What to feed Corys?

Corylover · Post by **Corylover** » 23 Feb 2007, 20:07

I just bought 2 swartz corys to go along with my 2 rapheal catfish and I'm new at caring for them and I don't know what to feed them. I'm currently feeding them tetra min pellets which is perfect for the rapheals but not for the corys I think. I've tried feeding them tetra first Bites and tetra tropical granuales after following a pet store workers advice but they don't seem to like it too much. I also feed them wardleys goldfish crumbles but they're bored with that too. So what do you feed your corys

Keithj · Post by **Keithj** » 23 Feb 2007, 21:39

Mine will take standard tropical flake, Tabimin, Interpet adhesive tablets and all kinds of frozen food, such as bloodowrm and daphnia.

Keith

apistomaster · Post by **apistomaster** » 24 Feb 2007, 01:16

As Keith said, try to work in very regular feedings of frozen bloodworms. Also if you can get blackworms they will appreciate them.

hellocatfish · Post by **hellocatfish** » 24 Feb 2007, 08:56

If you just got them they might still be adjusting and a little "off their feed." Some of mine were pigs from the start, others had to adjust to their new home and get into the groove of feeding.

I've had good luck with Hikari Algae Wafers, which for my small crew I either vacuum up the leftover chunk when everyone looks fat and happy, or I break it in pieces and just give a piece to begin with--it depends on whether I'm scheduling a gravel vac that day.

I also feed Hikari freeze dried bloodworm, and possibly the same Tetramin pellet you do. I have also just started using Hikari Micro Wafers (they don't look anything like a wafer--they look like grains of dark brown sand) and the cories love to sift through the sand to get at these. However, I've noticed nitrite spikes after feeding with these, and I noticed them fungusing quickly in my tiny hospital tank where I could easily see them against black substrate & with a sick danio who could eat only a couple of bites. So be careful and feed a very modest pinch if you decide to try it. It is hard to see leftovers of this food once it's in the tank.

I also feed a cube of freeze dried tubifex worms on occasion--I forget which brand and I'll have to get back to you on that.

Just whatever you do, don't feed too much. Just don't ask me how much is too much because I'm still working that one out.

I find that skipping a day after feeding something as messy and filling as worms is a good idea.

Frozen Daphnia was also very popular-- but good gracious, I spent the rest of the night changing the water after feeding THAT mess. Next time, only a pinch of a corner of the cube goes in. Yikes! Live and learn!

Corylover · Post by **Corylover** » 24 Feb 2007, 16:04

Thanks for your replies, I had my little corys for about a month now. So they know when to come out when they are hungry. I'm still testing the Tetramin Tablets( I soak them for a good five min.) but I haven't seen them eat the Tablets for 2 weeks since I rearranged the tank after the mess with the fry food which they seemed to love but could not find. MY concern is that tablets are so huge. I've tried breaking them into pieces but all they can do is sit on top of them and try to nibble on them. Thursday before I left I feed them 3 tablets (two for the ralphs, one for them) I really don't know if they ate them up or the two 3.5 in and 4in ralphs ate them cause I don't see a trace of evidence left when I came back. And the female ralph looked a little bloated ( I suspect it was her cause she is a little pig). They seem to like the snacks I brought for the ralphs (Tetra min Pro) they were eating them yesterday. But they don't come out often until 6pm sometimes. So I'll probably feed them that. And stop asking my LFS what foods to feed them cause it seems that they were wrong and caused more a hinderance than a help. I'll try the frozen food and the Hikari Foods(my Ralphs, goldfish, and pleco seemed to like that brand)hopefully I won't have to throw anymore money and food away. Oh and one more question, How about people food my ralphs love cooked fish and shrimp will they eat that too or get sick?

hellocatfish · Post by **hellocatfish** » 26 Feb 2007, 23:38

I have some of the same issues you do, in that I have Zebra Danios in with my cories and the Danios are very aggressive feeders. It wasn't so bad when the fish were all the same size, but the Danios have grown at a faster rate and as they have gotten bigger, they have become less friendly with the cories. They all used to school together and eat together very nicely, but now it's Danios vs. Cories. The Danios can do everything the cories can do, including sifting through the sand for food and entering the caves that the cories normally have to themselves. So the competition is intense and the Danios will hog the food until they look like they are going to explode, like they have Dropsy almost. And when the cories manage to push their algae wafer into one of the caves, the Danios can and will follow. The Danios nip the cories out of the way.

If I could, I think at this point I'd get rid of the Danios and give the Cories a tank all to themselves. The Danios keep biting me when I try to get water samples for testing. They're big enough now where it is starting to feel a bit pinchy instead of ticklish. I an see why that would startle the cories away from their food.

I wonder if one or more of your bigger fish are bullying the cories off of the food.

Back to brands of food, I also like the Omega line of foods. Those are sterilized, too. On another forum a lot of folks have complained about Wardley. Tetramin doesn't get much mention at all. I feed the flakes to my Danios and they're not that enthusiastic as they used to be. I am sure Tetramin is a good brand but maybe the formula isn't as flavorful and tastes more "processed" to the fish.

What I can say about the diet I've been giving my cories is that I've gotten excellent color out of them on these foods. Fins and barbels are also in great shape, despite cycling problems and occasional toxin spikes.

I try to feed a varied diet throughout the week, alternating between high protein foods like freeze dried worms, Hikari Micro Pellets (Sorry I mistook the name earlier it is not Micro Wafers) and flake food with the algae wafer. After any heavy protein feed, I take a day off and feed NOTHING that day. This is to give the tank time to recover and for the fish to digest their food and be ready for the next feeding.

I haven't yet fed any "people food" to my fish so I can't address that. I think in the wild they eat mosquito larva, so this summer I may try to culture some...not sure though because West Nile Virus is a problem where I live. I've had WNV so I'm probably immune for life, but my husband and daughter haven't had it yet, and I don't know how WNV affects fish, if at all.

persian85033 · Post by **persian85033** » 27 Feb 2007, 04:16

I was wondering, if Corys would by any chance eat snails. I was thinking about buying some, but I want to do a little more research on them before buying them.lolThey would be good if they would eat the snails. I like to go for the natural way of controlling pests, like the loaches and stuff instead of the chemicals and all that, whenever I can.

I saw that they had sort of the same type of mouth parts the clown loaches have, and I heard that they needed to eat snails to keep their beaks trimmed.

I'm guessing they would do all right with my guppies, too, if they stay in the bottom, and the guppies swim on the top. Or would they have a problem with the fry?

Thanks

Keithj · Post by **Keithj** » 27 Feb 2007, 08:16

Corys don't eat snails. You need a dorad (Raphael catfish) species for that.

Corys will eat pretty much anything small that is in or on the substrate but they don't predate on my Endler fry. I'm sure they'd eat a dead one if they could suck it into their mouths but I wouldn't have thought they could catch a live one, especially if there's any kind of cover. Remember that their eyes are not used for finding food - they can't see their mouths - but watching for enemies. They find their food by taste, using their barbels, and if it happens to be alive and moves away quickly they'll struggle to re-find it. Predatory catfish tend to have long barbels that are very mobile and large mouths on the front of their heads, pretty m,uch the opposite of corys.

hellocatfish · Post by **hellocatfish** » 27 Feb 2007, 09:30

Mine don't stay on the bottom--none of them--not Sterba, not Aeneus, Not Paleatus, not even the shy Elegans. Everyone is bouncing around the tank like ping-pong balls at various times of the day and mine all feed at the top if the food is floating, and the Pepper will even swim upside down, skimming on the surface tension of the water from underneath, and will suck down floating worms that way. And my Aeneus will often join the Danios for a few laps around the tank. I don't know what ramifications, if any, that sort of busy behavior would have in terms of keeping them with guppies. Maybe mine are so crazy because they live with hyperactive Danios.

Freshman · Post by **Freshman** » 27 Feb 2007, 13:23

I feed my cories with

frozen bloodworm
frozen brine shrimp
frozen mysis shrimp
hikari algae wafer
hikari lionhead pellet
finely chopped market prawn

persian85033 · Post by **persian85033** » 28 Feb 2007, 04:27

Thanks. Although I might just still get one, anyway. Maybe one of those Raphaels, too. Meanwhile, I'll just have to keep using the zuchini for them.lol

Keithj · Post by **Keithj** » 28 Feb 2007, 08:54

Please don't get just one corydoras. They're a shoaling fish and are just not happy in anything less than groups of three individuals and, in some species, even more. Three is a real minimum for their best maintenance.

persian85033 · Post by **persian85033** » 01 Mar 2007, 03:16

Okay. I never get just one of any fish, anyway. I think they look nicer in groups.

Corylover · Post by **Corylover** » 02 Mar 2007, 16:58

Ummm Prawns,(I mean good idea). Well hellocat I see no bullying from the raphs, they're just oppertunist and what the corys don't eat they eat. But I finally found a food they really like. They love Hikari Carnivorus sinking pellets. They were for the raphs but now they have to share. They wasn't enthused by the bloodworms or the flakes but they like the Tetramin Variety wafers I bought recently and they're small enough for them to eat. So everyone is happy now.