schooling cories, How?

[hotsauce48]

i WENT TO A WALMART SUPERCENTER and saw two all black cories in a 14 gal tank.I noticed one had a white bump on its head and the woman said a pleco bit it.i went there 2 months later and its in a different tank with a different cory and is still only two in the tank and they stay close.I wanted two panda cories in a new 30 gal or 38 gal tank i'm getting with a bristlenose pleco,7 neon tetras,5 glowlight tetras and one freshwater clam and was thinking about a mystery snail.( most likely not )But I wanted to know if panda cories will live since most people say they can, and others say groups of 3 or 4.I was thinking yes since two survived at least two months in a 14 gal and bristlenose plecos are not as aggressive a common plecos that get up to 24'' when the cories only get up to 1'' and BN only get up to 4-5'' .I was'nt going to buy live plants right away but soon.And I was going to have false plants and real driftwood

[MatsP]

So, there's a difference between "thrive" and "survive", don't you agree? If you do really naughty things, the police [and I don't mean the rock band ] will come and lock you up in a small room, and not let you out again for a long time. Now, humans will survive living in a 2 x 3 meter cell for a long time assuming they are otherwise healthy. But it's not exactly brilliant way to spend a long period of time. Humans will feel much better in a bigger space, with more freedom to do what they like, meet people that they choose to meet, etc.

Likewise, cories will survive alone or with one or two "friends" as long as the water is OK. In nature, they form groups of many dozens or hundreds of fish in a shoal. That's difficult to replicate at home. I personally think they are best in a group of 6 or more.

Bristlenoses get along fine with cories, I have several bristlenoses with my cories in my big tank.

--
Mats

[T4FR]

I totaly agree.
Cory's should at least be with 6. More is better. If you have enough room I would take 10-12 of 1 spiecie of Corydoras. It is the best for the Corydoras if you have a sand bottem, otherwise you should have rounded small gravel. Gravel with sharp edges my cut of the Corydoras barbels and my cause infection and death. So no cory's without sand or rounded small gravel.

Ps. sorry if my English is not so correct.

[OldMan]

Hotsauce, I am going to agree with MatsP in principle and will carry the analogy further. If you run into that person in a jail cell you will never figure out just how active and versatile a person can really be. Same thing with cories in small groups of 2 or 3. That is exactly how we kept cories in the 50s when I started keeping fish. Cories were always dull fish that just kept the tank clean. In the 80s, I got a deal on some cories and had a 120 gallon tank so I thought what the heck, lets get lots for a big cleaning crew. When I did that I saw the real personality that cories can have and I've been hooked ever since.

[Bas Pels]

if you just spend some time in front of a Cory tank in a shop, with some 40 of them offered, it will be hard not to take all of them along - the school is so very much alife

and so very different from how 2 or 3 alone behave

[bronzefry]

Greetings hotsauce,
I'll echo what the others said and also recomment that you find a nice fish store in your area. (It took me a while, but I did.) Maybe make some phone calls to find one that has large groups of Corydoras species in stock. It doesn't have to be a large and pretty store, just a good one. It will be a treat for you to see what Corydoras species look like when they school(or shoal). It's amazing!
Amanda

[Richard B]

Check out the photo of Apistomaster's C.Hastatus in this thread...http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... =6&t=23511 & you'll begin to see what people are tryin to describe.....

[apistomaster]

Two species of Dwarf Corydoras are true schooling fish, at least in captivity. Those two are C pygmeus and C. hastatus. Aspidoras spp. also seem to school most of the time and are another nice dwarf catfish very similar to Corydoras Here are some C. hastatus.

Most of the "Normal size" Corydoras tend to associate but actually only school when frightened or when a large group is added to a new tank. Then they will school as they explore their new surroundings but then will settle down. That is what was occurring when I took this photo of schooling juvenile Corydoras sterbai.