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First off, I'd add at least five more serpae tetras. Otherwise, they may become nippy, and tear up your angels and other fish. Like other tetras, groups of at least six are best for these fish.

What is your plan for the cories? Of course, I recommend getting them some shoals, but I don't know whether you will keep them or not.

Last, I really don't think you should retain the clown loach. I know you have your heart set on keeping it, but let's be honest. They enjoy the company of their own kind, and get really big. You simply just don't have room for three (or even one) clown loach in your tank. They are slow growers, but you will eventually have to move it, or watch it slowly die.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

As I stated I have a S.A tank with Angels, rams, schools of cardinals and rummynose, otos and serveal dwarf plecos.

All do very well with tank temp at 82f, lots of dark driftwood and javamoss, but for some reason I can't keep a cory in there. I've had otos for over a year. I've lost only one rummynose in 1 1/2 years. I believe they can't handle the driftwood that the plecos break off into tiny pieces that fall on the substrate. My water is mint as you can see by the first that live for very long times.

I also have a snowball, albino and candystripe plecos.

My Scapes

Ok, so you're going to take care of the cory schools...I'd go with hatchetfish or rummies. Personally I'm leaning towards the hatchets because they'd give you some action in the top of your tank.


~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Get a BN or a Plekotia. They both stay small & are SA fish.

You can add some Rummynose or another type of Tetra. Corydoras need to be in schools, when possible.

:88)



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

What a coincidink im doing a 42gal amazonion tank as well in my tank ill have

12 rummies
10 unknown tets
10 cories
1 ram
1 somthing
1 somthing
and
1 bn

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''All the clown fish and yellow tangs in the world cant save you now!''

i want an african knife in there because i already have one, and I want to move it to this tank. So yes, i know AFRICAN knives are not amazonian.

Anyway, i was considering a school of congo, but i don't know if a want a school of 4 to 5 inch fish in there, they would supress the beauty of my bleeding hearts, and even my angels.

Speaking of angels... I have a 3 incher who I KNOW will eat smaller tetras... I've seen it... poor shishies

Diamonds, I don't like them... where I work, we have a LOT of them, and I just for some reason don't like them.

Tetras I might like are rummynose, silvertip (they have to grow on me a little more first), Columbian Blues (but again... large), Von Rios maybe, but I've heard they have a tendancy to be a bit nippy...

maybe some diamond tetras can go in there. Maybe a royal plec too. Not sure about stocking numbers though.

Yep tim there african i wunder why he wants them. What tetras are you planning to get?? I would recomend the good ol neon/card or if you can find them emperor/congo. As for cories pandas are great but i also like a lot of the longnose species.

African knives aren't amazonian

I have three good sized pieces of driftwood in there so that isn't a problem if I do get a pleco.

Also, would anyone see a reason not to add an african knife. I have one in another tank and I was thinkning of moving him over. He is in with sparkling gouramis and leaving them alone. Just a thought.

Anyway, I've also thought about Hatchet fish. So my list of things to consider is Tetras, Corys, and Hatchets.

ya plecos love driftwood its good for them to eat tho

Anyone have alot of dark driftwood in their amazon tanks. I do and I'm realizing my Plecos are chewing on it and little pieces (tiny, tiny pieces) end up on plants and gravel. At first I thought it was a type of brown algae, but now I realize it's the driftwood.



My Scapes

In due time, I will have a large enough tank for them, and I do mean large enough for a couple 8 inch (biggest clown loach I have yet to see and hear about, still havn't seen a 12 incher)fish (with others).

As for the serpaes, i said those are going to dani and the lemon to the store. For the cories, I'm thinking 3 more for the julii and trilineatus and a couple for the bronze.

I also have a S.A. 46gallon tank Occupants include:

2 Angels
4 Blue Rams
12 Cardinals
8 Rummynoss
5 Ottos
3 Dwarf Plecos (Snowball, Albino, Candystripe)

I'm actually thinking about getting rid of my Angels, because one of them although he is the centerpiece looks kinda cramped in my tank. His body is the size of a silver dollar.

I would also agree with SIRBOOKS and try to find a good home for the Loach. I think your always better off with bigger schools and less species.





My Scapes

I have a 46 gallon tank with almost all amazonion fish. I have 3 Angels (one 3 inch, one 2 inch, one 1 inch), 8 Bleeding Heart Tetras, 3 Serpae Tetras, 1 Lemon tetra, 1 True Julii Cory, 1 False Julii (trilineatus), 1 bronze cory, 2 German Rams, and 1 Clown Loach.

I may be giving the Red Serpaes to Dani to up her school, and the lemon to my store to get him back into a school. The cories were once in schools, but I've had tank issues in the past and killed some off. The loach is a gift and I love him too much to give him away. So thats whats staying and maybe going.

What should I get? I like cories and tetras. I was thinking of a smaller pl*co species (clown maybe). I've tried ottos in the past but have bad luck with them. I was also thinking maybe some more clowns for my current one to make him feel better. They're slow growers and I do plan on moving them in the future.

Alot of Corys are particular about their water. I can tell you for sure that 82F is WAY too hot. I would recommend slowly lowering the temp to around 76F (so as not to shock your other fish). Make sure your ph is correct (between 6 and 7 also change very slowly). Then try the corys again.

They are great little fish if you keep them happy and comfortable.

Also, I would try to keep at least 3 as they tend to get agitated with less (sometimes). So, if you don't have the room I would stick with what you have.

One more thing (well two really). Since you're shooting for an Amazon tank. I would try and change my wood type to bogwood. This will give the water a tea like appearance for a while as the wood is new but will eventually all but go away. You're plecos, especially the wood eating ones, will love this and it will help buffer you ph to the proper level.

Part of your problem also may infact be that your water is too pristine as most corys come from black or brown water streams and rivers in the Amazon Basin.

Cheers.

"A fish swims through the sea, while the sea is in a certain sense contained within the fish."
-mewithoutYou

Why did you bring up a realy old post?

First 76F is too cold for an amazon tank. Most cories will enjoy temps into the low 80F and most fish from amazon waters won't mind water up into the high 80s. It is a bit high for the trilli's but I definitely wouldn't lower it to 76. 79-80 would be good. PH is unimportant for most cories (and majority of the other fish out there)provided you don't get beyond 8.5 or below 5 and keep a stable ph nearly all fish you'll buy in local stores will live a healthy long life.

I would try to keep at least 3 as they tend to get agitated with less (sometimes

3 does not make a school or shoal. You should look at keeping 5-6 or more of any cory, tetra, and other such fish. Under that number and they are definitely more stressed, often more shy, and do not show their normal behaviors.

Driftwood is bogwood. They are just regional names for the same thing.


While discoloring the water helps some fish it will have little effect on cories. The water is also not dirty just stained. I wouldn't say tannin filled water even if it was black wasn't pristine anymore than having a high mineral content. That is not dirt in the water it's just something we can see compared to dissolved minerals. Most fish don't really care if there is tannic acid in the water although it will do no harm. It's sometimes required for breeding a particular fish but just keeping them healthy usually not unless they are extremely sensitive and taken straight from the wild. I would imagine this tank already has a fair amount of tannic acid in the water anyway since there are several pieces of driftwood.

I have to respectfully disagree with the temperature you suggest. Pretty much any research you do on Cories or other Blackwater/Brownwater Amazon fish (other than perhaps Discus) will not list a temp of over 80 and in fact will say something in the high 70s. Of the 4 types I keep (listed below) the average preferred temp is just over 76 F.

Most cories (in the wild) are from areas where the water flows from the mountains into the Amazon river or other surrounding rivers.

This is not to say that cories aren't found in the actual river and I'm sure that they could survive.

And no, three does not a school make, but it is better than only one.

Regardless if you look at my suggestion I recommended that AT LEAST 3 be kept as I wasn't sure of the size tank. Hypocrite that I may be, I would never suggest keeping any less than 3.

However, I have one Corydoras Panda in a tank with 6 neons, 2 Apistos, and 1 Bristlenose Pleco and he seems to be fine (I'll probably eventually get 2 more when I upgrade my tank).

I responded to this "old" post because there was as of yet no response and it was an area where I've been doing a lot of looking into.

Check out my fish profiles at http://www.thefishlist.net. NOTE: This site is nowhere near complete.

"A fish swims through the sea, while the sea is in a certain sense contained within the fish."
-mewithoutYou

Problem.

Rummy Nosed Tetras tend to like it warm. 76 degrees F is at the low end of their range. They prefer it around 82. Much below 78 and they fall ill pretty quickly. For breeding, they'll go as high as 86.

There are some Corydoras species that will live at the higher temperature ranges. If a species happens to live in the same native waters as Discus, for example, then it will stand 82 degrees F without too much trouble provided the water is reasonably clean. Trick here is to check for a species that has a range overlapping that of the Discus, and plan accordingly.

BAD choices of Corydoras for an aquarium containing sauna loving species such as Rummy Nosed Tetras and Venezuelan Rams include Pandas (they start to wilt above 82 degrees F, and prefer 72-74 as a maintenance temperature, which makes them largely incompatible with Rummies) and any of the long snouted hillstream type species of Corydoras such as pastazensis.

If the aquarium is large enough, aeneus and paleatus will work (but of course these are large Corys and so the aquarium needs to be spacious to accommodate a decent sized group).

So, if the proposed 'Amazonian' aquarium is to contain Rummy Nosed Tetras, choice of Corydoras species needs to be performed with some care.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002