, and one panda...or anything else really?

 

[mixmaster jay]

i have had no problem at all doing that so from my experience it should be fine as they are happier in shoals i usually do each species in two's or three's

 

[skippy_49nz]

They prefer to have a few of their own kind to hang with so you won't have as confident fish if you have one of each. They might hide away more and you won't get the full experience.

 

[keenonfish]

IMO nothing beats a largish school of the same species of cory combing the bottom of your tank. In my opinion it is as interesting as watching other species. However I also like the thought of mixing species as above maybe 3 or 4 groups of 3 or 4, if that makes sense

 

[three-fingers]

Go for the same species wherever possible .

In tanks with different shoals of a few species they dont usually mix, which suggests to me they much prefer species groups (which look much better anyway) .

Especially with "emerald" corydoras, as this name suggests they aren't even corydoras, but rather Brochis splendens.

In which case, you need more B.splendens and a corydoras species will not substitute.

 

[mbsqw1d]

I'm just about to head out and increase my 'shoal' of 4 corys to a few more. Have been reading up though and was surprised to learn that they prefer quite varied temperatures?? I've always kept quite a high temp in my tank (26-27C) to fend off any illnesses.

I currently have 2 x bronze (Myersi) and 2 x peppered (Paleatus). The book says the bronze are 'unusually sensitive to fluctuations in temperature and cannot tolerate low temperatures.' 'Keep at 24-28C'. However the Peppered 'Temperature 18-20C and certainly no higher than 23C'. Surely this should have been mentioned by my LFS as I bought them altogether?? Could this explain why my Bronze have outgrown the Peppered.

Hmmm... not sure what to buy when I visit LFS in an hours time now

Anyone know how important the right temp is for corys? thanks

 

[Inchworm]

Many species of corys have temperature ranges that overlap and in these cases it's fine to mix them. I have some lovely cory community tanks. But, I suspect you have some confusion here. C. aeneus is usually the species referred to as the bronze cory and they like a range between 21 - 27 C or 69 - 80 F. C. paleatus prefer their water temperature to be between 15 -25 C or 59 - 77 F. From what I have seen, they do better in the cooler temperatures than in the warm.

Depending on what other fish you have in your tank, you might want to lower your temperature a bit. Harmful bacteria tend to grow better at the warmer temperatures too. If you are looking for a cory that will thrive in warmer water I would recommend that you look for C. sterbai. They do well at 24 - 28 C or 75 - 82 F.