# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Catfishes >  Cory in planted tank

## Osprey

Hi, I would like to have some advice on the possibility of having cory (maybe 4 of them) in a 3ft planted tank with carpeted glosso. Will the cory be able to survive when the glosso fully covered the gravel or will the glosso be destroyed by the digging of the cory? Thanks. :Smile:

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## Simon

it will be problems initally... best to give them some open spaces for feeding

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## theodore

You probably know this already : It is best not to house puffers or any other agressive fishes with cories (Esp. the dwarf 1s like hasbrosus) ... Then again, I'm keeping my cories with 3 balloon rams (ea the size of a 10ct coin) at the moment - I just hope ram mating season is not coming anytime soon.

Still, I'll probably remove the rams should i decide to keep fancy shrimps (cherry, bee, etc) with my cories ... Toying with the idea of adding more moss to my tank so that i can have a sustainable (reproducing) shrimp population.

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## theodore

Missed 1 pt : Try to have at least 6 cories (can be diff species but preferably similar size) cos they feel more at ease in large schools.

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## hoppinghippo

I&amp;quot;ve always wondered, do cories have to be fed separately? in a community tank can I just feed everyone at the same time or do I have to ensure that cories get fed separately like sinking wafers, etc?

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## theodore

> ----------------
> On 2/26/2003 4:15:36 PM 
> 
> I&amp;amp;amp;quot;ve always wondered, do cories have to be fed separately? in a community tank can I just feed everyone at the same time or do I have to ensure that cories get fed separately like sinking wafers, etc?
> 
> ----------------


I would feed tablet food (algae wafers, tabimin, etc) to my cories when lights r off / dimmed. Reason : My pencilfishes and guppies always finish the food before they reach the bottom. Plus, riccia meshes limit the surface area they have when trying to look for uneaten food (assuming u are dumping lots of flakes in bid to feed ur bottom dwellers).

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## Osprey

Hi, so can I assume that you have successfully kept cory alive with fully carpeted riccia in your tank? If that's the case, I should not have problem keeping cory with fully carpet glosso as well then. :Wink:

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## Simon

for me, I drop frozen bw at different places, allowing the cory to have chance to grab a bite

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## Goondoo

> ----------------
> On 2/26/2003 6:30:23 PM 
> 
> Hi, so can I assume that you have successfully kept cory alive with fully carpeted riccia in your tank? If that's the case, I should not have problem keeping cory with fully carpet glosso as well then. 
> ----------------


I beg to differ.
Riccia are &amp;quot;attached&amp;quot; to mesh or drift wood using external means like fishing line or netting. Glosso on the other hand relies on its tiny roots. I had seen my large yamatoes accidently removing my various carpets plant in the fore ground during its algae hunt.Can't imagine what kind of damage a Cory can do to a tank, planting glosso in its beginning stage.

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## theodore

Sometimes, large yamatoes can be more destructive than cories (at least cories wun strip my xmas moss down to ugly stalks).

Havent planted glosso before but if uprooting carpet plants is a concern, you can try the dwarf cories (2-3cm) like hasbrosus and pygmaeus. Note that the lovable panda and trilineatus are slightly bigger (3-5cm) you may wanna avoid them for now.

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## PeterGwee

You will find some glosso uprooted here and there in the initial stages, but once they get a firm grip of the substrate, they should be fine. Do not form a full carpet of glosso if you intend to keep cories...they cannot access to those left over food once it drops deep into the thick carpet of glosso (possibility of cories dying from starvation...water getting bad due to rotting food). You only need some empty patches of the substrate for them to feed...

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## checkerboard

actually, i am curious, what about cories in a field of hairgrass... can they find their food there???

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## Allen_1971

One of my corydorus has decided to make like a upsidedown catfish during feeds... he swim upsidedown during feeding and eats off the water surface  :Razz:

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## lorba

other than putting in algae tablet when lights are off, i use my tweezer, grab a piece of frozen blood worm/brine shrimp and shake them off near the gravel where the cories gather. This way, the cories can get to them easier and faster. The fishes are distracted with floating tetrabits or other frozen bits.

I have quite a thick mat of hairgrass in the front, basically, the cories have no access but just rest on top of them.

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## Osprey

Thanks to all for all the sharing. I have more or less decided to have a bare patch of &amp;quot;wasteland&amp;quot; at the front for the cories to dig. Not sure whether it would look nice but will still try it out.  :Razz:

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## stormhawk

in a planted tank u won't see the corys much if its heavily planted. but if u have patches of plants growing here and there and give the corys some wide spaces, they'll appear more and when they feed u can see the frenzy. [ :Grin: ]

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## lorba

I think not necessary a bare land huh?  :Smile:  might make the scaping look unnatural.. space out the plants more at the patch u planned for the cories.. for me, there's a layer of crypts behind the HG with space for them to dig around and another big empty shelter cove formed by a driftwood after the crypts.

yes, irresistible.. i have 11 normal sized cories and 4 pygmies running about..  :Smile:

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## hoppinghippo

how about tennullus as the carpet grass? you guys think it's ok for cories? and yeah I think its really very troublesome to have to take special care to separate cory and other fish feedings like distracting the fish etc. my fishes are super greedy and aggressive when it comes to feeding time, I really worry cories will starve!

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## benny

Corydoras hastatus and Corydoras pygmaeus are mid level swimmers. They need less open space on the ground compared to most other corys. They are kind of like &amp;quot;copy cats&amp;quot; because they school practically with any fishes (eg. otos, SAE, tetras). But remember to give them some broad leave plants (e.g. java ferns) to rest on.

Cheers,

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## chris

I have a bare area in the back area of my tank to feed my cories... but a particular pepper likes to feed off the leaf of my sword plant. :Smile:

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