Fish to pair with Scleromystax barbatus

[lewk]

Hey all, In the past I've kept exclusively nano tanks but I'm planning on getting my first 40 breeder soon and the one species I'm sure I want to keep is Scleromystax barbatus - sometimes called Banded Corydoras. I'm looking for some fish to pair with them.

As I see it, there are two main things I'm concerned about:
1) Ability of the fish to deal with cool temps - the Scleromystax can handle it so I plan on running an unheated aquarium that may reach the low to mid 60s in the Winter months.
2) I want minimal predation of Scleromystax eggs - I understand a lot of fish will opportunistically eat an egg here and there, but I'd like to give myself a fighting chance of collecting a good number of them to raise on my own. 

I'd love to hear suggestions of fish that can fit the bill. I'm especially interested in fish that may breed as well. Some of the fish I've been considering are Medaka Rice Fish and White Clouds. I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts on these as well as potential suggestions for other fish!

[Theplatymaster]

keep their population under control and platies would work.

[lewk]

On 2/11/2023 at 8:17 PM, Theplatymaster said:

keep their population under control and platies would work.

There are a couple platy varieties I'm interested in, but I was concerned that they might be a little too good at eating the eggs. I have a tank of Red Dragon Guppies and Black Corys and the larger female guppies are fairly relentless when it comes to hunting down eggs. I've seen them follow a spawning female and eat eggs put on glass in the time it took me to grab a breeder box. Do you think Platys would be different? 

[BlueLineAquaticsSC]

White clouds are awesome and breed easily. I’ve never seen mine rooting around for food like a guppy will either, they pretty much just eat out of the water column. 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Rice fish is a good idea. They can handle lower temps and you could get a color that would really pop against the Cory’s. White clouds sound like fun too! Sounds to me like you know what you wanna do, but just gotta make a decision. Or do all 3! A 40 is a good size to get some colonies rocking and rolling. 

[Theplatymaster]

@lewkallow me to clarify.

My platies will do exactly what you described in your guppies. However i have around 30 platies. With 3platies it shouldnt be much of an issue. also just keep in mind the biggest egg predators you will have are the parents. Ive had cories lay eggs, then immediately turn around and eat them. The male following the females around, he'll eat the eggs too,

[mynameisnobody]

@lewk I think rice fish or white clouds would fit your setup perfectly. They thrive in cooler temps. I’ve had either species go down to the 50’s (for a couple of nights) with no issues. I’ve had variatus platies do well in cooler temps, but all other platies didn’t do well at lower temps. Good luck

[Rube_Goldfish]

On 2/12/2023 at 6:12 AM, Theplatymaster said:

also just keep in mind the biggest egg predators you will have are the parents. Ive had cories lay eggs, then immediately turn around and eat them. The male following the females around, he'll eat the eggs too,

It sometimes amazing me that fish can do stuff like that and not be extinct.