(I hope I posted in the right section...)

I am starting to fall in love with cories! they're so cute! however, I'm finding that a ten gal tank is all I need or can deal with right now, so I'm gonna get my fill of cories and be happy with it. how many can comfortably be in a ten gal tank?

The answer will depend on which ones you want to keep really. What I'd suggest is have a look round your local shops, take the names of the ones you like that you can get hold of and then come back and post the list so we can help you better. Try to get scientific names if possible so it makes it easier to check them out.

Also i'm not trying to be picky or preachy here but I'm guessing your going for a tank around 18"x12"x12" (in the UK we list dimensions, makes it easier to work out volume in what we use instead of messing with US - Imperial gallons ). If you can squeeze a few extra inches of space and upgrade to say a 24"x15"x12" tank you'll give yourself more options and probably won't need to splash out on a whole new set of equipment to run it. Again I'm using a UK standard tank size, I'm not sure what sizes you can get hold of easily over there - and I know in Europe they have slightly different sizes to us again.

I've had 5 cories imprisoned in my 10-gallon QT for several months because I think there's still a disease in my big tank. They're still doing fine. So I'd think 5 or 6 as long as you keep up with the weekly water changes. Also depends on if you have any other fish in the 10-gallon.

I already have two Corydoras venezuelanus or Venezuela's Cory (at least that's what I think they are) and was planning on possibly some albino cories or

Only registered users can see links on this forum! Register or Login on forum!

I took some rather quick and hurried mearuments and I'm estimating that the tank is about 20" by about 12.5" by about 10" (probably what you said, Monkeh!)

I have a very limited tank selection here, but I might be able to pick up a tank when I travel - but this is pretty much it for now. as much as I love fish, I have other pets I love better, and I don't expect that I'll ever get past a ten gal. when it comes to hermit crabs... I see a HUGE tank in my future perhaps teh fish will get the hermies' grow out tank!

anyway, I already have two cories, so I guess that I should plan on 2-3 more? thanks for your input!

for that size of tank and assuming it is medium sized corys, i'd stick with about 8 max and no other fish.

of course it also depends on the type of filtration u r using. the better the filter the more waste it can convert.

plus dont forget the regular water changes. corys do like clean water. i'd suggest 20% water change per week or 40% per fortnight.

good luck.

Having as many of the Cory's, the same variety, keeps them happier too.

Ditto to Kana's response.

I'd say pick the one or two types you like most & get several of each. Like he said, they do like to be with their own species. However, if you don't really care to spawn them...if you really want a lot of variety go with 2 or 3 of each. They will hang out & play with other species. You'll just miss out on the shoaling which is fun to watch.

Back to your "How many" question, though. IF you have good filtration...you can get away with overstocking a bit IF you combine it with lots of water changes & gravel vacuuming on a regular basis.

That being said, a 10g is going to get cramped quickly. A 20g or higher I would tell you go ahead & overstock as long as you keep the water pristine. But a 10 - I think the above suggestion of 8 or so is probably wise.

PS - You can probably tell by my screen name I'm a cory lover, too. Like Kana I have on more than one occasion has a few hundred babies in the house. I'm down to about 30 now. Welcome to the Cory addiction. Good luck.

thanks for all your help! I'm not overly experienced with different filter brands, but quite frankly I think my current filter is on the crappy side, but it does keep the water fairly clean. as I understand, there are other filters out there that can do a better job. any reccomendations?

What type of sand would you use for a cory setup?

for sand i use 'play' sand, that u get in garden centres for kiddies sand pits. it's very inexpensive to buy and is soft and relatively smooth, so it doesnt harm the corys barbels. u need to rinse it a bit to get rid of the finest powder and it may cloud the tank up a little when u 1st put it in but it will settle quickly and doesnt harm the fish. a good recommended depth for the sand is about 1cm or about half and inch. this will allow the corys to dig down to the bottom which stops the sand compacting and there being any 'stale' areas of sand forming.

there are many filters to choose from. the best are external filters, partly as they are more convienent to maintain and they tend to give better filtration as the contain more filter material and u can use a mix of filter material too. although for a relatively small tank like a 10g an internal box filter can be ok. i like the fluval internals. for a 10g tank i'd recommend a fluval 1 or better still a fluval 2. the fluval 2 has a flow rate of about 400 litres per hour (max) so it will filter a 10g tank about 9 times an hour which is quite high but this is good as it will help keep the water very clean and nitrite free. i think it's good to keep cory tank water very clean, not because they create a lot of waste but they seem to thrive better in very clean water. the fluval 2+ is quite a nice filter that has a few nice features too. u can control the flow rate and turn it down a bit if u think it's too fast. if u want u can also connect a little bit of airline tubing to the filter and it will suck in some air and oxyginate the tank too. the filter can also have a spray bar fitted too if u like instead of just having one jet of current as it would be normaly. with the spray bar u can spread the flow of the water and if the spray bar is positioned above the water line it will also add a lot of oxygen to the water.

u may know this too, but i'll mention it incase. be carefull when cleaning any filter material. only use tank water to rinse out filter sponges etc as if u use tap water it will kill the good bacteria. it is a good idea to only clean some of the filter material at a time. if it has 2 sopnges for example, clean one, then a week or two later u can clean the other one. if u buy a new filter, remember it can take 2 weeks for the filter material to become biologicaly active. u can speed this up by using filter material/sponges from older filters. a new or immature filter put into a stocked tank could cause a ammonia/nitrite spike and could injure or kill fish.

saying all this i'd check ur old filter 1st before dumping it for a new one. if it is filtering 200 liters an hour or more and the sponges etc are rinsed every now and again, and the fish are healthy then u may not need a new one.

fluvel 2 would be a good choice as fishypaw says as in my oppinion they are a good filter

I've used a Fluval 2 for 15 years. It's done quite a good job.

It was only in the last couple of years, with the breeding that it found things a bit hard going. That was because the small fry food would just gunk up the filter.


I've read recently that 'Play' sand is not quite the best when it comes to smooth edges.

Pool filter sand is apparently the go. And I understand it's also cheaper.