# Cory fish requirments?



## tropicalgirl3 (1 mo ago)

I was hoping to keep a shoal of some sort Cory catfish. I have a 55 gallon tank but it has grvael at the bottom. I wasnt sure if Cory's could live with gravel, so i though i would as yall. That or Khuli loaches was my idea. 

If it doesn't work, i request an explanation. And maybe some bottom feeder suggestions, i REALLY don't like plecos, so preferably no pleco. UNless it stays under 5 inches.


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## tropicalgirl3 (1 mo ago)

@susankat @Dlaw


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## Dlaw (6 mo ago)

Gravel isn't a great choice for corys, as they interact with the substrate with their barbles (the things that look like whiskers), and they can break the barbles off on sharp bits. I don't think Kuhli Loaches are a great fit for your tank size, but there are some smaller loaches you could look into. Kuhlis get pretty big, up to 6" if I'm not mistaken, and they're shoalers like corys.

Yoyo loaches could be a good choice, or if you're looking for more of an algae eater, otos might be worth looking into. Siamese algae eaters might be an option as well.

Edit: disregard what I said about Kuhlis. I had them confused with a different species.


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## Dlaw (6 mo ago)

Also, you said no plecos unless they under 5", in that category there's the clown pleco, as well as a few exotics that you probably won't want to pay for if you're anything like me.

I just did a little more research on Kuhli loaches, and from what I see they would be fine, but I don't have any experience with them. For some reason, my mind went strait to one of the bigger "standard" loaches, like the clown loach.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Kuhle loaches are fun and does best in large groups as they are very playful. They do like to bury in sand though


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## Dlaw (6 mo ago)

It just so happens that Fluval just dropped a video on corys yesterday, it just showed up in my feed.


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## Tetra234 (1 mo ago)

A 55gal, nice.. 
Personally I'd just ditch the gravel.. It's not easy advice but you'll be compensating from start to finish..


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## tropicalgirl3 (1 mo ago)

Thats's too bad! i gotta love cories, Maybe Yoyo loaches, any other suggestions. I will definetly look into oto catfish.


Tetra234 said:


> A 55gal, nice..
> Personally I'd just ditch the gravel.. It's not easy advice but you'll be compensating from start to finish..


I honestly don't have the money to ditch all my gravel. Especially since it's a 55 gallon tank! 11 bucks for a pound of sand... Plus how would i replace everything when theres already live plants and other fish in it. 

ANY other suggestions?


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## tropicalgirl3 (1 mo ago)

@Dlaw


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## Dlaw (6 mo ago)

How deep is the gravel? Corys only dig to about their eyeballs, so if you could get a layer of sand about an inch deep above the gravel, I wouldn't worry about it anymore. Nutrient dense substrate like Stratum would work in the same way. Unfortunately, neither option is likely to be cheap.

Edit: If you went this route, you would want to let the tank settle for around 6 months in my opinion before adding corys. The sand will move around and wear the top layer of gravel down as it does, making it much safer for the corys.


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## tropicalgirl3 (1 mo ago)

Dlaw said:


> How deep is the gravel? Corys only dig to about their eyeballs, so if you could get a layer of sand about an inch deep above the gravel, I wouldn't worry about it anymore. Nutrient dense substrate like Stratum would work in the same way. Unfortunately, neither option is likely to be cheap.
> 
> Edit: If you went this route, you would want to let the tank settle for around 6 months in my opinion before adding corys. The sand will move around and wear the top layer of gravel down as it does, making it much safer for the corys.


2-3 inches deep... I will see what they got, but im not sure i will be able to keep cory's.


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## Dlaw (6 mo ago)

That is a lot of gravel to cover. Unfortunately I would agree with you.


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## Teslacron (2 mo ago)

tropicalgirl3 said:


> I honestly don't have the money to ditch all my gravel. Especially since it's a 55 gallon tank! 11 bucks for a pound of sand... Plus how would i replace everything when theres already live plants and other fish in it.
> 
> ANY other suggestions?


Corydoras pygmaeus. Pygmy Cory. Tiny species that loves to shoal. They do fine on gravel, spend most of the time swimming higher up in the tank, plus you have live plants. 55 gallons? Would recommend a dozen. They are a small but active species.



tropicalgirl3 said:


> I was hoping to keep a shoal of some sort Cory catfish. I have a 55 gallon tank but it has grvael at the bottom. I wasnt sure if Cory's could live with gravel, so i though i would as yall. That or Khuli loaches was my idea.
> 
> If it doesn't work, i request an explanation. And maybe some bottom feeder suggestions, i REALLY don't like plecos, so preferably no pleco. UNless it stays under 5 inches.


alternate bottom feeder? Totally depends on how big your current fish are, but my fav is Pimelodus pictus. They are a small but predatory species. Adults often display unique personalities.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Check on pool filter sand, but as long as the gravel isn't sharp you should be fine.


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## soraclarkefields (3 mo ago)

Cory's should do fine as long as the gravel is not sharp


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## tropicalgirl3 (1 mo ago)

OKay! I will check with what my local fish sore has. My gravel seems to be pretty round and no sharp points seen. I like the sounds of pygmy corys


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## Dlaw (6 mo ago)

Pygmys are cool! The ones around me are just prohibitively expensive, but when you figure in the cost of shipping from an online seller, it make sense. All of my LFSs are really small, so they carry a small stock. Anyway, I haven't actually seen Pygmys, but pandas are $25 for 2. That's $150 for 12. My god.

If I asked for them, I'm sure I'd get them at a discount, but I don't want to use that perk just yet.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

There is also Hastatus cory, they utilize center of tank and plants


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## Dlaw (6 mo ago)

susankat said:


> There is also Hastatus cory, they utilize center of tank and plants
> View attachment 33379


How big do they get? They have the shape of bigger catfish like the redtail. They look cool!


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Less than 1 1/4 inch


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## cantstop (1 mo ago)

I have never had a problem with corys and gravel (although, what size stones are gravel, vs pebbles, vs coarse sand?). Maybe we just don't get sharp gravel here. I'd just get a deal from your LFS on a group of them. My store sells them cheaper if you buy five at a time.

Yoyos get big and fast and end up annoying all the other residents in my experience. Siamese algae eaters also get quite big, but I like them a lot more.


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## Gamegurl (4 mo ago)

tropicalgirl3 said:


> OKay! I will check with what my local fish sore has. My gravel seems to be pretty round and no sharp points seen. I like the sounds of pygmy corys


They are adorable! In a school would look so cool.


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## Dlaw (6 mo ago)

cantstop said:


> I have never had a problem with corys and gravel (although, what size stones are gravel, vs pebbles, vs coarse sand?). Maybe we just don't get sharp gravel here. I'd just get a deal from your LFS on a group of them. My store sells them cheaper if you buy five at a time.
> 
> Yoyos get big and fast and end up annoying all the other residents in my experience. Siamese algae eaters also get quite big, but I like them a lot more.


Yoyos stay around the 2.5" area, and I thought they were some of the more laid back loaches? Siamese algae eaters do get into the 6" range, I didn't realize they got that big, I thought they were another 3"ish fish. Still, according to the Google, 55g is plenty for one, maybe even two.

Doesn't seem to matter, as it sounds like OP is going with some pygmys.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

All you need to do is pick a spot remove gravel and slowly pour in sand, it's like making a pool in just a certain area. maybe about 6 inches diameter.


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## Tetra234 (1 mo ago)

Gamegurl said:


> They are adorable! In a school would look so cool.


I've currently got a school of Cory's and one thing to keep in mind is that they can easily outcompete other bottom feader fish.. Their comparable to sharks the moment the food hits the water.. Never seen such relentless eaters..


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## Deathdealer91 (Jul 23, 2014)

tropicalgirl3 said:


> Thats's too bad! i gotta love cories, Maybe Yoyo loaches, any other suggestions. I will definetly look into oto catfish.
> 
> I honestly don't have the money to ditch all my gravel. Especially since it's a 55 gallon tank! 11 bucks for a pound of sand... Plus how would i replace everything when theres already live plants and other fish in it.
> 
> ANY other suggestions?


The easiest way would be to take everything out. Drain it and get the gravel out. Then reinstat everything back into the tank. You could just take out everything alive and get all the gravel out with water in tank. Fair warning this way fouls up the water to look nasty for awhile. I use fluval bio stratum. I've got cories on it and they are fine. But its expensive. For an 8.8 lb bag $32 in my area. So your sand at 11 bucks a pound would probably be a better deal. You could also just take some of the gravel out and put sand on top. But this could cause issues later. So its probably best to empty the tank. Oh and I've got 5 aquariums with fluval bio stratum. Guess I'm bougie when it comes to my aquariums. 😆


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## Dlaw (6 mo ago)

Deathdealer91 said:


> The easiest way would be to take everything out. Drain it and get the gravel out. Then reinstat everything back into the tank. You could just take out everything alive and get all the gravel out with water in tank. Fair warning this way fouls up the water to look nasty for awhile. I use fluval bio stratum. I've got cories on it and they are fine. But its expensive. For an 8.8 lb bag $32 in my area. So your sand at 11 bucks a pound would probably be a better deal. You could also just take some of the gravel out and put sand on top. But this could cause issues later. So its probably best to empty the tank. Oh and I've got 5 aquariums with fluval bio stratum. Guess I'm bougie when it comes to my aquariums. 😆


I've only got 2 aquariums with Stratum, but it's easily my favorite substrate. In the future, I don't think I'll even add sand to it anymore, as I like the way it looks without, and the sand just kind of ends up sifting through to the bottom anyway. At least for me it does.


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## Deathdealer91 (Jul 23, 2014)

Dlaw said:


> I've only got 2 aquariums with Stratum, but it's easily my favorite substrate. In the future, I don't think I'll even add sand to it anymore, as I like the way it looks without, and the sand just kind of ends up sifting through to the bottom anyway. At least for me it does.


Haven't used sand in years. But yes fluval seems to work better then most aqausoils


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## tropicalgirl3 (1 mo ago)

I will see what i can get...


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## Gamegurl (4 mo ago)

I think Susan has suggested pool sand I think, as it is inexpensive.


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