Do my Corydoras hate me?

[Joef]

Hey everyone! I have a few Corydoras in my community tank and they aren't very sociable. I know its in their nature to hide often and I'm not too worried about their health. I have one more than I started with and they're getting petty big when I do see them. I would just like to see them swimming around the tank more. I recently added a German Ram to the community so I started feeding some protein pellets that sink. I'm hoping that'll help them be a bit more sociable. It's just sad when I walk in the room and I can see the sand floating in the water because they were out but saw me come in and the went hide. If that's just how it is I'm okay with that but if I can get them to not be so scared of me I would love that! Grateful for any tips!

[Baphijmm]

How many do you have? A small number tends to lend itself to skittishness. The species can also make a difference; for example, I've got a tank with a small group of Corydoras adolfoi, and they were all super-shy until I added more to the tank. Meanwhile, I've got another tank with Corydoras paleatus, and for a while I only had three in there, but they were never so scared they had to go hide when I approached.

[Dancing Matt]

Shadows on the tank can also worry fish, when you walk up to the tank if there a light or window behind you? You can also try training them by feeding then sitting there unmoving.

[nabokovfan87]

Hello and welcome!

Here is a thread that might be helpful.  Can you show off the tank so we can see the scape?  I wonder what specifically is spooking them, it could be numbers.  I have some corys that just generally don't do much, but others that are extremely active. Fish do have their own personalities.  What kind of cory are they?  One possible explanation might just be temperature.  Especially with a ram in there and depending on what temp you're running the tank, they might simply be stressed out.
 

 

[Joef]

It's a school of 5 Emerald Corys. Its a 20 gallon tank. The corys have been in there for a few months and I just added the ram about a week ago. They seem to do good together I find. I do see them a bit more with the ram. I usually keep the lights off in the room and its well lit by the tanks. So it's possible they see a shadow but it wouldn't be a very dark one if that. I feel like they pick up the vibration from the floor. My house is raised off the ground and it does vibrate if you step too hard. here's a picture of the tank. they usually hide behind the wood. 

On 5/16/2022 at 9:51 PM, Joef said:

It's a school of 5 Emerald Corys. Its a 20 gallon tank. The corys have been in there for a few months and I just added the ram about a week ago. They seem to do good together I find. I do see them a bit more with the ram. I usually keep the lights off in the room and its well lit by the tanks. So it's possible they see a shadow but it wouldn't be a very dark one if that. I feel like they pick up the vibration from the floor. My house is raised off the ground and it does vibrate if you step too hard. here's a picture of the tank. they usually hide behind the wood. 

 since I've taken the picture i've removed the tall plant by the wood.

temperature around 74-76

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/16/2022 at 7:51 PM, Joef said:

temperature around 74-76

For the corys that should be fine. for the GBR, it might be too cold. 

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/ram-cichlid-care-guide

 

On 5/16/2022 at 7:51 PM, Joef said:

It's a school of 5 Emerald Corys. Its a 20 gallon tank. The corys have been in there for a few months and I just added the ram about a week ago. They seem to do good together I find. I do see them a bit more with the ram. I usually keep the lights off in the room and its well lit by the tanks. So it's possible they see a shadow but it wouldn't be a very dark one if that. I feel like they pick up the vibration from the floor. My house is raised off the ground and it does vibrate if you step too hard. here's a picture of the tank. they usually hide behind the wood. 

 

They will definitely get spooked by the vibration.  The thing with shadows is just that it's a big dark blob and that is threatening to most fish.  A lot of times they will dart / run.  If you take 5-15 minutes and sit a few feet away from the tank you should see them come out of hiding and resume normal activity.  That being said, I do see a lot of open space on the left side of the tank and a cave for them. I'd really expect them to be on that left side of the tank a lot of the time.

I would suggest sitting in front of the tank or checking the tank at night under blue lights and see how the fish are behaving.  That's when you're going to know what their typical behavior is.  I'd expect them to be doing ok unless there is something else specifically causing stress.

What are the water test results for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate?

Edited May 17, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Joef]

I usually change the water on sundays so i did a test today just to see how its going midway through. There were some nitrates and a little nitrite but nothing way out of the norm. I think the best thing to do would be to use the blue light like you said. I'll usually see a little more movement with them when I turn that on for a while.

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/18/2022 at 7:41 PM, Joef said:

I usually change the water on sundays so i did a test today just to see how its going midway through. There were some nitrates and a little nitrite but nothing way out of the norm. I think the best thing to do would be to use the blue light like you said. I'll usually see a little more movement with them when I turn that on for a while.

Interesting.... I wouldn't expect to see any nitrite. Cycle is there but it's.... overwhelmed or slow.

What is your filtration on this tank like?