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Corydoras need to stay in a school of 6 of the same species.

I've been told otherwise at several different sources. Who am I supposed to believe on this?

with zebra danios, the more you have, the less nippy theyll be towards other fish, so id aim for maybe 2 or 3 more

reun has a good idea w/ the bolivian ram. i have 1 and he is by far my favorite fish. they are pretty easy to keep, stay pretty small (rarely get larger than 3in), and are probably the most peaceful cichlids in the hobby. i strongly recomend you get this fish.

actually, reun, have you had a group of just 3 (peppered) cories and observed they were unhappy?

wow you all are giving me a lot to ponder. One of the Zebras is quite a nippy little guy.. The other two aren't having any problems.

The fish I was talking about was Trichopsis pumilus, which, according to its profile, only gets 1.5". I've had 'em in with zebra danios with no issues. The danios stay at the top of the tank, the gouramis stay around the bottom 2/3 of the tank, and I don't think one species even knows the other is there except when they're being fed.

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Cake or death?

you will notice that corys will survive solo, but will be happier in a group. a good example is what happened in my tank, i had a single cory for a year. she was very timid, very shy. i added a larger group to the tank, have 7 total now, they are all so happy! you can watch their behavior, it changes.

do you HAVE to keep them in schools? no...will they be happy by themselves or groups smaller than six? most likely not.

i would say just get the spotted/peppered corys you want, just add 3 more to what you plan on. then, since you have the danios already, keep them...they get nippy though, so i wouldnt advise gouramis cause their lil fins will get nibbled off.

so, here is my advice...

6 total corys
4 total danio(same type you already have,i think 4 is minimum)
1 Bolivian Ram(ussually very peacefull, fun to look at,colorfull,shouldnt pick on or get nipped by the others)

that loadout should be fine. i would stay away from labryth fish unless you can get a male and female pair and have a larger tank, they are territorial and they form pair bonds, not to mention that two in a 20 is pushing it with 10 other fish in there.

hmmm... I already have 3 LF Zebra Danios in there. I'm looking to get 4 black phantom tetras, maybe 4 or 5 of a certain barb, and still thinking about 3 peppered cories. *shrug*
I might think about the gouramis instead of the barbs. They are very pretty.

Heh. Neither am I. I've built up my schools over time., and getting all of your fish at one time isn't a good idea anyway. You can always get three of species A one week, three more a week later, then start on species B.. Or wait two weeks or somethin' before getting additional fish. See what I mean?
And nobody's saying you should only get one kind of fish.
If you want a bunch of different species, how about something like this:
Your danios.
2 (1m, 1f) cherry barbs. (Males are a nice red color.)
2 or 3 sparkling gouramis. (VERY sparkley.)
and..
6 (or so) pygmy cories. (Teeensy fish and -so- cute!)
-or- 6 or so khuli loaches (about 4" full-grown, and have wonderful stripes, and there's a blackish-grey variety, too.)
And then maybe something else if you still want more fish.


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Cake or death?

What's so insane about a group of ten fish?

To start I'm not made of money. (I don't have a job because school is my job) Also I want other speicies of fish besides one huge group of one kind of fish.


Last edited by andie923 at 16-Jan-2006 18:06

In my experience, cories (all schooling fish, actually) are -much- happier in larger groups. When I only had four of them in my tank, they all huddled together and refused to leave one of the caves except to feed. Now that I have about fifteen, they're always out moving around.
I'd -really- stay away from pencilfish in a 20. Personally, I wouldn't keep them in a tank under 55 gallons, which is what I have mine in. They're extremely fast fish and they like having room.
And, just wondering.. What's so insane about a group of ten fish?

So.. no 'solid factual reasons,' just personal experience. *shrug* Hope this helps.

Last edited by bananacoladafuze at 16-Jan-2006 18:03

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Cake or death?

Now, you would want to build this up over time, getting the gourami and 5 tetras one day, another 5 tetras the next day, then 5 cories... Also, how big your filter is, the amount of water changes you do, and if you have live plants will determine how many fish you can have.

Its a 20-40 gal filter. I'm willing to do a 1/4 change weekly or 1/3 biweekly. I have live plants.

I bought 3 long finned zebra danios today. I'm not getting groups of 10 fish. Thats insane.

I am getting 3 peppered cories unless someone can give me SOLID FACTUAL reasons I should get as many as 6.

Last edited by andie923 at 16-Jan-2006 17:54

So far I am for sure getting:
3-4 Leopard or Zebra Danios
3 Peppered cories(Later)

I can't decide what else. I am considering (but not getting all):
1 Black Phantom Tetra
x Pencil fish of a type?
x Penguin fish
1 Zebra Loach


I don't know... This is so hard!

If it's a long, that means you have much more room, good.
Basically, if you want to go with tetras and schooling fish, you'll want to have 2 schools of 6+ fish each and a centerpiece fish. Now of course there are exceptions, If you wanted to do livebearers, they're not as big about schools as other fish, so you could get away with more species. However, tetras and cories love friends.

A simple, yet beautiful setup for your case would look like this:
10 small cories
10 small to medium tetras
1 dwarf gourami
Now, you would want to build this up over time, getting the gourami and 5 tetras one day, another 5 tetras the next day, then 5 cories... Also, how big your filter is, the amount of water changes you do, and if you have live plants will determine how many fish you can have.

Corydoras need to stay in a school of 6 of the same species.



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it is long

Is it a 20 gallon long or tall? This will make a huge difference.

what could the one additional fish be?

Last edited by andie923 at 15-Jan-2006 19:38

The tetras, danios, cories and loaches are all social fish and appreciate a group. Six is usually a good number to start with.

My suggestion

6 of your favorite tetra (or 4 danios)
6 corydoras or 3-6 loaches
One additional fish

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If you sing to me in French.

cories should always be in a school of at least 5 and loaches prefer to have a friend as well.