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I've had a school of 8 peppered corys in my 38 gallon community tank for about 6 months now (well, it was 9 corys, but one jumped out of the tank and died). The back of the tank is heavily planted with subulata, and the corys spend all day back there, never coming out while the lights are on.

Other occupants are:
12 white clouds
4 ottos
1 Bamboo shrimp
2 Keyholes (added a week and a half ago)

The corys are all fat and happy (they will cautiously come out for tasty morsels like tubifex worms and the like, so I can actually inspect their health), but on the whole they are incredibly skittish. If they're out and someone moves in front of the tank, they immediately scoot back into the plants.

I can't imagine that they're hiding from any of the fish in there, because prior to the keyholes, they were the largest fish in the tank. In fact, since I've added the keyholes, they've become more active.

I've kept corys a couple times before and fell in love with their antics, so I am a bit disappointed, as well as genuinely stumped, by this behavior.

Anyone have any ideas about how to make the corys feel more secure in my tank so they become more assertive?

Joe Potato


Edit: For clarity.

Mine are also quite shy, compaired with other Corydoras, but maybe you can add some low plants at the front of your tank, so they can hide, but you can have a look at them more easily.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

Got any bogwood play toys for them?

My Pandas have a nice playground of bogwood play toys, and they're pretty bold and outgoing.

Get some nicely gnarled bits of Mopani Wood, for example (I've just bought some lovely pieces that are going to become superb Panda play pens in future) that will form lots of nice caves when you stack them. Let some Java Moss and the odd Java Fern grow all over them. Your Peppered Corys, given lots of interesting nooks and crannies to explore, will probably become much more active.

Remember that in the wild, many Corydoras live in environments where underwater root tangles form part of the decor, so to speak, and that providing them with such furnishings in the aquarium will make them feel a good deal more secure. Once they feel secure, they'll be more outgoing.

This will be particularly relevant if your overhead lighting is especially bright. If you're illuminating your aquarium with 4 watts per gallon to keep the likes of Rotala or the more troublesome Cabomba species happy, then that bright lighting will probably make them feel less than ideally comfortable too. Arrange some of your bogwood so that it breaches the water surface, arrange for some floating plants to crowd around the tower as it were, and give the Peppered Corys some shaded areas. Then you'll probably see them come alive much more - and that decor will probably make your new Keyhole Cichlids a good deal happier into the bargain!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Thanks for the reply, Cali. I haven't seen you around lately; how've you been?

Well, I'm running about 2.5 WPG and the surface is covered about anywhere between 1/4 and 3/4 by duckweed (depending on how long it has been since I've removed some of that scourge of a plant), so I don't think the lighting is an issue.

I do have some driftwood in there, but it's not the tangled root gnarl you suggest. It's probably a good idea to get one that better suits the inhabitants. Here's a picture of the tank from about 2 weeks ago (I know the right side looks bare, but I replanted a lot of the left side plants to the right side) just to give you an idea of how the tank is set up.

I've talked to LHG in chat about this and he said pretty much what you said about lighting, decor, and all that. I was hoping there was a way to do it without changing much of the tank around (frankly, I just really like the way it looks now and I think anymore driftwood in there would be a little wood overkill), but I'll head down to my LFS and see if I can score some roots and find a way to finagle it into the tank.

Joe Potato

Trick here Joe, is get small pieces. Like the ones I have. Then you can stack them and build your Cory playpen to order. Here's the first image, illustrating three small pieces I bought recently (complete with 12 inch ruler for scale):

Attached Image:


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

And here is an example of the kind of arrangement that can be made with such pieces once you have them (if you want, you can silicone them together to make them secure):


Attached Image:


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002