New to Corys....suggestions?

[Blackhawker]

I've got a 75 gal tank and I'm looking to add 6-8 corys to it. Currently I have 3 L128, L190 and a king tiger pleco. I know very little about corys, other then they've got personality and can make a great dither for plecos to come out of hiding. The tank has a bunch of wood, flat slate and live plants. Suggestions as to what type of Cory I should be looking at? I liked the look of the Peppered Cory....

[MatsP]

Corydoras paleatus

is a cooler water species from Southern Brazil , so I would suggest a more tropical species to match with the temperature of your L128 and L190. Northern Argentina is about the same distance south from the equtor as Virginia or North Carolina in the US. Or, not very far north of San Diego in California (but if you move straight North, it's a fair bit into the Atlantic, as Argentina is further East).

I have kept

Corydoras metae

,

Corydoras sterbai

,

Corydoras similis

,

Corydoras robineae

and

Corydoras weitzmani

in tanks with conditions that would be suitable for L128/L190 (water temps around 80-82'F/27-28'C)

--
Mats

[Richard B]

The tank has a bunch of wood, flat slate and live plants.

What substrate do you have?

[Blackhawker]

The tank has a bunch of wood, flat slate and live plants.

What substrate do you have?

I have a light rounded gravel.

Thank you Mats!

[MatsP]

Sand is certainly a better option for corys...

--
Mats

[Blackhawker]

I would love to try and change up the substrate, but it would be a massive pain in the ass, even though I have a thin substrate as it is....maybe when I set up the aquascape I can try and change it...

[MatsP]

You can always syphon the sand out with a suitably large hose (diameter should be at least 4x the grainsize - a 1" diemeter hose works really well for anyhing but the largest kinds of aquarium gravel). And using a long-handled soup-spoon or similar, you can put the sand exactly here you want it in the tank...

--
Mats

[Blackhawker]

I can do that. So a sand substrate will work fine for corys/plecos and snails? Sand wont trap as much ammonia right?

[MatsP]

What do you mean by "trap ammonia". Sand has been known, if it's thick layers, to get a buildup of gas in it, but it's not ammonia.

The substrate in the tank will be part of your biological filtration as a surface on which the beneficial bacteria lives, but your main filtration will have the majority of the bacteria.

--
Mats

[crkinney]

I had a smooth river stone bottom in one of my tanks with corys. I used a dust pan to remove some of the stone in on end of the tank and added wash sand to aprox.half of the tank the snails loved it ,as for the corys they did not seem to care .They still fed any were in the tank .My hoplos loved it .They kept it stirred up into a cloud for days .
mule

[Blackhawker]

Have any of you guys kept the Bandit Corys? Are they known to be as active as the others? I'm looking to maybe have more activity in the tank with the nocturnal plecos...

[MatsP]

Corydoras metae

is what is USUALLY sold as "Bandit cory" - they look very similar to some other species, so it's not impossible that other species are found in a tank with that label. I have kept these. My personal experience is that they like the shadier/darker parts of the tank.

--
Mats

[Blackhawker]

Ah okay..I'll have to look at a more active species.....any suggestions?