Trying To Pick The Right Cory

[Inkling]

Hi All,

I am wanting to add a school of cories to my tank. It is a 45L that has recently finished cycling. I have 2 swordtails, 2 platies and 6 serpae tetra. I am wanting to add 6+ cories so that I can see their playful funloving behavior. I really like the look of the pandas but some of the posts here seem to consider them fragile and with the serpae being notoriously semi-aggressive I dont want to get the cories stressed out.

What cory species would be best?

Thanks

 

[dwarfgourami]

Sorry to be unhelpful, but it sounds to me as if your tank is stocked already. Swordtails are quite boisterous and need a lot of swimming space- and if yours are juvies you may expect to see them grow a bit.
Also, no corys cope well with aggression, pandas are not unusual in this respect (their fragility is more about water quality).
The ideal solution would be to get a 3 foot tank for the swordtails and serpas and maybe a bristlenose plec or something, then get a group of corys to share with the platys.
Not trying to lead you into temptation or anything, of course....

 

[Inkling]

I thought for sure I could at one more species to the tank since it is 45 gallons and I'm calculating that the mature inches of fish will be approximately as follows...

Serpae 6 x 1.75 = 10.5
Platies 2 x 2.5 = 5
Swords 2 x 4 = 8
Total = 23.5 inches of fish

I'm somewhat new to all of this, but I was hoping for another species. If cories can't go in there can anything else?

 

[jollysue]

Hi Inkling, I believe, because you don't say where you are, dwarfgourami, who is from the UK, assumed that 45L was 45 litres. I looked and could not tell what you meant for sure, but am unfamiliar with a 45 usg long, so I let it be.

I am not familiar with the fish you have. If none are more aggressive that the serpae and there is cover for the Corys, a group of 6 should be ok. I would choose a hardier Cory than panda. If you plan to keep the community below 73 degrees F, peppers fair well in a community. Bronze might do well at 75. Over 75, C. sterbai is a delightful character and pretty hardy. But it really depends more on what your lps has in stock, doesn't it?

Good luck and post pictures of your new aquisitions.

 

[Inkling]

It is indeed a 45 gallon "long" set up (48" x 12" x 18"). Sorry for the confusion; I wasn't thinking internationally. =)

I will research the ones you mentioned and keep everyone posted. Thanks for the help.

 

[jollysue]

Actually giving names to the local fish or pet store is a bit useless. They call them many more names than the correct one. So just find a healthy group of Corys--I recommend a minimum of 6--and enjoy the curious creatures.

 

[OldMan47]

Some nice cories that you are likely to find are paleatus, often called peppered, and trilineatus, frequently called julii but they are really a false julii. Julii are also nice but are seldom seen. Any of them would work well in a 45 gallon. Take a hard look at what your lfs has. If one of them strikes your fancy, its probably the best choice for you. Don't worry about what we might think here. The whole point is to enjoy the cories and their antics.

 

[Inkling]

Well, I went with the bronze corys and they are a blast. I added 6 of them and they've livened up the whole tank. Other than a couple of ottos I might add later I think I've got the tank stocked now.

Thinking about the possibility of making a cory only tank now! They are quite interesting.

 

[jollysue]

Glad you are enjoying them. They are a great fish. Sounds like you got a nice healthy group.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Just saw this- me being an idiot and forgetting about the 45 (gallons) Long. And of course my remarks on aggression were based on an idea of how serpas might behave if stuck in a titchy 10 gallon tank- so totally irrelevant I'm glad Sue came to put me right and glad you're enjoying your fish.