# Corydoras



## ArchimedesTheDog (Dec 1, 2016)

I picked up five Corydoras julii today, which i often see listed as appropriate tankmates for a Betta. When I first put them in, my Betta kinda swam around overhead, checking them out, but after a half hour or so he started to peck at them, until i shut the light off and had to leave for work. Is that something that will die down once he is used to them or am I going to have some aggression challenges with this guy?

I also added a couple red cherry shrimp which we will see if he decides they are food. I just got two as a trial balloon.


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## fernielou (May 19, 2015)

I think it's a betta by betta thing. I had 3 albino cories that were fine with my aggressive betta. I added in 2 more I thought were bronze (were emerald) and he went nuts and started pecking and flaring. I had to move him to his own 10 gallon so the cories weren't harassed. All through that he still left the white ones alone...and the weird thing is they stick out from the substrate way more than the emeralds which are very dull colored.

If he's biting you need to act fast but if it's just posturing and flaring he might settle down. Some bettas work better in communities than others. The red one I got is super chill.


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## ArchimedesTheDog (Dec 1, 2016)

fernielou said:


> I think it's a betta by betta thing. I had 3 albino cories that were fine with my aggressive betta. I added in 2 more I thought were bronze (were emerald) and he went nuts and started pecking and flaring. I had to move him to his own 10 gallon so the cories weren't harassed. All through that he still left the white ones alone...and the weird thing is they stick out from the substrate way more than the emeralds which are very dull colored.
> 
> If he's biting you need to act fast but if it's just posturing and flaring he might settle down. Some bettas work better in communities than others. The red one I got is super chill.


Thanks, I'll have a good look tonight and see. He's absolutely beautiful but I want a good community tank not just a big Betta habitat.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

How big is your tank? Can you post a photo?

To have a successful Betta-based community, IME, it need to be heavily planted. If the Betta is already in the tank the new tank mates should be floated in the dark and the tank lights left off at least an hour after release. Floating in a lighted tank gives the Betta time to escalate aggression. 

The above is especially true of shrimp as they need time to find their hides before the Betta finds them.


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## ArchimedesTheDog (Dec 1, 2016)

RussellTheShihTzu said:


> How big is your tank? Can you post a photo?
> 
> To have a successful Betta-based community, IME, it need to be heavily planted. If the Betta is already in the tank the new tank mates should be floated in the dark and the tank lights left off at least an hour after release. Floating in a lighted tank gives the Betta time to escalate aggression.
> 
> The above is especially true of shrimp as they need time to find their hides before the Betta finds them.


20 Gallon and moderately planted (with room for the plants to grow in more), and with a really good set of thickly-grown Java Ferns to hide in, where I find him often. He had only been there for a day so i figured he hadn't set up territory yet. Wish I had known the advice about keeping the lights off at first, that is useful. Thanks! I'll just have to see what happens. Hope I don't go home to dead Cories tonight... 

The shrimp I actually think are likely to be dead at this point, but I knew it was a risk, just didn't expect trouble with something as non-food-like and non-betta-like as the Cories.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Your tank is gorgeous and will be beyond that when it fills in; however, right now it would be considered lightly planted. For best habitat for a community tank you need to have plants going all the way to the top and across the surface. Masses of stem plants like Hornwort, Cabomba, Anacharis, etc., can be held in place in bunches instead of planted. Allow them to flow over the surface and it gives your Betta, other fish and inverts a place to retreat. The tank below is my 20 long before a rescape but you get the idea. It houses a Betta, Pygmy, Habrosus and Hastus (dwarf) Cory, Dwarf Crays, Red Sakura, Malawa and Amano shrimp, Neon, Green Neon and Ember Tetra and Espei Rasbora. 

If you want other tank mates you cannot wait for the plants to grow in; they must already be in place; that's why I suggest the weighted stem plants now.









As far as shrimp: Very few healthy shrimp die from Betta predation. Usually shrimp are weakened and make easy prey from a variety of reasons but the main one is stress. Stress is usually caused by lack of proper cover and hides or even the tiniest amount of Ammonia or Nitrites in the tank. Even .25ppm of either will weaken or kill inverts. Here I've circled some of the CPO (Dwarf Crays):









Lastly, your boy may just be curious about the Cory. Lots of times they will casually follow other fish around. If the Cory are eating and active that's probably the case. For future reference: A Betta that is going to be aggressive will stalk a single fish like a cat stalks its prey. Nothing will deter it from that individual fish and all of the fish will appear "restless". That's when you go to your back-up plan.

And...you did a really smart thing by getting bottom dwellers first. I have found if Betta stalk a bottom dweller they are best left to live alone.


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## ArchimedesTheDog (Dec 1, 2016)

RussellTheShihTzu said:


> Your tank is gorgeous and will be beyond that when it fills in; however, right now it would be considered lightly planted. For best habitat for a community tank you need to have plants going all the way to the top and across the surface. Masses of stem plants like Hornwort, Cabomba, Anacharis, etc., can be held in place in bunches instead of planted. Allow them to flow over the surface and it gives your Betta, other fish and inverts a place to retreat. The tank below is my 20 long before a rescape but you get the idea. It houses a Betta, Pygmy, Habrosus and Hastus (dwarf) Cory, Dwarf Crays, Red Sakura, Malawa and Amano shrimp, Neon, Green Neon and Ember Tetra and Espei Rasbora.
> 
> If you want other tank mates you cannot wait for the plants to grow in; they must already be in place; that's why I suggest the weighted stem plants now.
> 
> ...


Thanks. The tank is fully cycled and capable of manging a bioload now, so i decided to populate. 3ppm of ammonia consumed in under 24 hours, plants throwing lots of new growth and hopefully taking up some of the nitrates. I'm trying to find someone with a good mass of floating pennywort for sale to provide surface cover but haven't had any luck so I'm going to have to wait for my little bit of it to get big. With a HOB I don't really want to do Frogbit or Red Root Floaters or Salvinia.

I'll be looking for those behaviors tonight. He was definitely pecking at them, not just following, but then he wandered off. We'll see what I find when I get home: office holiday party tonight and all i want to do is go check on my fish haha.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Go to BamaPlants.com, Home of Aquarium, Bog, Pond, and Carnivorous Plants all Grown in the USA and buy several bunches of Narrow Leaf Anacharis. It can take higher temperatures than regular Anacharis and doesn't shed. It's the only Anacharis I can grow. All of that Soft Hornwort in my 20 long is anchored; not planted. I have HOB on some of my tanks in addition to an internal. No problems with floating plants like RRF, FB or Dwarf Water Lettuce. But, yikes! Salvinia Minima and Duckweed are my nemesis...finally got rid of that stuff after turning off the lights for a 10 days. Thank goodness the only plants in that tank were Anubias and a couple of Crypts.

Here's something you might consider; I'm getting them next SS day. 

Floating Plant Guard - Han Aquatics


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## ArchimedesTheDog (Dec 1, 2016)

Update: We seem to have reached détente. The Betta has claimed the Java ferns as his territory and if he catches any of the Corydoras in there, he chases them out. Otherwise he _mostly_ ignores them, though I have seen him checking them out a couple times and once pecking at one.

When I got home last night, the shrimp were nowhere to be seen, but the Betta didn't look overfed, and I eventually spotted one of the shrimp peeking out of a crack in the wood. This morning one of the shrimp was exploring the tank with no trouble from anyone else.

And I've seen those plant guards and I have considered it -- i have a couple vegi-clips that i intend to use to keep the pennywort clipped to the side and if that doesn't work I'll probably order from Han. I may also go ahead and get some frogbit or RRF in the meantime.

Thanks for the advice!


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

I bought some really nice Frogbit, Dwarf Water Lettuce and RRF from kitkat67....along with some very healthy Mystery Snails.


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