Is This Right ...

[Akasha72]

hi guys

I went to the aquatic centre today to try get some dried tubiflex blocks (they seem to be like hens teeth at the moment) and whilst I was there I couldn't resist having a look round.

They had loads of baby panda cories and they all looked so very cute ... I stood looking at the tank drooling

Anyway, I stayed strong but as I paid for my dried brine shrimp (no tubiflex there either) I asked how many cories could I fit in a 3ft tank ...

The guy said "oh about 12"





That didn't sit right with me so I made my excuses, vowing to come on here tonight and ask what you guys think, and left.


And all my fish did with the brine shrimp was nip at it then spit it out ... guess they don't like that then

 

[Cazgar]

Oh my that's a lot of corys, but they are there to sell you stuff.
I'd say 6 ish would be enough in a 3 ft

 

[JL94x4]

Ive got 21 corys in my 4foot 280 Litre tank.

 

[bae1994]

I'd of thought 12 would be comfortable in a 3ft too imo

 

[Cazgar]

Ive got 21 corys in my 4foot 280 Litre tank.

Wow that's a lot of corys, bet they look great though, they are one of my favourite fish

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Depends an awful lot on the species in question, the other dimensions of the tank and what tankmates are in there (less midwater swimmers means more responsible bioload can be the catfish).

Last spring and early summer, I had 10 4-5cm sterbai and 11 5-6cm Brochis splendens in my 4-foot Rio240, just casually sitting on the sand they used about a third of the tank floor and the Brochis still had some growing to do.

 

[JL94x4]

Ive got 21 corys in my 4foot 280 Litre tank.

Wow that's a lot of corys, bet they look great though, they are one of my favourite fish

Got to agree, i love corys too.

 

[Akasha72]

I'm totally sold on cories - they are my favourites. Currently I have 3 peppered and a male and female bronze. In an ideal world I'd have some panda cories too but I'm worried my tank would be too small for that amount. It's not quite 3ft (it's 32") and it's 14" front to back.

My bronze pair are fully grown and spend most of their time chilling out on the substrate. One of my peppered is fully grown too but the other two are only about 3".

12 in that size tank though ... surely that's too many?

I've just noticed my title has a typo - it was meant to say "it doesn't feel right"

 

[fluttermoth]

I honestly think you'd be better off getting more of the species you have rather than getting different ones.

 

[Akasha72]

I honestly think you'd be better off getting more of the species you have rather than getting different ones.

The thing is - despite the species difference they all interact with each other. I often see a bronze cory sat happily nose to nose with a peppered. It almost like they don't know they're different. I expected the two different species to ignore each other but they do the opposite.
I did have 4 peppered but I lost one last week and I have considered replacing it. I still fancy some panda's though

 

[Cazgar]

My peppers tend to stick together as do the albinos.

 

[Akasha72]

My peppers tend to stick together as do the albinos.

Mine are just strange then ... no matter, I like strange

 

[Cazgar]

I like strange too, my sanchesi never seem to stick together, they tend to pair off all over the tank.
The habrosus are very shy, I hardly see them

 

[Akasha72]

so back to my original question ... 12 cories in my tank would be reasonably okay-ish?

I may go looking for a replacement peppered tomorrow and consider adding maybe 3 or 4 panda's later. My bronze pair are always spawning so they're obviously happy so I'll leave their numbers alone.

If I do decide to get a few panda cories I could easily take some of my stones out to give more space.


12 still seems like a lot but from what I'm understanding from the responses it's not as bad as it seems

 

[Cazgar]

Tbh if the stocking in your signature is current, I'd not add the replacement peppered & go for maybe 6 pandas to start with as peppers can grow quite large.
Don't know if my Lfs has mutant corys, but some of theirs must be 5/6 inches!