Will 3 Cories Be Lonely In A 10 Gallon?

[NewFeesh]

So I'm *finally* getting my fish after cycling, and I just wanted to clarify the social-ness of cory cats.

I've got a 10 gallon tank, so I don't have a whole lotta space for loads of fish, and I don't want to overstock. On the other hand, I don't want my cory cats to be lonely.

I've read that cories need to be kept in schools of at least 4. I've also read that they can be okay by themselves. If I got 2 or 3, would they be okay? What's the minimum number of cories I need to keep in order for them to be comfortable?

Thanks!

 

[JoshuaA]

I think to begin with you need to know what type of Corys you want.

At the moment I only have Bronze and Pygmy, I only have 4 bronze which I do have intentions of expanding on but my LFS doesn't have any in stock. There is something about their pinkish belly I love when they swim up around. They seem to play a lot together. Then my pygmy I have 6 of those, I originally had 8 but due to the large tank they were in needing larger filtration unfortunately they got sucked they lasted 6 weeks before one got stuck in the filter intake. I wasn't able to find the other one anywhere in my filter/tank/substrate ( I did a complete tank revamp 2 weeks ago ). Anyway my Pygmy are now in a 40litre tank or otherwise known as a 10g in a school of 6 along with a lonely red cherry shrimp. I would happily put more in however I'm currently waiting for my LFS to source some green neon tetras to see if I can put them in there.

With all that, I would say in a 10g you are looking at the smaller breeds, breeds like bronzes in a group of 4 would outgrow a 10g tank at the adult age quite badly and if you have ornaments they probably wouldn't have much room for them. (I bought my bigger tank because I started with bronzes in a 40l eep).

Furthermore you are best asking in the Cory specific section for further breeds!

Edit: With the fish I have in my main tank I think the corys are probably the one fish that really genuinely get on with everyone else in the tank, so much so that no one even bats an eye lid when they bump into them or trys to get underneath them! Even my snails some how know the difference between a cory and my finger.

 

[Jenste]

what else will be in the tank? you could do pygmy cories and up the schoal to 6

 

[NewFeesh]

Guppies. And a dwarf gourami.

I like the look of emerald cories, but they get big too, huh?

Any thoughts on a mixed cory shoal? Or would that just be mean?

 

[Jenste]

mixed shoals are not a good idea if it can be avoided - -

I actually do have a mixed shoal from fish that were quite literally dropped off at my desk at work - but in my case, none of the LFS carry either species so I am keeping them as content as possible all together in a ten gallon tank.


Your best bet would be to either get 4 regular cories, or 6 pygmys

 

[JoshuaA]

Your best bet would be to either get 4 regular cories, or 6 pygmys

If your tank is cycled and wasn't too heavily stocked I would say 6 - 8 as the pygmys shoal together so well, somewhat like rummy hose tetra. If I find one I find them all, they all love sitting on the log together... you know the old 10 green bottles standing on the wall... just like that.

However since you said the tank is stocked already I would say to go with the 6 pygmy, just be wary if you have dark substrate (black or by any chance amazonia) then you will probably never see them! Hence why I moved mine along with the filter issue!

 

[NewFeesh]

Thanks, all. I don't think my LFS has pygmies . . . but they've got peppered cories, and I like those. So I think I'll get four of those guys and see how it goes.

 

[Wills]

A group of 5 peppered would be okay with some kind of feature fish and maybe some shrimp

Dont get the emeralds though seriously they grow HUGE! I mean massive I have seen adults once or twice and they are seriously huge fish.

Wills