OT Way OT Cory Cats

[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