# Can Cory catfish live from leftovers or need separate food?



## miogpsrocks (Sep 3, 2015)

Can Cory catfish like from leftovers food that I feed the other fish or do they need their own food like wafers? 

I travel a lot and I am trying to automate everything. 

Plants are suppose to reduce the need for water changes. So I am trying to get a heavy planted tank. 

I have the lights on a timer, an automatic fish feeder,etc...

If I can rely on the food micropellets I feed the neon tetras, then they can act like the clean up crew and that would be great. 

If the algae wafers are required, then I might not be able to automate the process unless I can get a separate feeder just for the walfers or whatever food cory catfish require. I travel for over a month at a time. 

Thanks.


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## Dc5 (Jul 6, 2015)

They can but those food that are leftovers won't be enough for them. Should drop them some wafers here and there if you want a healthy and happy cories.


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## BBradbury (Nov 8, 2010)

*Corydoras*

Hello again mio...

Your post reads like you're not able to devote the time needed to maintain a tank properly.

A couple of things: Corydoras will eat leftovers from the top feeding fish, but they need pellets and wafers to balance their diet.

Plants can't begin to keep the tank water clean. Only large, frequent water changes will guarantee a healthy tank.

The lighting isn't an issue, you have that covered. A tank doesn't necessarily need hands on attention every day, but definitely requires checking every couple of days.

B


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## miogpsrocks (Sep 3, 2015)

BBradbury said:


> Hello again mio...
> 
> Your post reads like you're not able to devote the time needed to maintain a tank properly.
> 
> ...



I kept a biosphere for like 2 years without feeding, changing water or doing anything whatsoever. The shrimp eat the macro algae in the sphere and their wasted converted into plant food for the algae. It was a sealed system and I could not touch it if I wanted to. 

I don't know why the Aquarium would be that much different. 

Fish waste, rotting leaves >ammonia>Nitrites>Nitrates>plant food.

That is the theory right. 

I have an oversized biological sponge filter rated for a 125 Gallon tank in a 55 gallon tank. Should be able to provide plenty of biological filtration. 

My PH is very high but everyone here said not to mess with it at all. I am not sure what exactly I would need to do. The snails are eating a lot of the garage in the tank also. 

Where am I going wrong?


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## Yukiharu (May 3, 2014)

miogpsrocks said:


> I kept a biosphere for like 2 years without feeding, changing water or doing anything whatsoever. The shrimp eat the macro algae in the sphere and their wasted converted into plant food for the algae. It was a sealed system and I could not touch it if I wanted to.
> 
> I don't know why the Aquarium would be that much different.
> 
> ...


Ecospheres and things like them are inhumane gimmicks. The reason why the shrimp live so long is because they are opae ula, which are adapted to survive in their extreme environments in Hawaii. However, they can live up to 20 years in the wild, as opposed to the 2-3 years in a typical sphere. They actually slowly starve to death in those things.

To lower your pH, do not use pH down because it will rebound. Try using things like alder cones or indian almond leaves. Be warned however, that they will release tannins that darken your water a bit.


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## Argus (May 22, 2013)

Have you tested for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, GH, and KH? The pH reading could mean that there is insufficient CO2 for the plants, or it could mean something else. The pH number is generally less important than the other tests. 

How long are you gone for on your trips? If it is a week or less, you can suppliment the cory's diet when you are at home. It will take some experimenting to determine the exact amount of tetra food that will allow enough for the corys, but not so much that nitrate levels reach dangerous proportions. Lots of plants will certainly help keep nitrates down. 

If there is a little algae in the tank it will reduce the need for algae wafers.


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## wendyjo (Feb 20, 2009)

Cories will eat algae wafter but prefer meatier foods like shrimp pellets or pellets/wafers made especially for bottom feeders. I would not want to rely on just leftovers for my cories - while they do eat the leftovers they are much happier with bottom feeder foods.


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## WickedOdie (Aug 15, 2015)

The guy travels a lot and is going to do what he does. He doesn't need a lecture on how his tank needs to be maintained every couple days, he needs advice on how not to maintain it every couple days.

Honestly, my cories are happy with sinking pellets and algae wafers. They even eat brine shrimp, and blood worms that my fish don't nab.


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## Goldie (Aug 27, 2015)

Make sure your tank is lightly stocked. My parents have a tank that gets maybe 2 water changes a year, and they've been keeping fish like this for nearly 30 years. Don't over stock, make sure it's planted with easy plants and top up the water. Check perameters and water change accordingly.

Sorry, the original question, I feed my cories algea wafers and shrimp pellets, but not every day.


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## essabee (Oct 7, 2006)

The cycle of life in the biosphere is a balance of inter-dependence of the flora and the fauna. This balance is achieved by dynamic shifts in the population of different species over time, the numbers waning/ and growing. It is a dynamic balance not a static one.

I would not like that to be happening in my tanks. So instead of depending on the biosphere system, I look after my tanks.

If I was away as much as you from my tanks, I would make sure that the automatic feeders were not over-feeding the fish and the food that they were supplying was a mix of floating, slow-sinking and fast-sinking types. When finally home with my tank I would naturally switch off my automatic feeder and indulge my fishes with a little over-feeding with the types of food my feeder could not handle - wafers, live foods, freeze-dried foods.

I would check my plants for signs of deficiencies, and carry out any trimming if necessary.

Before having to leave again, I would do a good cleaning and water change of the tank. 

I would expect my aquarium to be in good health - if none of my gadgets failed (touch wood) - and fishes excited at seeing me, in expectation of the indulgence to follow. 

ps- No food is a left-over. All fishes must compete for it as will the hidden fauna of your tanks (all aquariums have it). Your cory has an additional source of food that it grubs out of the substrate - you must have observed those wriggly movements trying to dig.


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## BBradbury (Nov 8, 2010)

Hello mio...

The success of tank keeping depends almost entirely on the water. You must keep a constant supply of clean, treated tap water flowing through the tank. If you don't, fish and plant wastes (nitrogen) build up and will kill the fish. There's nothing outside a large, weekly water change that will remove nitrogen and replace minerals lost to constant filtration. It's very simple, it's about how clean you keep the water.

B


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

Cories are more carnivores. 
Most algae wafers are misnamed: they read more like a compressed version of most flakes- higher in protein than a true plant based food. Still, Cories do not need a wafer shaped food. They eat from the floor of the tank. Any food that sinks fast enough to get past the mid level and upper level fish will work for them. 

If your feeder will handle a mix of pellets as suggested by essabee- floating, slow sinking and faster sinking then all the fish ought to be satisfied. While the mid level fish are busy with the floating and slow sinking foods, the faster sinking foods go right to the bottom to feed the Cories. 
Look into some of the New Life Spectrum foods- the pellets may be the same size (so the feeder won't jam) but some sink, some float for a while before sinking. Highly nutritious, too. 

As for long term maintenance, I think the advise above offers several good points:
Do not over stock. 
Do not over feed. 
Make sure the filter is not going to clog up or otherwise cause problems. Probably the most important point is that it will reliably restart after a power outage. Not that a power outage happens too often, but if it does, and the filter will not start the water moving it can overheat. 
Thriving plants are going to be the key here. Put some slow release tablets deep under the substrate if needed.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

How big is this ecosystem?

Shrimps & fish are 2 different animals and bio-load. Once you add fish in the mix, you'll have to do regular water changes.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

I feed my corydoras tiny sinking pellets, same as the other fish. Enough get to the bottom before the other fish start looking around for more food for the corydoras to breed and a few survive to adulthood.


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## bobjohnson (Apr 26, 2013)

BBradbury said:


> Hello mio...
> 
> The success of tank keeping depends almost entirely on the water. You must keep a constant supply of clean, treated tap water flowing through the tank. If you don't, fish and plant wastes (nitrogen) build up and will kill the fish. There's nothing outside a large, weekly water change that will remove nitrogen and replace minerals lost to constant filtration. It's very simple, it's about how clean you keep the water.
> 
> B


If you have a glass bottom aquarium with no plants, then yes, you have to change the water often because nothing uses up the nutrients that the fish expel. The nitrogen is not going to build up to any level if your aquarium is heavily planted.. The plants use the nitrogen, they will only stop using it if there is too much in the tank, which if you have fast growing plants with proper nutrients, shouldnt happen. The minerals should not be getting trapped in your filter, if youre using anything other than simple sponges in a tank of this type, or if you are using pure water (like RO water), you will need to add additional fertilizers very very often. But if you are using normal tap water that has been conditioned, you only need to make up for the nutrients that arent available in your specific water.

Its totally possible to do what the original poster wants to do. Weekly water changes and crazy filtration are not necessary for a _heavily_ planted tank. As long as you keep fast growing plants, full plant coverage (cant see the substrate when looking down into the tank), low bioload fish, and things to clean up any left overs or dead things in the tank (catfish, shrimp, snails), you will have no problems never changing the water more often than maybe once a year. 

I'm not saying you should be keeping rams or discus or other fragile fish in a tank like that, but as long as you choose your stock properly its completely possible.


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## Jcstank (Jan 3, 2015)

Some very good advice here. post # 10 is sound advice. With the current stocking listed by the OP I would not go a year without performing some water changes. You should at least monitor your water parameters closely so you can figure out how long you can go. Mine is very heavily stocked with plants and until yesterday it was stocked near the limit with fish. In one weeks time my nitrates would climb from 10 ppm to 30 ppm and I did not dose nitrates or nitrogen every week. I do dose with dry fertilizers a modified version of Estimative Index. So with a heavily planted tank filled with fast growing water wisteria, water sprite, floating penney wort, and a few others, nitrogen can and will build up. Just to make this clear the plants were growing very fast with no deficiency's and they were growing to the point where I was trimming them every week with the weekly 50% water changes. I also dose with Seachem Excel, which does speed up plant growth. 

To the OP question Cory cats do need more than what might typically be left over but it really depends on whats left over and is different for each tank. I personally feed mine a few sinking earth worm pellets right after the lights go out (and you can do this with a separate auto feeder for the Cory's) so that the fish above are less likely to find and eat them before the Cory's do. I do this about two to three times a week and sometimes none at all. You can tell after a while if your Cory cats are getting enough because they will become thin and weak after a while or they will grow and look healthy. This is something you have to monitor as a fish keeper. Cory cats are also not picky eaters and they will eat just about anything that they can fit in their mouths except real algae. Cory cats are carnivores and do not eat algae; at least the many species I've had over 30 years did not. Cory cats also need a good variety in their diet and so I feed mine frozen blood worms, brine shrimp, Daphnia, and other types of frozen food sometimes once or twice a week. I have one Albino Cory cat that is over 6 years old and its thriving in my tank and about half of the 17 Cory cats I have in my 75 are about 5 years old now.


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## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

Short and simple answer is no fish should have to rely on scraps to live. All fish should be fed.
Corys are rather bottom scavengers and are called cleaner crews, but if they are just relied to survive off scraps, depending on the amount of food, which usually scraps are not enough, they slowly starve.

I know you are trying to make things work with the automated feeder and so you could either buy another that gives sinking food to the corys (corys are omnivores, which like both meat and veggies in their diet, but if you had to pick more to one side, shrimp pellets are a decent choice) or just add more micropellets to the current feeder so that there is plenty for both the tetras and corys.

As long as you have enough biomedia, there really isn't a big worry about overfeeding. As long as the tank is well established, it is much more stable than many make it out to be.
And if this is about your 55 gallon in your signature, you have plenty of wiggle room with the listed stocking (plus 4 corys not on the list).

Don't sweat it (I'd be more worried about possible equipment failure), just make sure the corys do get their fill though.


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