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I had one cory cat and love it. Of course my LPS did not inform me that they were school fish. I now do all my research online and feel that I am twice as knowledgeable as them now. Anyway, I know you should have 5 or more for them but I do not want to devote my entire 18 gallon tank to just those. I did get one more as a tank mate for my existing one. It has only been 24 hours and the new one is still pretty timid. Any idea on how long it usually takes a new cory to get used to a new home and start hanging with the other one. Anyone think that two is still not enough for them to be "happy". Also, I know you are supposed to go with a sand substrate for these so that the barbells don't get damaged but I already have large fairly smooth standard gravel and don't want sand. Of course every article that says to use sand has a pic of a cory on gravel. So I guess I am not the only one risking it. Also, I would really love to have a male and a female. Of course my LPS has no idea how to sex them and I know it is tough. Going by moderate body differences can be really hard to differentiate. Just curious. Thanks

Hi there,
you will not see proper schooling behaviour
with only 2 of them. Are they the same species?
Corys should be in a school of their own species.
You could have a group of 5 in your tank with
lots of room for other fish.
Please add at least 3 more.

Corys when viewed from above, the female will
be wider and fatter.
You dont need sand, just smooth gravel.
It can take up to a couple weeks for fish to get
used to a new tank.

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They seem to be the same species. The only difference is that the new one has a very dark ring around the pupils and the other has a light gold ring. So the new one almost looks like the eyes are solid black unless you look close. Other than that they look the same. Of course it makes sense that my LPS said it did not matter the species and that they would get along if they were different. They even questioned me that the corys were school fish. So I need at least 5 for them to be "happy" then? I guess I will have to bite the bullet. I bet 90% of the unknowing have only one of these. Proly the same case for many other school fish. I think these LPS should have to pass a basic equivelancy test in order to sell fish. As far a sexing them, how do you know if a smaller one isn't smaller just because it is young?

Most Corys fare best in a group of 6 minimum. In the case of some species, that number needs to be increased - Pandas Corys, habrosus, pygmaeus, hastatus and cochui, which are all small Corys, are more avowedly social than the larger Corys, and should be kept in a group of at least 8 - my 14 Pandas testiify to the wisdom of this by the way, as they spawn like mad frequently!

Find out what species you have and try to obtain more of the same - go here and have fun sorting out which Corys you have, because there's something like 200 species to choose from!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

For sexing them, youll just have to wait till they
get older, or if you see the typical T position
spawning dance, you will know that the top of the T
is the female and the one of the side, the lower arm
of the T is the male.


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Diphyes looks to be the closest match. It is interesting that the new one I got has the dark rings around the pupils and the other I have (which matches others I have seen) has the bright gold around the pupils. Anyway, I guess I need to buy more of these things. I am definately going to have to give up on the rasboras. I already have 1 Tetra (the only survivor of the cycle), so I won't have the capacity to adequately bump up the numbers for 3 different types of school fish in my 18 gallon. Note- I also have two platies and an angel. I plan on getting a second larger tank for them after christmas.

I also have 4 cories (2 x 2 species) in my 30G tank. They do not exhibit schooling behaviour, but usually go out in pairs (not necessarily with the same species). I plan to move them into my 75G tank in another month or so. Should I get more of the same species? Or like the LFS guy said that it doesn't matter, different cories will form a school?

Ricky, since your Corys are heading for a 75 gallon, you've plenty of room in there to put 12 of the same species. Do that and watch them come alive in a BIG way.

Proof of the pudding? I have 14 Pandas. When I only had 6 (after a disaster not of my making wiped out half my stock), they were somewhat listless. Once I added 6 more to make it 12, they became the underwater version of the characters from the computer game Lemmings - mayhem and slapstick comedy non stop. The reason that there's now 14 in there is because they've been spawning like mad and new baby ones have appeared among the adults.

As for your LFS saying it doesn't matter, well, you'll discover that if you give ANY Cory species a decent sized group of its own species, you'll be rewarded with much more lively behaviour than you will if you mix odd ones and twos of different species. Don't forget that in the wild, if you go netting fishes out of the Amazonian home of most Corys, you'll find that the Cory shoals there number tens of thousands of fishes. Ok, you'll find in some places that there are several species mixed together, but even then, an individual Cory of one species has something like 20,000 or more companions of his own species to mingle with, so he won't be short of company, or potential mates once the spawning season kicks in. Against that background, keeping odd ones and twos of different species starts to look somewhat unnatural to put it mildly.

The first question you should always ask about advice from an LFS is this: is he telling you what will make the fishes happy, or what will make his cash register happy? Having said that, however, those fish dealers that give correct advice about keeping your fishes happy usually have more long term success in the cash register department too, because they end up with happy customers that are successful fishkeepers, who then come back and keep buying food, possibly more tanks and more fish, you get the picture. Hunt down a small independent outfit run by someone who is himself a fish nut, and you may find the advice you receive is a little different from that handed out by some overworked unfortunate minimum wage slave at W**-**** ....



Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002