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Is 30" too deep for sterbai corys?

I have no doubt they can swim up that far for air, guess I'm just wondering if they will be comfortable doing that? Most things I've read say they like shallow water but that seems kind of relative and unspecific.

Hi Doradid,

Good question. I'm not personally aware of anyone testing the depth limits of corys. 30" doesn't sound too deep in the real world (i.e., in rivers and pools), but it would be pretty deep in small streams. I don't know that they'd "like" it but maybe if you had a lot of water movement and some quiet spots for rest it might be okay. What setup are you creating?

Cheers, Eric

Ok, thanks bekateen,
It's been awhile since I kept corys, I guess I was remembering them as being a little shy to swim for the surface. Careful maybe.

This is a mostly catfish tank, Hoplsternum littorale, Megalechis thoracata, Dianema urostriatum, Lepthoplosternum pectorale, Hassar orestis, Hemidoras morrisi, Opsodoras stuebelli and Bunocephalus coracoides. Maybe Brochis would fit in better.

I have Brochis splendens in some 60 cm (2 feet) of water. most often they swim to the surface in two stages, leveling out half way. I tend to read that as 60 cm being more than they would prefer

I agree with you, 60cm might be more than what they like. At first I had mine on a tank that is about 50cm and I seen them surface in two stages. Now I have then in a tank that is 30cm and they go up all the way at once like nothing at all.

If only corys, I would lower the water level on the tank, just to keep them happier. Since this is not the case here just keep food water and feed them well. It won't kill them. This almost escaped me, yesterday at Petco I saw this "Tank Terrace" I didn't buy because I will look for it on ebay or amazon. I like it, and gives them a second tier to hang out and is closer to the surface.

Regards,

I wonder whether this works or not. I have quite a few large boulders in the tank, resulting an a lot of places 20 to 30 cm under the surface, but I never see a Brochis laying there.

Now that you say so, my c. Aeneus and trilienus (bought as julli) are more active and actually lay over the sponge filter and the cave they have. The brochis or better said my brochis are shy, I get close and they run for the shadows. Once I feed then suddenly the show them selfs.