# Mixing Corys?



## MTechnik (Feb 17, 2005)

I have 4 Bronze Corys right now, and I want to finish off having a shoal of 6. If I add different kinds of Corys will they bond the same way, or will the 4 existing ones be like "hey, you have spots. Eff you man!"?

Thanks,

-MT


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

From all that I have read you should keep Corys in a shoal of their own kind. You can mix but they do better with their own kind and will interact better together.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

LOL! Yes, they mix okay, but they still prefer their own kind over others. I have groups of different types and they sometimes all hang out together under the "cool plant", but I also see them hanging together in their own groups more often than not.


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## thaerin (Dec 12, 2004)

I feel bad for my cories now =( The pygmies are fine with 7 of the little guys, and i guess the two peppered cories are doing all right  They're busy spawning as I type in fact. And all the other cories are following em around! (they're not eating the eggs thank god)
But that leaves the poor cory puncutus (sorry bout spelling, can't remember) all by his lonesome I guess. He plays with the other cories often, especially the pygmies but I worry as he gets bigger they won't hang out as much. My little 20 gallon is a lil overstocked already so I'm hesitant to add anything more to it.
Poor lil guy =(


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## MTechnik (Feb 17, 2005)

Awwww.. Ok, I'll keep it to one kinda cory in there. I'll get a shoal of fancy corys in the new tank... lol

Thanks folks!

-MT


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## thaerin (Dec 12, 2004)

Get pygmy cories in the next tank!!  SOrry, I love my lil guys. They're incredibly active and playful. And their so small! You can add em to nearly any tank. Ohh...maybe a lil species tank just for pygmies...hmm...sorry to hijack your thread like that


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## MTechnik (Feb 17, 2005)

Cool, you have me interested in pygmys 

For a cleaning crew for a 65 Gallon heavily planted tank, how would the following crew stack up?

8 Pygmy Cories
6 Otos
1 Bristlenose pleco

I can't seem to find any siamese Algae Eaters anywhere near me. Plenty of Chinese Algae Eaters tho. Any variety of Chinese you can want, except for the ones with the little pair of barbs in the front, docile mannerism, and will only eat algae. Those aren't around ANYWHERE. I can find pygmy corys at ThatFishPlace tho (45 minute drive).

Anyone have luck buying fish over the Internet in the middle of Winter in PA? (could be 65* could be 05* any given day.) Also, I am in a new job, so I am not sure aboug having fish delivered there. Don't want to ingratiate myself.

That tank will most likely have 6 Angelfish, a small school of some kinda small Tetra... ya know, I think I will start a new thread for stocking the 65 gallon jobbie... lol

-MT


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## thaerin (Dec 12, 2004)

hehe your actually sort of close to me MT, I live over in Sellersville, near Quakertown. I've never had any problems with deliveries to my place, assuming they're packed in a foam insulated box with a heat pack.

As for the fishies, I coultn't really tell ya. The pygmies don't eat a lot, I mean they're even smaller than the otto's! But I've never had any sort of algae since i got Spike, my bristlenose pleco. For reference, I've got a 20 gallon, with Spike and various snails to keep algae down.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Your cleanup crew sounds just fine MT. You may wind up adding supplemental algae wafers for them though since they will quickly take care of any algae in the tank.

Thaerin, you should be fine to add a couple more so your little guy has company. Although as long as there are other Cory's of any kind in there, they do better than if they are the lone Cory in a tank.


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## thaerin (Dec 12, 2004)

The tank is sorta stocked to the gills right now 
7 white clouds
7 pygmy cories
2 peppered cories
1 cory puncutus
1 bristlnose pleco
1 platy i can't catch
lots of ramshorns, MTS's and bout 6 ghost shrimp

all in my 20 long


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## MTechnik (Feb 17, 2005)

Thaerin, do your MTSs reproduce like wild? If so, can I snag a couple off of ya? heheheh...

-MT


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## thaerin (Dec 12, 2004)

they don't seem to. Then again, I hardly ever see them. They're nocturnal and they burrow under the substrate during the day. I have no idea how many I have


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## MTechnik (Feb 17, 2005)

I want to do an onyx sand bottom, so MTSs would be great to stir things up. I may have to place a snail order somewhere for some MTSs and RamsHorns... 

-MT


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## iris600 (Feb 12, 2004)

I bought three pygmies, but the girl at the LFS was very rough in catching them, two died within hours of getting them home. One more had obviously been damaged and the swimbladder wasn't functioning right, he was spinning like a top. He died too. The other two I've had for five days and they've done fine. The LFS got them in the day before I picked them up and had lost quite a few. I'm returning the dead guys for more tomorrow. I'm 99.9% sure it's not my tank as the remaining pygmies are bright and active, and my CR's are growing like crazy, and I'm sure would be breeding, but I don't have males  This said, anyone have extra male CR's to sell? I can't seem to get them locally. I found some regular colored neocardinia, but I would prefer to keep the color strain pure. 
BTW, I agree, the pygmies are tiny but cute as a button! Oh so active! They have tried to hang out with my CR's and quite actively browse the substrate/plants for scraps.


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## thaerin (Dec 12, 2004)

Try asking Zapins for some red cherry shrimp males. He's got a LOT of them, he's sending me (male and female) for my tank at a much cheaper price then you can find pretty much anywhere.

As for the MTS's, go to http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwsnails lots of deals like 50 MTS with shipping, $10. Nice and cheap =)


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## iris600 (Feb 12, 2004)

Is zapins on this board? Is that the handle to use to PM? I have 5 lonely female shrimp, who are mature. I'd sure love to have some males. I also meant to say I bought 5 pygmy cories... not three... for those curious about the math.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

That's too bad you lost some Iris. It really irks me when they handle them so roughly in the store. I had a gal drop a huge piece of driftwood on a Cory when she started getting too impatient. ](*,) It's too bad they wouldn't let us net and bag our own.


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## iris600 (Feb 12, 2004)

Well, the other thing is they put them in a tank with huge angelfish and only a couple fake plants, not nearly enough cover! I had them order them for me, and they only cost 1.59 each... they have a 24 hour guarantee, but there was no reason to be so rough! I had the same problem with getting CR's from them, only lost one though. They have no finesse in getting the smaller critters. They even dropped a CR on the floor when I bought them, and when they picked it up they tried to put it back in my container. Nuh-uh, you drop it and I am NOT buying it. They said "oh, it doesn't matter, it'll be fine" as I could see it was covered in dust from their cement floor. Hah. 
I can't complain too much, considering that it's the only non-chain pet store within at least an hour drive and is only 30 minutes from where I work... plus they can get in critters like CR's and pygmies.


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## thaerin (Dec 12, 2004)

Yep, Zapins is on this board. He's a lil goofy but a fun guy  
I work at the LFS and try to be as gentle as possible when I get fish for someone. I mean really, if it was fish for you, would you treat them like that? If you did, you shouldn't have fish...stupid people arg...Sorry, just got home from work and dealing with stupid customers. One guy forgot his wallet and asked us to leave the fish bagged and closed till he got back. We waited 45 minutes for him before we let the fish back out...which is right when he got back. And boy was he pissed...but I mean really...you don't leave fish in a closed bag for 45 minutes..


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