CorydorasEthan

Thank you for clearing this up! I haven't had any experience with otos, but I am planning on keeping some soon, so I'm thankful for the correction!

I'm saying use all but one of the groups.

Ooh that sounds fun! Tetras/Danios: That seems like a good amount. Bottom Dwellers (cories, otos, loaches): I would up the number of Otocinclus. I heard that they behave similar to cories and live in large schools as well. So about 6 of them. I would consider taking out one group of bottom dwellers (one group of cories, kuhlis loaches, or otos) as that looks like a lot of bottom dwellers. But then again, they are all very tiny. Badis: I don't know too much about these, so... Pencilfish: They stay near the top, so they should be fine. I have never kept any of these fish besides neon tetras (if only for a few weeks when I first started the hobby), and the pygmy cories, so I would check with more experienced fishkeepers on their behaviors. In terms of bioload, I think it would be fine as long as you have plenty of biological filtration (filter floss, sponge filter, etc.), aeration, and lots of plants (if I recall correctly, all the fish you chose love live plants). Hope this helps.

I don't live anywhere near the Co-Op, but Julii cories usually cost around $7 and pandas around $5-$7 as well. This is based on my experience at all pet shops and looking at the price tags in the Aquarium Co-Op store tour videos. Maybe @Cory would know.

Yes I agree. When I used my 10 gallon for guppies and cories, I used the cheap HOB filter provided in the Wal-Mart kit, so I supplemented the aeration with a large airstone (I did not know about sponge filters back then). So I would add a sponge filter. It is cheap and it certainly won't hurt to put one in.

Wow this is really quite interesting (to me at least). I have noticed that all these species look similar and are often confused with each other. That makes a lot of sense why my albinos and venezuelan are breeding. Thanks for the help!

I am one of those people who wants to research in depth anything that interests them in the first place, so bear with with as I explain all the things I'm interested in: Cello. I started playing in 6th grade. I do take lessons besides school, and have entered into a number of competitions, recitals, and programs. I am really competitive, so I usually end up with a high chair in the youth orchestras program that I am in, and I (not to brag) have gotten perfect scores on all of my solo festival performances. Ecology. Not necessarily a class or something, I just like researching and learning about many different animals and habitats on my own time. My main interests change every few years. For example, when I was around three to four years old it was dinosaurs, and then it changed to four-legged artiodactyls such as deer, antelope, and gazelles when I was five and up. Back from second grade to sixth grade I was really into guinea pigs (I kept a few at home they are great pets). When they passed away when I was in 7th and 8th grade, I started to get into fish and aquatic organisms. I am still in this stage. But every year, besides my main interest, I like learning about other "side topics" that I am interested, but aren't really a main focus of my time. I will read articles and look up different things about them, but this interests wears away after a month or so. For example, last year, besides freshwater fish and aquariums, I enjoyed dinosaurs of the cretaceous period, especially those from Alaska (I usually have a dinosaur side-topic every year), the mammoth steppe and its remarkable similarities to the African Savanna biome, fur seals of South Georgia island, and the Amazon rainforest. So given that I like so many animal-related subjects, it can be assumed correctly that I enjoy going to zoos, aquariums (oceanariums), botanical gardens (added bonus if they have koi lol), birdwatching, nature walks, etc. Star Wars: Yeah I like Star Wars a lot. My favorite movies are Revenge of the Sith (episode III), Return of the Jedi (episode VI) and Rogue One, but the clone wars series is my favorite Star Wars overall. Favorite characters: Anakin, Ahsoka, Luke, Cal Kestis, Palpatine, Grievous. As noted before, I like researching everything I enjoy, so Star Wars is not exception. I like learning about the different vehicles, technologies, and civilizations of Star Wars, even though they make no sense. Other notable movies that I like are the Marvel movies and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Other interests of mine that don't take up a lot of my life include Cross Country (I ran in 7th and 8th grade), Science Olympiad (particularly ecology-related events like herpetology or ornithology, but also Water Quality, Paleontology, Geology), history (especially World War II), among other things. As you can see here, I think that my bookshelf is a good representation of my interests as a whole. It is a large mixture of field guides, encyclopedias, care guides, pocket books, and other informational content. The only fiction books are the Warriors series by Erin Hunter, among some other novels that I read in my free time. As my teacher back in elementary school would put it, "he needs to learn to read more fiction!" Edit: I don't know why there is a college algebra book on my shelf I'm guessing my mom put it there lol.

Oh yeah now I see it! Thanks!

Although I'm not a true birdwatcher, I really enjoy seeing the different types and learning about them. Those pictures look really good @Fish Folk. Let me see if I can name these... Northern Cardinal (female) Northern Cardinal (male) Red Breasted Nuthatch? Tufted Titmouse Blue Jay Northern Mockingbird?

Yes, I would do a pearl gourami in your tank because they work fantastic with livebearers in my experience. I keep a male pearl gourami in my 29 gallon community. He is very peaceful (he doesn't even eat guppy fry). In my experience, he will only attack peaceful bottom dwellers, and only during feeding. During this time, he bites and chases my Corydoras catfish away from their wafers. But that is the only time he is aggressive. So if you have cories I would advise against getting a pearl gourami. But then again, I haven't kept female pearls, and all gourami have different personalities, so I would check with other people for their experiences. Hope this helps. Good luck!

Wow, I really like the way you put your analogy! A very accurate representation of how difficult it would be to set up an aquarium like this. The only thing I would change is that jaguars live in South America, not Africa... Anyway, sorry I am both animal nerd and (fish) nerm and I mean no offense. I would agree with @Fish Folk about the tank setups. Other fish to try out would be Kribensis cichlids (Pelvicachromis spec.), Upside-down catfish and relatives (Synodontis spec.), and African Butterfly Fish (Pantodon buchholzi). Hope this helps.

I've had this experience too. I ordered my Vallisneria amongst other plants from the Co-Op around the same time as you, and they have still not grown that tall. They have shot out a couple runners though. I don't know too much about plants but I would assume @Gumbo99 and @HardeepTheLondoner are correct.

Yes that makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the advice!

Yes my LFS sold them for around $2.99 each as Green/Bronze Corydoras. I should have bought more in the first place... Here are the different "Bronze" varieties they sell: I think this one is the "true" bronze variety. The "Venezuelan" cory, which they also call bronze or green. And then they call this one a green cory too. I believe it is a Brochis spendens.

Right now, I have: School of Guppy/Endler's Livebearer hybrids School of 5 Pygmy Corydoras (Corydoras pygmaeus) Pair of Peppered Corydoras (Corydoras paleatus) and their offspring (4 babies) 2 Female Albino Corydoras (Corydoras aeneus) 1 Male Green/Orange/Bronze/Venezuelan Corydoras 1 Siamese Algae Eater 1 Bristlenose Pleco (female) Pair of Amano Shrimp Several Assassin Snails I recently removed a pearl gourami that I had due to food aggression, and just now I removed one of the previously two siamese algae eaters due to fighting between the two. I plan on selling my guppy/endlers once they start to breed again. Filtration: The tank is run by a Marineland BioWheel Penguin 150 (built for a 30 gallon aquarium), but I modified it for increased bioload with plenty of filter floss inside, as well as an pre-filter sponge on the intake tube. In addition, I have an Aquarium Co-Op sponge filter built for a 10 gallon tank, and a large airstone. Plants: I don't know if these count as filtration, but I also have 2 Vallisneria, 1 dwarf hairgrass, 1 Java fern (with numerous new growths cut off and planted elsewhere in the tank), 1 Amazon swordplant, 1 water sprite, 1 dwarf aquarium lily, and 1 cryptocoryne wedtii (I ordered one, but Aquarium Co-Op gave me two in the same plant, and it has already sprouted up at least 2 other plants). Substrate is pool filter sand, but the plants seem to grow very well in it (it had a lot of fish poop in it when I added the plants in). I do not do any fertilizers, root tabs, CO2, or Iron yet.

So if mine is a Venezuelan cory, should I get more friends for him so he is not lonely? My 29 gallon is pretty highly stocked right now.

Yes I think so. Nice tank by the way.

Me too I use shrimp wafers, bottom dweller pellets, Repashy, algae wafers, and very occasionally cichlid pellets for my bottom dwellers, and flakes, crisps, freeze-dried bloodworms, and fry food for the top-dwellers.

I've only been keeping fish for a year and a half, so I am still a beginner, but I'll give some of my suggestions anyway. I would feed flake as a staple for the top dwellers (betta, Endler's livebearers), and then feed shrimp pellets or bottom feeder pellets/wafers of some sort for the Corydoras and snail. If you wanted to, you could supplement both every now and then by providing freeze-dried bloodworms for the top-dwellers and Repashy gel food for the bottom dwellers (these are easy to prepare they are not live foods they are premade). In my tank I have a gourami, Endler's livebearers, cories, a pleco, shrimp, and snails, and it works fine. The only thing I would watch out for is the betta coming down and chasing the bottom dwellers away from the food. My gourami did this, so I had to move him to another tank so that my cories could eat in peace. If your betta does this, drop the sinking wafers in the back of the tank behind decorations or plants so that the cories can get to it but not the betta. Hope this helps.

I keep them with dwarf hairgrass right now, but I don't know because my hairgrass has not carpeted the tank yet. I would assume it would be okay (especially with smaller Corydoras species) because cories don't normally harm plants. I would be careful with larger cories because they might accidentally harm the plants.

This depends on if you want babies or not. It you want babies, make sure your tank has decent cover/hiding spots, and get both males and females. Preferred ratio is one male to every two to three females. Otherwise, what @Colu said.

Those are guppies. (Edit) Sorry I just saw you edited your post. Um I don't know what strain they are.

@Pakal Yes I think so. Guppies and snails like high pH (I think or is it water hardness) but as long as you keep the water around neutral they'll be fine.

Yes that was what I was thinking. If I recall correctly, I think they do best in unheated setups. They would be great with goldfish, white cloud mountain minnows, or zebra danios.

Yes I noticed dwarf cories in particular mimic different tetras. I know C. hastatus mimics several different species (Hyphessobrycon elachys, Odontostilbe kreigi, Odontostilbe pulchra, Gnathocharax steindachneri, and Aphyocharax paraguayensis), but I have not found any resources regarding mimics for C. pygmaeus. Does anyone know of any pygmy cory mimics?