OT Way OT Cory Cats

[reptileszz]

Hi all, thank you all for the advice with the frog and the cory cats. It took me the better part of the day overall but here is what I came up with so far... It's a 10 gallon tank. I rinsed sand again til I was blue in the face. I "cleaned" out my turtle tank Fluval filter and stole some of the bio max bead things in there and part of one of the pads that had PLENTY of good bacteria on it and put that in the new underwater filter by Fluval. I bought 3 new plants plus 2 marimo moss balls. I used about 5 gallons of the water from the frog tank plus new treated with Prime. Then I went fishing in the frog tank. AND THE FROG IS STILL IN THERE! Caught the 3 cory cats with no problem at all. I was envisioning destroying all my artwork in there and having to redo all my planting but no, they came very peaceably. They seem happy in the new tank. They are rooting around in the sand where there is nothing to eat and ignoring the shrimp pellets I bought them.

I think I got this right now. I hope. Here are a couple of photos. I hope its ok to post this here since it is sooooo OT!

Thanks,
Carole


The first one was my first attempt at decorating. The second one is what I settled on. And the 3rd one is the three amigos. Now, since my filter should be all precycled and whatnot, if I take readings and they are ok should I go get a couple more cats to make them happy in school or should I wait and make sure its all good?

Thanks again!

[Jenste]

Very nice! I believe the cories you have are Axelrod Cories aka Pink cories.

edit: looking again I can't tell if they are bandit cories...

What were they labeled as? Just curious as you will want to get the same species when you up the school.

[rodsboys]

If your parameters are good I'd say go ahead and add the rest of your school.

[reptileszz]

Very nice! I believe the cories you have are Axelrod Cories aka Pink cories.

edit: looking again I can't tell if they are bandit cories...

What were they labeled as? Just curious as you will want to get the same species when you up the school.

I was looking all over for the receipt so I could write down what they are and its gone. I know where they are in the store so I think I am going to go tomorrow and get 2 more. I have read anywhere from 4-6 is a minimum number. 6 might be too much for a 10 gallon when they get bigger so was thinking 5 altogether?

Thanks!
Carole

PS testing frog water now. Then on to fish water

[reptileszz]

Very nice! I believe the cories you have are Axelrod Cories aka Pink cories.

edit: looking again I can't tell if they are bandit cories...

What were they labeled as? Just curious as you will want to get the same species when you up the school.

I think Axelrod is what it said on the tank now that you say it. It definitely began with an A but I looked at like 6 different kinds and couldnt remember which I settled on. How I can lose a receipt in less than 24 hours is a wonder.

Thanks,
Carole

[reptileszz]

OK, ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrates somewhere at or under 40ppm which is better than the frog tank. I wonder about that biowheel... pH is high at 7.6 but I am reading on forums that a lot of people say they are fine with that. The literature says 7 but people keep them at 7.6-7.8 so hoping its all good.

Thanks!

[Jenste]

They will be fine at that pH. It is a good guide and you should always avoid the extremes but chances are your local pet stores have similar pH to you and they do not change the pH from tank to tank so their stock are all accustomed to it.

[Felis]

They will be fine at that pH. It is a good guide and you should always avoid the extremes but chances are your local pet stores have similar pH to you and they do not change the pH from tank to tank so their stock are all accustomed to it.

I agree. A lower value might be better, but the most important thing is to keep the pH as stable as possible! Swings mean much more stress to fish than a not-that-optimal, but stable value. Good luck with your cats (Corys are among my favorite fish, by the way )

P.S.: I´m glad that you chose sand rather than gravel; they´ll enjoy this!

[rodsboys]

Ph is not as important as stability. The PH from the tap here is 8.3. People breed all the same stuff here that anyone else breeds including discus. I myself have spawned numerous "low PH" fish with no problems.

[Mentat]

Hi Carole! Agree with Jen's first choice; those look like young Corydoras axelrodi or very close species: Corydoras axelrodi • Callichthyidae • Cat-eLog. As others mentioned; a higher pH is not as bad as a change in it. Because it's a logarithmic scale; every unit marks a huge change for fish so they should never be exposed to more than 0.2 change in 24 hours. Only thing to watch is that as ph increases, it makes ammonia more lethal to fish.

Now here are the bad news... C. axelrodi grows to 2 in., so you will eventually have three 2in. fish plus your frog(s). My recommendation is to stay with your 3 fish and add a couple of little frogs. Reason is the in. per gallon rule really only applies to 1 in. fish; and as fish grow the rule applies less until it doesn't. To illustrate, you can keep ten 1 in. Tetras in a 10 gal. tank; but can't keep a 10 in. cichlid in it. Tank looks nice, good luck with it !

[reptileszz]

Hi Carole! Agree with Jen's first choice; those look like young Corydoras axelrodi or very close species: Corydoras axelrodi • Callichthyidae • Cat-eLog. As others mentioned; a higher pH is not as bad as a change in it. Because it's a logarithmic scale; every unit marks a huge change for fish so they should never be exposed to more than 0.2 change in 24 hours. Only thing to watch is that as ph increases, it makes ammonia more lethal to fish.

Now here are the bad news... C. axelrodi grows to 2 in., so you will eventually have three 2in. fish plus your frog(s). My recommendation is to stay with your 3 fish and add a couple of little frogs. Reason is the in. per gallon rule really only applies to 1 in. fish; and as fish grow the rule applies less until it doesn't. To illustrate, you can keep ten 1 in. Tetras in a 10 gal. tank; but can't keep a 10 in. cichlid in it. Tank looks nice, good luck with it !

Hi, the corys are alone in a 10 gallon. The frog is elsewhere.

Thanks

[reptileszz]

OK, one more question about the cories. I have been reading and reading and reading about them and what I could possibly put in with them. I keep seeing that 6 cories is too much for a 10 gal and that they need to be kept in groups of 4-6. So my new plan is to go buy one more cory to go with the group. I wanted to get another sort of fish that utilizes the mid to upper level of the tank but am having trouble getting good info. Everything is conflicting. I dont want to overstock/overload the filter. What I saw a number of times on a number of sites was one male betta would work with cories. Would this work? The other fish I really like is called a galaxy rasbora. They are really really pretty. I cant seem to figure out if a couple of them would be a good idea or not. Other sites mention cherry shrimp which seem cool but hang out on the bottom like the cats. Any and all advice appreciated from fish people. I ask here because I trust you guys.

Thank you so much.
Carole

PS the new frog (nameless) has been finally sighted eating!

[Jenste]

You really should focus on making the school of cories as large as possible rather than adding another species. Rasboras are a schooling species also but should not be kept in a school smaller than 8.

With schools, your number 1 priority is to make them as large as possible. I still feel that if properly filtered your system will be just fine with 6 cories. They love groups and there's no such thing as territories or too many buddies for cories.

If you up your filtration or add more plants (and are diligent with water changes and monitoring your parameters)....well if this was *my* tank, I wouldn't hesitate to do both schools. I am comfortable with slightly overstocking my tanks as I am manic about water changes, testing my water, and all of my tanks have live plants in them.

Again, that is your choice and only you can make it. I do recommend focusing on the schooling aspect rather than the diversity aspect.

As far as your frog eating...YAY!!!!

[reptileszz]

You really should focus on making the school of cories as large as possible rather than adding another species. Rasboras are a schooling species also but should not be kept in a school smaller than 8.

With schools, your number 1 priority is to make them as large as possible. I still feel that if properly filtered your system will be just fine with 6 cories. They love groups and there's no such thing as territories or too many buddies for cories.

If you up your filtration or add more plants (and are diligent with water changes and monitoring your parameters)....well if this was *my* tank, I wouldn't hesitate to do both schools. I am comfortable with slightly overstocking my tanks as I am manic about water changes, testing my water, and all of my tanks have live plants in them.

Again, that is your choice and only you can make it. I do recommend focusing on the schooling aspect rather than the diversity aspect.

As far as your frog eating...YAY!!!!

Thank you. I think 6 cories and 8 rasbora might overwhelm my system. Any thoughts on the betta? It sounded ridiculous at first but then a number of forums/sites recommended it as an option with cories.

[Jenste]

Thank you. I think 6 cories and 8 rasbora might overwhelm my system. Any thoughts on the betta? It sounded ridiculous at first but then a number of forums/sites recommended it as an option with cories.

I apologize, I had completely missed the part about the betta...yes! A betta would work very well.

[reptileszz]

I apologize, I had completely missed the part about the betta...yes! A betta would work very well.

Done! 6 cories and a blue betta plus 3 cherry shrimp. I realize too late that the betta might eat the shrimp. Expensive lesson but theynare still in there after several hours. Tank looks slightly cloudy and has looked that way all,day. Not sure why.

thanks for all the awesome help everyone!
carole

[Jenste]

The cloudiness is a slight bacterial bloom from not having enough bacteria to deal with the bioload. Very normal and will clear up over time with a few water changes.