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well diff kinds of cory's create at school or do they have to be the same?

You should get the same type. Different types will sometimes stick together in a small tank, but they'd be much happier with a group of their own kind. Do them a favor and get all the same type.

*Kristin*

All Corydoras species are at the very least assiduously gregrarious, and if given the opportunity, group together in large shoals of their own species. Having said that, however, some are, to use that very well worn phrase of mine, more "avowedly social" than others, and need the security of a decent sized shoal of their own species to prosper. Usually, the smaller the species, the more it needs a decent sized shoal of its own species, regardless of whether or not there are any other Corydoras in the same aquarium.

The species in question - the avowedly social ones that MUST be kept in a decent sized shoal of their own kind for continued good health - are:

Corydoras habrosus
Corydoras hastatus
Corydoras pygmaeus
Corydoras cochui
Corydoras panda

You should be looking at a minimum of 8 individuals of these species, preferably more, as your shoal. If space allows you to have 12 or more, so much the better. If your aquarium is large enough to have 16, 20 or even more in a group, run with that, because they will LOVE you for bestowing such forethought upon them, and reward you with the patter of tiny fins. My Pandas do this regularly (I currently have 13 Pandas, and the way they keep spawning it wouldn't surprise me to discover that there's now 14 or even 15 in there at the next water change!) which is ALWAYS a good sign.

With the bigger Corydoras, you can usually manage to keep them happy if you maintain a group of 6. More, of course, is better, space allowing.

If you have space to house more than one Corydoras species, you will find that two different species are likely to form a composite aggregation if they are similar in appearance. Corydoras metae and Corydoras melini are two such species (these two are very similar in appearance by the way!), whilst Corydoras axelrodi and Corydoras loxozonus are another pair of 'lookalike' species that would probably aggregate. However, if breeding is on your list of interests, it is wise not to mix and match close lookalikes because segregating them for breeding purposes will prove to be a chore!

Assorted 'mixed and matched' Corydoras will group together, but only because they have nowhere else to go. So, for example, if you have two Bronze, two Peppered and two Julii, they will probably group, but won't be truly happy. they will probably be fairly listless and lacking in sparkle if kept in such an arrangement. On the other hand, if you keep 6 Julii, for example, they will be a good deal happier, will reward you with much greater activity levels, and may even reward your forethought with some impromptu spawning.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

thanks so much

To be perfectly honest, the number of corydoras preferrable by the fish would have dependant on tank size. For a ten gallon, a group of 3 is perfectly acceptable, and I have bred most of my callicthyids in this manner.