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5 Gallon Tank

Posted: 02 Nov 2006, 18:13
by TroutAngler86
Can I put 3 leopard cory catfish in a mini-bow 5? I have a 10 gallon in tank filter for the tank and a heater.

Posted: 03 Nov 2006, 10:40
by MatsP
Should be fine.

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Mats

Posted: 03 Nov 2006, 15:33
by TroutAngler86
Thanks for the input

Posted: 04 Nov 2006, 23:02
by TroutAngler86
Okay what specifically should I feed them. I live in Michigan so any input from people who live in the US would help. I've had these fish in the tank a few days and they don't seam to be eating

Posted: 05 Nov 2006, 02:39
by PlecoCrazy
They will eat about anything that hits the bottom. Shrimp Pellets, bloodworms, flakes, and many other foods that say they are for bottom eaters. Since it is such a small tank make sure you do not over feed. If you find food rotting around do a water change and feed them less. Ideally you should feed them twice a day and treat them with some frozen bloodworms or cut earthworms a few times a month.


Try the frozen bloodworms if you want to get them to eat. Pretty hard for Cories to resist them. They also may just be eating when you are not watching as they are scavengers and since they are new, probably hide when you're around. Also, if you have the light on the tank on, turn it off before feeding and sit back and watch; a heathly cory should start to scavenge around the tank. You might also have some poor water parameters causing them not to eat.

Posted: 05 Nov 2006, 08:19
by Noesis
hi,
I feed my corydoras Hikari sinking wafers and TetraMin tropicla tablets. Also, I occasionally feed them Hikari frozen bloodworms (they go crazy for those!). hope this helps

Posted: 05 Nov 2006, 15:23
by TroutAngler86
Noesis wrote:hi,
I feed my corydoras Hikari sinking wafers and TetraMin tropicla tablets. Also, I occasionally feed them Hikari frozen bloodworms (they go crazy for those!). hope this helps
THanks, should I give them some time to get used to the tank? Could that be why they're not eating?

Posted: 06 Nov 2006, 06:01
by Noesis
hi,
i think letting the cory some time to get used to the tank helps. i've noticed that sometimes corydoras gets alittle shy or timid for awhile when they're introduced to a new surrounding. Offering a piece of driftwood for cover helps them feel more safe enough to start eating. and again, i agree with PlecoCrazy that if they continue to not eat, water parameter might be the case. but even if you don't "see" them eating, there's a big chance they they're eating the food at night/or when the lights are off. hope this helps.

Posted: 06 Nov 2006, 12:17
by MatsP
1. Definitely that new surroundings will make the fish a bit shy and stressed, which can harm eating.

2. Is this a new tank? If so, you could be going through the "cycling" stage, where the good bacteria that helps keep the water less toxic is still building up. Depending on temperature, it will take 4-8 weeks to get "right". Limited feeding at this point, as any old food or fish-waste will just add to the toxic compounds that the irritate the fish (ammonia and nitrite) until there is sufficient bacteria to break it down (techniclly it's "adding to it" to make it into Nitrate).

3. My fish are very happy eating Tetra Bits/Prima/Discus(Prima) granules, although for small cories you may want to use a pepper-mill or similar to grind the granules. As mentioned above "Just about anything that falls to the bottom" is fine for Corys, but they do prefer meaty food. Live and frozen bloodworms, daphnia and other such things are good "treats" for the fish and may help getting them conditioned for breeding.

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Mats