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I've never been much of a fan of cories but I saw some really cute ones at the LFS store the other day. Some were good sized ones, some were real small (probably baby ones). I want to put some in my 55 but I don't want them to take up too much space. I'd rather save the space for fish, so what are the some of the smaller corys? Right now I have:

6 platy (1 preg., 3f 3m)
5 red eye tetra
1 lyretail molly
1 female swordtail
=approx. 30 inches

**planning on adding some more platy but getting rid of 2 that I already have (1m1f), going to get 3 more red eyes maybe, 1m sword, and some more mollies (all types including balloon), maybe guppies but I've been thinking about getting some bettas instead (1m2-3f)..but I don't know if the red eyes would like that too much

By the way anyone know if I could keep 5-8 red eye tetra in a 29gallon with two breeding convict cichlids? ( I might have to ask in the cichlid forum but just thought since I was already on the subject of the redeyes that I'd ask anyway)

Cories really don't add much of a bioload plus they occupy a different area of the tank than the other fish. If you're looking for some really small cories then pygmaeus and habrosus don't get bigger than 1.5 inches. Also, panda, punctatus, arcuatus and elegans don't get bigger than around 2-2.2 inches. You should be able to put 6-8 of those or 10-12 of the pygmaeus/habrosus in there.

Really, any of the smaller cories as suggested above would work out in your tank.

As far as the red eye's are concerned, if it was me I wouldn't be placing them in a tank with a breeding pair of convicts. Convicts are just to protective and territorial and when breeding pretty much will take on any and all that invade what they consider to be their space. I think you would probably end up with some losses if you do so.

Jim

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

I wouldn't add any Bettas with Red Eye Tetras.

The Corydoras would be fine & hope you'll get a school of 6 or 8 & you'll enjoy them for sure.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

I'd go further and keep ANY long finned fish away from Red Eye Tetras - they're notorious fin nippers.

I'd also go easy on the Molly plans if I were you, because Sailfin Mollies in particular need hard, alkaline water for reasonable health, which would conflict with most of your Cory choices (remember Corys are Amazonian fishes and prefer soft, acidic water that would debilitate the Mollies). In fact, I'd leave Poecilia velifera Mollies out of that tank altogether as they should be given brackish water, and brackish water would shorten the life span of a Corydoras considerably.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Well I have hard water here, and already have some mollies and other livebearers so I guess I'll have to leave out the cories . I'm not using salt though because I have tetra in the tank too. How about a small pleco instead? Do they do ok in hardwater? I've seen alot lately at the LFS that say they only get to around 5" , some say up to like 24" or something! Can plecos and snails go together?

If your Corys are locally sourced and have adapted to your local water conditions, it's still OK to go ahead with them. While providing the fishes with optimum conditions is usually the way to go, providing them with habitble conditions if they belong to a population that has already become acclimatised to your local water is the next best thing.

In the case of those species that have been domesticated for a long time (Bronze, Peppered) keeping the pH nailed to 6.8 doesn't matter so much as keeping their water clean and relatively free of excess nitrates. So if your aquarium has space for a population of 6 or 8 Bronze or Peppered Corys, this is a choice you could make with ease. The problems arise if you start looking at a more exotic species, particularly if the fishes in question are wild caught. For example, one species that requires very careful attention to acclimatisation is Corydoras axelrodi, which is notorious for being a bad traveller and being e to transport shock in a big way. This is a species that should be avoided by inexperienced keepers even IF they have optimum water conditions, because it is likely to keel over and die with little provocation unless acclimatisation is conducted with the care and attention you would devote to an intensive care ward in a hospital.

The trick here is to look for locally bred specimens if you can acquire them. If the fishes have been bred and raised in your local water, then that's a good sign - they'll be adaptable to your aquarium, and the caveats I issued above need not apply too strongly. This is a particular issue for American aquarists because of the existence of online fish purchasing capacity - it's possible that if you buy a sought after fish online, it could have been shipped across six state lines and travelled 1,000 miles before arriving at your door, and the water chemistry that the fishes are used to could be radically different from yours. This is one reason why online fish shopping should be approached with caution even if the supplier is a high quality one and ships its fishes in ways that enhance survival prospects. Having said that, however, there's no way on earth that Corydoras axelrodi would survive being shipped 1,000 miles in 3 hours aboard an internal flight, given that it's likely to exhibit severe transport shock after a 15 minute car ride from your LFS to your home ...


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002