Just added Peppered Corydoras

[drawnitsud]

Hi everyone!

We finally got the go ahead from the LFS to add some fish. Unfortunately, they were out of two of the three we wanted (and the shrimp). SO, we decided to go slow and be patient. From another post I made, we were hoping for Honey Gourami and Cardinal Tetras but the honeys seem to be quite scarce right now. So we added some corys! Introducing, our five Peppered Corydoras! And man, these bottom dwellers are pretty fun. You can see three out of the five we added paying VERY close attention to the spider wood. They also seem to love hanging out around the Amazon Sword plants in the back. I have conflicting info from Google on the temp that peppered's like so I took in a bunch of suggestions and put it somewhere in the middle.

I do have a few questions though. Other than algae and the left over food of whatever I feed the eventual other fish, what do cory's really like to eat? I would like to give them a decent selection from time to time.

So here is the big one: I've read that new aquariums, like this one, will have a spike in Nitrites and Nitrates and that is just the cycle being tested for real for the first time. Do these parameters look okay for 24 post cory introduction?

pH ~7.3, NH3 0 - 0.1, Nitrite ~ 3.0, Nitrate ~30, GH&KH 7

Should I be worried about the Nitrites? Is there something I can do to help remove it if that is too high for the corys? I have a quarantine tank that I can put them in if need be. 

Thanks!

 

Edited May 25, 2022 by drawnitsud
double photo

[KBOzzie59]

On 5/25/2022 at 4:49 PM, drawnitsud said:

what do cory's really like to eat?

Mine like frozen brine shrimp, frozen blood worms, repashy community crave, and any flake I pre-soak so it immediately sinks to the bottom.  The are not picky at all.

[Colu]

Bug bites hikari micro pellets hikari mini algae wafers selection of frozen foods 

Edited May 26, 2022 by Colu

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/25/2022 at 4:49 PM, drawnitsud said:

You can see three out of the five we added paying VERY close attention to the spider wood. They also seem to love hanging out around the Amazon Sword plants in the back. I have conflicting info from Google on the temp that peppered's like so I took in a bunch of suggestions and put it somewhere in the middle.

I'd recommend the 73-74 degree range.  Depending on what else you want to add to the tank this may limit some options, just keep that in mind.  I absolutely love the tank! It looks like the corys are already looking for a place to spawn and eyeing your sword plant leaves.
 

On 5/25/2022 at 4:49 PM, drawnitsud said:

So here is the big one: I've read that new aquariums, like this one, will have a spike in Nitrites and Nitrates and that is just the cycle being tested for real for the first time. Do these parameters look okay for 24 post cory introduction?

pH ~7.3, NH3 0 - 0.1, Nitrite ~ 3.0, Nitrate ~30, GH&KH 7

Should I be worried about the Nitrites? Is there something I can do to help remove it if that is too high for the corys? I have a quarantine tank that I can put them in if need be. 

If it were me, I'd do a 15-20% WC daily until you see 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite.   You're mid-cycle, but your nitrates are also high.  You do have plants, but they aren't going to go crazy consuming those from the water. I would try to keep nitrites below 20 at worse, and at best in the 5-10 range as a maximum.  This also helps with algae issue to keep it pretty tight/low.
 

 

On 5/25/2022 at 4:49 PM, drawnitsud said:

I do have a few questions though. Other than algae and the left over food of whatever I feed the eventual other fish, what do cory's really like to eat? I would like to give them a decent selection from time to time.

They definitely are omnivores.  For mine I stick to spirulina brine shrimp (frozen) as their "favorite" in my tanks.  On treat days they get bloodworms, but the ones I have now are slightly too big for them.  Second to that, they love nano sinking pellets, spirulina tabs (from sera), hikari algae wafers, hikari vibra bites (back to the worm thing) and easy to digest flake food.
 

[drawnitsud]

On 5/25/2022 at 11:31 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I'd recommend the 73-74 degree range.  Depending on what else you want to add to the tank this may limit some options, just keep that in mind.  I absolutely love the tank! It looks like the corys are already looking for a place to spawn and eyeing your sword plant leaves.
 

If it were me, I'd do a 15-20% WC daily until you see 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite.   You're mid-cycle, but your nitrates are also high.  You do have plants, but they aren't going to go crazy consuming those from the water. I would try to keep nitrites below 20 at worse, and at best in the 5-10 range as a maximum.  This also helps with algae issue to keep it pretty tight/low.
 

Thank you, the kiddos did a last minute redesign so the spiderwood would form an almost 'cave-like' structure.

Okay, that is what I thought we'd do. I just did a 20% WC so I will take the parameters again later today. 

Edited May 26, 2022 by drawnitsud
a word