Suggestions for cory newcomer please

Pidge · Post by **Pidge** » 07 Nov 2003, 10:59

Hello,
Not kept catfish before but really enjoy this well maintained and friendly site.
I've been keeping a colwater community aquarium for a few years (fancy goldfish, white clouds and hillstream loaches) and now fancy keeping cories. I've got a 10 gallon (18.5" x 9" surface) I'm considering using and all the equipment necessary. The power filter and thermofilter are capable of turning over the volume 11 times per hour. I'll be moving to Reading soon, a hard water area. I was wondering what cories, if any, would be happy in this setup, which I'd like to be well planted with fine gravel, and the safest stocking level. At a guess I reckon the water will be slightly alkaline. Also, any recommendations on plant varieties would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Pete.

Allan · Post by **Allan** » 07 Nov 2003, 13:31

To a coldwater aquarium i would recommend Corydoras paleatus. It's very common in the trade, and one of the most tolerant cori'es both with temperature and water parameters.

But no cories do, to my knowledge, like an alkaline enviroment. But the paleatus will tolerate it as good as the other fish you have. Have you considered contacting the watersupply in your future hometown to get some precise info on the dH, Fe, kH and others?

In a 10 g (app. 40L) i would keep a group on 5 males and 2-3 females, considering that they have to share the tank with hillstream loaches and white cloud. How many of these fish do you keep? Imo it's a perfect setup (not same biotope, but a good match anyway), if you would just loose those goldfish!

If you really burst up your current to 11 times the volume/hour, i would choose plants like valisineria. Also plants like ceratophyllum would be good. Turnover on 11 times per hour is not really that much, but quite suitable for all your fish... exept the goldfish, maybe.

Using fine gravel is a really good idea with the cories, but make sure to have some nice smooth rocks for your hillstream loaches to rest on - I don't like it when they are allways resting on the glass, does not look natural.

Good luck with the catfishes!

Pidge · Post by **Pidge** » 07 Nov 2003, 14:08

Hi Allan,
Thanks for the reply. Just to clear things up a bit, the 10 gallon I'm talking about has no inhabitants. The other fish I've mentioned are in another established set-up containing 2 fancy goldfish, 6 adult white clouds (2 of which I've spwaned, got 50 1 month old fry in a nursery), and a hillstream loach.
I want to set-up a heated 10 gallon for cories, its already established and used to contain the colwater posse mentioned above. Cheers again.

Allan · Post by **Allan** » 07 Nov 2003, 16:23

Ohhh... I that case You can keep almost any Corydoras! - Only thing you might look into is maybe keeping the pH under 7.2 and the dH under 10, then you should be on your way with most cories. Have a good look at the Cat-eLog.

Are you looking to breed them, the easiest to begin with are still aeneus and paleatus.

Plants are a good idea, but be sure that they have a good deal of bottom free. Avoid delicate plants, that don't like the cori's messing with their roots.

Pidge · Post by **Pidge** » 07 Nov 2003, 16:30

Cheers again Allan.
Won't be thinking about breeding again for a while until my WCCMs are big enough to find homes for but if it happens it happens and I'll end up buying more tanks! Just another question, how many corys will I be able to house in a 10g? Was thinking of juliis, sterbas and adolfis, sorry if the spellings wrong. Thanks again for your replies.
Pete

Allan · Post by **Allan** » 07 Nov 2003, 16:34

I would say 7-12 is a nice school for a tank your size.

YouTube · Post by **Jools** » 07 Nov 2003, 16:37

I would avoid C. adolfoi unless you are buying tank raised ones acclimatized to neutral pH. Wild ones will not enjoy the experience. C. trilineatus (what you are calling C. julii) are a good bet, and maybe 10 would be really good in your tank. Maybe a few less if you go for C. sterbai as they are a bigger cory.

Have you thought about a big shoal of small (dwarf) corys?

Jools

Pidge · Post by **Pidge** » 07 Nov 2003, 18:23

Hi Jools,
cheers for the advice, dwarf corys, thats a nice idea. I'll have a look on the species page. All in all good news, I was worried the 10g might be too small for a decent size schoal but the feedback has been very encouraging and useful.
Pete.