Cory's eating

[svachon9]

I put 2 skunk cory's in my new tank 2 weeks ago.  They seem happy and swim together often, up and down the tank but only occasionally at the bottom.

I drop a couple of different types of sinking wafers for them but how do I know if they are eating them?  I have seen them at the bottom looking for food sometime but I've never seen them eating the wafers which are small and they dissolve.  So I don't know if they eat at all.  Any suggestions?

[Miranda Marie]

What kind of wafers are you using? Mine never "dissolve". On the rare occasion they haven't finished it by the next day, there's still a clump of brownish goop hanging out where the wafer was, even with snails, hillstream loaches, and shrimp in the tank all taking turns eating on it. So if they weren't eating, you should be able to see the wafer still where you dropped it up to a day later.

[svachon9]

I use the Hikari Tropical Sinking Wafers for Catfish, Loaches and Bottom Feeders  but they're so small it's hard to see them after a day and they blend in with the gravel.

[Miranda Marie]

Hmm. Perhaps you could try dropping one in and then dimming the light/turning it off and watching to see if they go for it then? Maybe they're still feeling shy.

[nabokovfan87]

some corydoras can be immensely temperamental to things like light, vibration, or an audience.  They can come off as very picky or extremely piggish eaters.  I would try something like feeding right when the lights ding on or right after the lights go off and make sure they have an open section to eat on while they have a covered section to hide if need be.   When I feed I almost never see them eat these days.  I drop food in and leave it, sit back 5+ feet from the tank and observe them and sometimes they will eat right away.  At other times, they are just extremely picky or shy towards me.  Having a lot of cover really, really helps the behavior because they just go and do their thing.

Keep in mind that you're talking about 2 corydoras.  Getting the number up to ~25 is about where I see them just ignore the world and go full blown herd mode on me.  They just act like tank bosses and graze all over.  If you can get 8-15 in the tank it would help a lot with their comfort and behavior, but I understand you do have some low numbers at times.... I have as well.

Lastly, if you want to or are able to get a feeding dish!  It helps them to find the food, but it also helps you to know they're eating the food you drop. 🙂

Welcome to the forums!

 

 

 

 

^^ This was the first time the pandas ever were introduced to the food or the first couple of feedings for the food I was trying out in the case of the black corydoras.