Newbie-with corys

Texcat · Post by **Texcat** » 17 Jul 2005, 02:29

Good evening to all. I'm new to fish care. I recieved a 25 gallon tank and stand from a friend as a gift 4 months ago. Well I set it up about 3 weeks ago. Ran it for 8 days before I put the first fish in it. (Albino Corys) I love these guys. Anyhoo. My question is this. The 6 cory I now have go everywhere in the tank. They dont stay at the bottom like it is said they do. I know they do hit the surface for air once in awhile but these guys are everywhere! They swim like crazy at the bottom, the middle, the top, the corners! Is this normal? Will they grow out of this? I would like to add 2 angels later on so I need to know if the corys are always like this so I can nix getting the angels. (I want harmony in my tank!)

There are 3 little algae eaters in the tank with them but they seem to play well with the corys.The largest algae plays follow the leader with the largest cory.

I'm also concerned that the water level might be too high?!?
It is 16 inches from the gravel to the top of the water. Is that too tall for the corys to surface? Also the tank has lights built in that seem to be for plants. Can these be too strong for the corys keeping them from being comfortable?

Everyone is eating well and looks happy but I'm just afraid they'll wear themselves out. Maybe its just first time care taker jitters, but I just want to be sure eveyone will be ok.

FYI:
Water temp 79F
Not sure about the rest of the info. The test kit with the strips reads good for nitrite,nitrate,ph.

Any help is very welcome. Thank You!

kev · Post by **kev** » 17 Jul 2005, 10:54

you just have some very active cory's

, from my experience angel's do ok with cory's. Don't worry about the depth of the water, ive been colecting cory in the wild and we where fishing is 3 foot deep water.

Kev

jen.nelson · Post by **jen.nelson** » 18 Jul 2005, 00:29

Water temp might be a bit high which might cause them to be more active than normal. Also, I've found that if there's not enough in the way of tank decorations for them to hide amongst, and they're a small group in a big tank, they'll "school" with their reflections in the tank glass. I had the same thing happen with a group of 6 in a 50 gal tank. The cories settled down after I added more plants, more furnishings and more cories.

Hope that helps,
Jen

Post by **corybreed** » 18 Jul 2005, 02:09

It is quite normal for the corys to be very active in their new surroundings. As you stated the corys have been in the tank for about 2 weeks. They will settle in soon and won't wear themselves out. Hopefully if you see a lot of activity in the future it will be breeding behavior.

Mark

Texcat · Post by **Texcat** » 18 Jul 2005, 02:52

Thank You all very much for the replies. In the way of decor in the tank. I have 4 plastic plants. 2 on each side of the tank to tell the corys when to stop swimming. I have 4 rocks with lots of little hiding spots in them.

Also is water current an issue? They seem to spend time on the water return side and fight the current. The return is not under water because I'm concerned about the corys not having enough space to go up and surface. There is about 3 inches between the top of the return and the bottom of the lights.

We're having some thunder storms here in San Antonio right now. I'm in a panic if the power dies. How long can corys and algaes live without an air pump. When my local pet store opens at 9 tomorrow I'm there to buy a battery emergency pump.

Until then, how long will they be ok if the power goes out.

Thanks again.