# Peppered Cory Cats



## MyRainbowBettaFish (May 9, 2012)

Hello everybody!

Long time no see, eh?

*Update:*Honeycomb and Casper are doing great! Honeycomb is his usually macho/grumpy self, hating on the filter and flaring. Casper acts like a little dog, and has marbled into an almost completely black betta. In the 10 gallon i added this beautiful jade buddha statue, along with 2 meters:

-One that measures LIVE free ammonia and free ammonia spikes
-Two, a pH LIVE measure-meter that is supposed to detect pH spikes,etc.

My Free ammonia has remained at a constant 0ppm, but the pH has remained at this deep color red, not present on the color chart. I read some reviews online and other users are having the same issue.

Here is what i am using:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4368193&lmdn=SHOP+FOR&f=PAD/psNotAvailInUS/No

I got these to help me as a visual reprentation need to know when to change the water, how much, if it spiked, etc.

*Update 2:*
I have got and OK on getting the peppered cories! My petsmart seems to be the only one that carries them, and everytime im there getting tortoise supplies i check them out. The cories are always in great conditon and very lively!
I was going to get 3 with twice weekly water changes.

*The problem:*As many of you know, i have a high pH of 7.8-8.2 and somewhat akaline water. I have natural sand, a betta(obviously), a top fin HOB filter and a submersible heater. 
*Questions:*
Have any of you kept cories in these conditions?
Have they lived happily?
Also, what do feed them? Pellets? Wafers?

*The biggest Q of all(bear with me, here)*
-I want to make sure they ARE acclimated before i introduce them to the tank, so here's what i was thinking:
-DRIP-LINE METHOD
1)dump fish into large 5 gallon bucket(will it be too shallow?)
2) tie knot in airline tubing and drain from tank
3)adjust flow by tightening or loosening knot

Is this even correct?
Do i have to buy the tubing?



Also, i am going to call my local Petsmart today to ask them what their pH in these tanks are (if they even know LOL) , but last time i checked with them, they didnt know(of course). But, i think that the water chemistry would be the same if the didnt add anything because they are so close to my house, am i correct?

YOU MADE IT THROUGH!
Congrats, this post is over LOL!
Thanks for all the help everybody, and new pics coming soon!:-D


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## registereduser (Jul 30, 2010)

I have high PH and so does the Petco where I got some of my fish. This area has high PH we have to live with it. I have 3 peppered cories and they are doing fine. Except they only show themselves at night with the lights out :-( I feed them 1 sinking wafer each every night and they eat the leftovers from the sorority girls.

I don't think you need to acclimate them any differently than any other fish, but I would QT them for a week or so. The last cory I got from Petco died quickly while the other 3 purchased much earlier did just fine. 

You just never know with fish from the big box pet stores. The bettas I have bought from Petco did great, all of them, but the 8 neons and that cory lasted about a week:-?


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## MyRainbowBettaFish (May 9, 2012)

registereduser said:


> I have high PH and so does the Petco where I got some of my fish. This area has high PH we have to live with it. I have 3 peppered cories and they are doing fine. Except they only show themselves at night with the lights out :-( I feed them 1 sinking wafer each every night and they eat the leftovers from the sorority girls.
> 
> I don't think you need to acclimate them any differently than any other fish, but I would QT them for a week or so. The last cory I got from Petco died quickly while the other 3 purchased much earlier did just fine.
> 
> You just never know with fish from the big box pet stores. The bettas I have bought from Petco did great, all of them, but the 8 neons and that cory lasted about a week:-?


great advice, and thanks!

Do you know how hard your water is?


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## registereduser (Jul 30, 2010)

MyRainbowBettaFish said:


> great advice, and thanks!
> 
> Do you know how hard your water is?


it's 8 or over, the color isn't on the card.


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## MyRainbowBettaFish (May 9, 2012)

registereduser said:


> it's 8 or over, the color isn't on the card.


oh wow!


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## MyRainbowBettaFish (May 9, 2012)

Bump!


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## MyRainbowBettaFish (May 9, 2012)

BuMp!


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## MyRainbowBettaFish (May 9, 2012)

hey guys, i have been thinking, should i get 1 albino and 1 peppered to start so i can see which kind adapts to my water chemistry better? Also, should i get 2 or 3 cories? I do a 25% water change once a week...


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## MyRainbowBettaFish (May 9, 2012)

updated pics of my tank taken with horrible phone camera


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## MyRainbowBettaFish (May 9, 2012)

oh yah, the stuff on the sand seems to be algae from my moss ball...i hate it and cant get the little debri out 

Also, the camera makes it look dirty, but its clear actually


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## MyRainbowBettaFish (May 9, 2012)

anybody else have tips or advice on how to take care of these cute little creatures?!


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