can you feed cories fruits and vegies?

corydoras4life · Post by **corydoras4life** » 23 Apr 2005, 14:51

hello i have 4 cories and i dont know if i can feed them fruits and vegies and if i can will my other fish be harmed by it?

the fish i have in my tank are
4 cories
1 loach i dont know what kind
3 african clawed frogs (albino)
1 platy
3 feeder goldfish
and 1 redtail black shark

soon to be 2 more goldfish
and 4-7 algae eaters

chef · Post by **chef** » 24 Apr 2005, 00:58

fruit i,ve never tried but cories will take chopped spinach and will browse on blanched courgette/zucchini as well as shelled cooked peas

Post by **corybreed** » 24 Apr 2005, 01:15

Corys really are not vegie or fruit eaters. Your goldfish will certainly will enjoy the vegies.

Mark

Dave Rinaldo · Post by **Dave Rinaldo** » 24 Apr 2005, 01:21

This is a quote from an earlier thread

Coryman wrote:Contrary to some comments Corys are NOT vegetable eaters, and should not be offered them. They graze amongst the Bio-film that form on just about every underwater surface and in the surface layers of the substrate, where they filter out micro organisms, worms and insect larvae. The so called catfish wafers are aimed at Ancistrine catfishes and are not suitable for Corys.

Ian

Chrysichthys · Post by **Chrysichthys** » 24 Apr 2005, 13:14

The RTB shark will eat veggies. I've never known Corydoras do it, but I have seen Megalechis thoracata eat cucumber put in for the plecos. (Or at least try to eat it).

corydoras4life · Post by **corydoras4life** » 24 Apr 2005, 18:38

thank you for your replies and can i give the cories some vegies for like a treat or once in a while so they can have some vegies in their diet?

thank you again for your replies

corydoras4life · Post by **corydoras4life** » 24 Apr 2005, 22:36

well i found out that my loach is a round tailed loach and my shark died and i also got 2 guppies will they eat the vegies and stuff?

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 25 Apr 2005, 10:41

Your cories will not eat fruit or vegetables. The guppies might nibble a little bit, but unless you've run the vegies in the blender, they will most likely be happier with some small crustaceans or larva (bloodworms, daphnia).

The fish in your tank that would most like to eat vegetarian diet is your gold-fish. They will appreciate a piece of fruit/vegetable once in a while (and probably chew up your plants too, unless they are plastic).

Best food for the cories is (in no particular order):
Bloodworms
Dapnia
Other frozen/live food of the smaller variety.
Hikari Catfish pellets (the ones with a cory on the front).
Other sinking food.

--
Mats

corydoras4life · Post by **corydoras4life** » 27 Apr 2005, 00:47

thnks for all of your information and help.

corydoras4life · Post by **corydoras4life** » 27 Apr 2005, 00:48

and do the fruits and vegies have to be dried or fresh?

megladonsharky · Post by **megladonsharky** » 27 Apr 2005, 07:29

My dwarf cories like squash( yellow and green zucc)

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 27 Apr 2005, 09:55

corydoras4life wrote:and do the fruits and vegies have to be dried or fresh?

I've never tried anything other than fresh veg. Depending on the vegetable, it may need a short boil before it's edible to the fish. For instance, adult Ancistrus (bristlenose pleco) will eat raw courgette (zucchini), whilst babies needs to have the same boiled for a minute or so before it goes in the tank, or they won't have the strength to chew the "flesh" of the veg.

I've also given fresh graps to my goldfish, and it seemed OK. Same with fresh melon.

To make sure it stays where you want it (with small-ish fish at least), you stick a teaspoon through the veg to make it sink. Obviously, with quite big goldfish and such, a teaspoon might be too small weight, so a small rock and a rubber band may be a better choice here.

--
Mats

corydoras4life · Post by **corydoras4life** » 27 Apr 2005, 12:32

ok thank you and also can you tell me what other of my fish will eat the fruits and vegies the fish i have are already posted on this forum or look on my "signature"

thanks

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 27 Apr 2005, 13:24

corydoras4life wrote:ok thank you and also can you tell me what other of my fish will eat the fruits and vegies the fish i have are already posted on this forum or look on my "signature"

thanks

2 albino cories - Not much in the way of fruit or veg.
1 bronze cory - Same as albino (probably the same specie)
1 peppered cory - Same as above cories.
1 dwarf cory - Again the same.
3 feeder goldfish - Will eat fruit/veg, as long as it's reasonably soft.
1 platy - May eat a little bit of fruit/veg.
1 round-tail loach - Haven't got a clue what these eat.
3 albino african clawed frogs - Not sure what these eat either.
and 2 guppies 1 female 1 male - these will eat some fruit/veg.

--
Mats

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 27 Apr 2005, 13:30

in addition to MatsP, coryman, corybreed and dave rinaldo, i DO NOT think cories should be fed vegetable matter. they are invertebrate feeders, and as such prefer higher protein foods like the ones mentioned above.

the loach is also an invertebrate feeder, filling in the same niche in asia and europe that cories fulfill in south america.

the guppies and platies are mainly insectivores and WILL NOT benefit from veggies either. their fibre needs can be satisfied by flake food.

the Xenopus are also carnivores, and DO NOT need veggies.

if you do feed some to your goldfish, i doubt it would affect the cories, as they would probably ignore it.

the best way to target the goldfish is by feeding them frozen peas that they can swallow in one. they may take a while to start enjoying them, but they will.

why do you have feeder goldfish in this tank? are they for predator tank, or was your shark really a shark!!!!!

corydoras4life · Post by **corydoras4life** » 28 Apr 2005, 19:57

well the feeder goldfish were at first to be food for my frogs but then they got too big so i just keep them as a pet

corydoras4life · Post by **corydoras4life** » 28 Apr 2005, 20:00

oh and im gonna get a 30 gallon set up for my other fish except for the guppies platies and all of my cories and i just got a pl*co and it is staying with the cories and will the pl*co eat friuts/vegies?

thanks

megladonsharky · Post by **megladonsharky** » 29 Apr 2005, 02:54

what type of pleco?? some are omnivorous like everything... so are herbavores eats things like veggies and some are carnivorous ie eat meat

chrisinha · Post by **chrisinha** » 29 Apr 2005, 03:38

My albino cories LOVE orange!! They fight with Mr. Pleco because of it!!

They also like Zucchini and Squash!!

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 29 Apr 2005, 10:54

corydoras4life wrote:oh and im gonna get a 30 gallon set up for my other fish except for the guppies platies and all of my cories and i just got a pl*co and it is staying with the cories and will the pl*co eat friuts/vegies?

thanks

The pleco food range varies depending on which type of pleco it is. Common Pleco, which is the ones you find for a few dollars at Walmart eat mostly vegetable matter, but like most fish can't resist the odd bloodworm and other meaty food. Just don't feed them too much meat, they get digestion problems.

On the other end of the spectrum are Hypancistrus and Baryancsistrus, they will probably not even sniff at your fruit/veg, and will definitely NEED to be fed something rather meaty.

Some, like the Panaque and Hypostomus Cochliodon are "wood eaters", i.e. they not only hide behind pieces of wood, but also like to EAT the wood. They have special "good" bacteria in their intestine that break down the wood and make nutrition that the fish can use.

--
Mats

corydoras4life · Post by **corydoras4life** » 30 Apr 2005, 02:10

my pl*co is a common pl*co and i also have some ummm mollies and they are the one with real large bodies and will they eat the vegies? also i have a algae eater im not sure what king i think an oto but will my new fish eat the vegie? also i have 2 more cories they are leapords

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 03 May 2005, 10:14

corydoras4life wrote:my pl*co is a common pl*co and i also have some ummm mollies and they are the one with real large bodies and will they eat the vegies? also i have a algae eater im not sure what king i think an oto but will my new fish eat the vegie? also i have 2 more cories they are leapords

Yes, Oto's will most likely eat a little bit of vegetable. Obviously, being quite small, they will only eat a little bit...

The Common Pleco will grow to quite some size, so be prepared to take it back to where it came from in a year or two. Depending on which kind (there are at least three different species sold as "Common Pleco") it is, it will grow to 12-18".

--
Mats

Post by **Coryman** » 03 May 2005, 11:21

Sorry guys can we keep this thread on topic. If you want to talk about the diets of Loricariidae do so in the appropriate forum.

Thanks

Ian

bronzefry · Post by **bronzefry** » 03 May 2005, 15:19

I'm just a hobbyist. My experiences are observations. From what I've observed, some Cories go crazy for worms!

(I've heard there are other Cories who aren't so fond of worms, but I haven't encountered them yet.)

Freeze dried, frozen...you name it. I'm hesitant to go with the live ones for fear of disease (tubificid,blood worms, etc.). With the freeze dried, they'll come to the surface and slurp away, on their backs across the surface, if they're truly hungry.(I try to keep the frozen around) They also adore daphnia, frozen and freeze dried. Some days, if I'm around and not busy, I'll feed them frozen daphnia a few times durning the day so I can watch them forage. This takes patience, because daphnia isn't as filling as some other foods. Their digging skills are amazing!

As a test food, I've given them one of the frozen mixes with veggies and shrimp. The Cories will very carefully pick out the veggies, taste them, and spit them out. I think they like the shrimp taste on the veggies. The shrimp portion of the holds their attention much longer. But, it's no where near the entire tank's absolute frozen favorite: tubifex worms. The cube is gone in 60 seconds. I timed it two days ago.

I used to find all of this confusing, so I started a feeding diary. It really helped me remember what food I fed to which tank on what day and which amount. It also reminds me when it's time to give a tank a "food holiday." Let them forage for a 24-36 hour period. I do this at least once a week.