Do Corydoras Paleatus School? (same Q with Brochis)

[zfarsh]

Hi,

I have a 75 gallon tank well planted with playsand substrate. I have 6 Corydoras Paleatus, 8 White Cloud Mountain Minnows, 1 SAE, 1 BN Pleco, and another type of fish i forgot the name. Note, the fish seem happy, they even ignore my hand (ie not scared of me) when i do tank maintenance or change plant location / trims. All fish gather togheter at feeding time only.

Then, the Cory Paleatus sort of seperate, i never see them school. Some go about alone, others in pairs, or sometimes in a goup of three. Question:
Does this specy school at all? If I get another 3 - 6 of this same type of cory, would there be some schooling activity going on? Or woudl it be the same as buying say 3 - 4 of another specy of Corys, say the Aenus. I want to buy a few more cories, not sure if it should be different kind or same.

Another question: Are Brochis Splendens much more active then the Cory Paleatus? The good thing about cory Paleatus is seem very strong in terms of temp / ph requirement vrs many other corys, so thats why i picked them, but now wandering about Brochis, as they seem good as well.

thanks in advance.

[MatsP]

Most Corydoras [and Brochis] "like the company of others" - it doesn't mean that they ALL swim together in a synchronized pattern like in some scenes of "Finding Nemo" - but rather that they tend to be "not too far apart, but sometimes one decides to have some time on his/her own".

I've posted this photo before, but it shows

Corydoras robineae

in a group [there's 9 or 10 in this photo - all I had at the time, I now have a total of 19 in a 400 liter (approx 100g) tank]

Of course, they don't ALWAYS do this - sometimes they will be spread all over the tank, each trying to find some edible stuff in the substrate.

--
Mats

[zfarsh]

thanks for the response. I am getting the feeling that only the Cory Hastatus may try to "school".

You have very beatifull looking corydoras type fish, i really like the look.

Do you think it would look nicer to get another 4 - 6 same type corydoras i have, or 6 of another type?

[MatsP]

In my opinion, Corydoras follows the principle of "The more the merrier" - obviously subject to tankspace and water quality.

--
Mats

[Bas Pels]

From my experience, I would assume that the more Corydoras you put together, the more time they spend in a school.

If you have say 6 Corydoras, they will spend some time together
30 will spend much more time together
and at the local LFS, one will be able to see what happens with 100 Corydoras: schooling all the time

[MChambers]

From my experience, I would assume that the more Corydoras you put together, the more time they spend in a school.

If you have say 6 Corydoras, they will spend some time together
30 will spend much more time together
and at the local LFS, one will be able to see what happens with 100 Corydoras: schooling all the time

That's my experience, too. The bigger the group the more interesting the behavior.

[zfarsh]

Thanks everyone, i have thus decided to get 3 - 6 more of the same type of corydoras, instead of having 6 of two kinds of corydoras.

[ali12345]

I recently acquired a group of 30 panda cories in a well planted tank with lots of bogwood and they spend most of the time in small groups. They are in a 140 gallon community tank so obviously lots of space. I am waiting patiently to see some large group action but have the feeling it will be when I am not around in the early morning. It is nice to know that they are probably more contented given their number though and wish I could offer the same to my other cories which I manage to keep in groups of 6 so far.