# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Catfishes >  Recommend catfish tank mates for my guppies?

## dimension

Hi all, 
i have recently started keeping some guppies and am thinking of adding some cory to help with the food on the bottom.
Is it recommended? I am only beginner to fish keeping. Are the fish hardy? Can they share my guppy food?
Any recommendation on SMALL cory fish that might live in same condition as guppies?
I do not have heater or cooler, so need to be Singapore weather.
I'm considering two (one male one female) pepper or albino cory? Or is pygmy cory better choice?
Can they be kept in pairs?

Thanks in advance!

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## bryan

Is it a need or want?
If its a need then you are feeding too much. Adding fish will add bioload, you will need to feed more for more fish and leads to more waste.
If its a want maybe because they look cool and you have already catered for it then yes any cory will do.

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## dimension

> Is it a need or want?
> If its a need then you are feeding too much. Adding fish will add bioload, you will need to feed more for more fish and leads to more waste.
> If its a want maybe because they look cool and you have already catered for it then yes any cory will do.


LOL okay noted, thanks bryan for the candid response.
its kind of a "want" i'm trying to mask off as a need  :Roll Eyes: 
i will note that they not eat poo poo too 
Are they hard to care for? Vs guppies?
Can recommend if some types of cory easier to care for in Singapore (weather and water) context?

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## Urban Aquaria

If you want some bottom feeders and yet minimize bio-load, go for the dwarf cories... like cory habrosus, pygmaeus or hastatus. Habrosus and pygmaeus are the common ones and usually cost around $1+ each. Hastatus are less common and usually cost $5-$6 each. All of them stay small at 2-3cm size and have relatively low bio-loads, so you can keep a group of them quite easily in a mid-sized tank.

Habrosus tend to stay at the bottom of the tank most of the time (like the larger cories), while pygmaeus and hastatus tend to swim around in mid-water more often.

Just make sure to get healthy active ones from the LFS, and make sure to acclimate them slowly to your tank conditions before introduction. In addition, do not use substrates which are sharp or rough, as that can injure their barbels as they sift around for food. Also ensure that the substrate is kept clean to avoid mouth/barbel infections and rot. Best substrate for cories is fine sand, then you will be able to observe them displaying their natural foraging behaviors.

Other than that, in terms of hardiness they are just like most common fishes and require good clean stable water conditions. Note that they are scaleless fishes from softwater habitats and don't do too well with salt, so have to keep that in mind if you like to dose salt as therapeutic treatments for your guppies.

Btw... cories still do need to be fed, can't just expect them to subsist on leftover food as they may get outcompeted by larger faster fishes and get stressed and starve in the process. So do factor that into your feeding regimen if you are keeping cories in a community tank.

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## Urban Aquaria

Almost forgot to mention... you could also consider keeping otocinclus too, they have the added benefits of helping to eat algae from the tank glass and plant leaves (which the cories don't do), and they do also snack on leftover foods that settle on the tank bottom too. So the otos can double up as cleanup + algae eating crew for your tank.

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## fireblade

you can try keeping snails or shrimps as bottom feeders as well!
adding more poison to your tank... :P

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## dimension

Thanks all for your invaluable inputs! I truly have much to learn. Kinda decided I'm not ready for a mix tank. My tank is very simple setup for guppies and in really don't want to hurt any fish (or shrimp!). Let me gain some more experience first.

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