[jaydun]

well ive been trying to keep pygmy corys but ive had 3 out of 6 die in the last couple of days, they were really thin, i watch at feeding time and am convinced they are not getting enough to eat. between the other fish and shrimp the pygmys just arent competing. ive tried lots of different foods,ive tried feeding at night with lights off. do you guys think that regular corys would do better and if so what are some more active corys. would love gold line corys but i just cant find them.

 

[Topekoms]

Could get some Julis or Greens

 

[naich]

try finding sinking catfish pellets or just sinking pellets in general and drop onto the substrate while the top water fish are feeding on the other side of the tank.

 

[greaser84]

Algae or shrimp wafers don't get eaten as fast as regular pellets or flakes, that's what I feed my slow eaters. What are your water parameters? Did you recently add the cories? These die offs might have absolutely nothing to do with lack of food.

 

[treben]

Have you tried sinking wafers? If so and you think they are getting out-competed, you might try breaking what you feed into smaller pieces and spreading them throughout the tank. As was said before though, the die offs could be due to something else.

As for active cories, it's been my experience that most cory cat species are pretty active as long as there are sufficient numbers of them.

 

[jaydun]

78 degrees, 6.2 ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate testing perfect

 

[greaser84]

78 degrees, 6.2 ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate testing perfect

okay so ammonia and nitrite is 0 ppm, what is the nitrate level? are the cories new?

 

[Method]

My pygmys compete just fine with black tetras, a bristlenose pleco, a rubberlip pleco, and a farlowella. How long has your tank been set up and what is your nitrate level?

 

[jaydun]

ive had the cories about 2 weeks

 

[ilikeendlers]

Decapsulated brine shrimp is a good alternative.
From 6 my colony is up to about 50 now.

 

[greaser84]

Did you quarantine the fish in a separate aquarium for several weeks before adding them to the main tank? It sounds like they have some sort of disease from the pet store . Are the fish in the aquarium flashing or breathing heavily? I don't think this has anything to do with food, cories are scavengers they will find something to eat.

 

[monster mac]

If i recall correctly, corys aren't algae eaters and don't really go up to eat flakes. Best to find sinking pellets made specifically for cory's. Also might want to look them over to make sure they aren't sick or possibly have a parasite that would weaken their desire to eat.