Keeping different corys together

[tta850]

Sorry for what might be a very simple question but I was reading on this site that corys like to stay together(as in keep more than one)but was wondering if it matters if they are all of the same species or if each one is different?

I currently have a corydoras julii and a bronze cory(I've had him nearly 20 years and in many different tanks, always alone and only recently I added the julii)together and was thinking about adding more to but want to add several different species. Or is it better to keep the same species together?

Thanks in advance,
Steve

[corybreed]

If you are thinking about breeding Corys a group of a single species works best. The group can be 3 or more, usually 2:1 ratio of males to females. If you are not interested in breeding at the moment, a few groups of different species makes for a nice display. The total number of fish depends on the size of the tank.

Mark

[tta850]

Thanks

[sirbooks]

My opinion is that cories are better off in groups of their own species. They are shoaling fish, and like each others' company. I'm under the impression that they school by sight, meaning that they prefer their own species more than others. With this being so, the more of one type of cory you have, the better. I do agree in that several shoals of Corydoras cats look good, as long as there are at least six to a shoal. Any less, and the fish won't be as happy and active. This is all just my opinion though, based on observation and talking with other Corydoras owners. Other folks have different experiences and opinions.

Incidentally, chances are that your Corydoras julii is not a julii. Almost all of the cories labeled as C. julii in the United States are actually the very similar C. trilineatus. You would be very lucky to own a real julii, but they are just really hard to come across. Just wanted to point that out.

[tta850]

Well I dont have alot of room in the tank for several shoals of corys so thats unfortunatly out of the question(at least in this tank, maybe I can in one of my other tanks).

As for the julii, thats what it was sold as but I'm sure it could be wrong. Here is a pic, maybe you can verify what it is?


Thanks again,
Steve

[Shane]

Steve,
You can certainly mix many spp. of corys together. My one piece of advice would be to keep corys from similar environments together. I.E. group llanos cory spp., Amazonas spp., Rio Negro and Orinoco spp, etc as these spp. all need similar water requirements.
-Shane

[sirbooks]

It looks like C. trilineatus to me. The differences between that and C. julii are slight, but they are there. Trilineatus cories have interconnected spots, whereas julii spots are all seperated from each other. You can check out the Cat-eLog to see the difference for yourself.

[tta850]

Thanks Shane, I'll keep water requirements in mind when trying to select new additions and keep them similar. I feel a little stupid for not thinking of water requirements myself, seems like one of the first things I should have considered.

Sirbooks I think your right, I guess you cant always go by what the lfs says it is. Hopefully websites like this will keep me from getting mis labeled fish again

Steve

[Beersnob]

TTA850,

I've kept a variety of Cories together. Palateus (spelling?), Juli Cory, San Juan's, C. Melanistus, melini, and panda cories. I have had a group of 6 different species together (total number of Cories =6) While some people on the site may feel that this is bad, the Cories seem happy and do shoal together. I've also had pygmy and habrosis cories together.

I really think that as long as you make sure that the Cories like/survive in similar environmental conditions you should be ok. This means keeping the Corydoras barbaratus below 70 F, while others like mid-70 F temperature. The Catelog here can be helpful, or even check out local aquarium clubs.

Hve a good one!

Beersnob
(Scott)

[tta850]

Thanks thats exactly what I was looking to do, keep like 6-8 corys together but each one be a different species.

Steve