# 2.5 Gallon corydora set up, possibly planted?



## VincentK (Oct 6, 2009)

Well some time ago, my father purchased a small 2.5 gallon tank, which he housed a betta for a couple of years before it died, after he left the tank alone. I got it and wanted to set something up (I'm totally new at this), just now getting into the hobby. Well I did some research and found that a good fish to put in a freshwater tank as small as 2.5 gallons is a Corydora catfish. Well I went to PetCo and saw they had some, and decided to set up a tank first so now I need advice as I am clueless to what to do . I have a small heater and have ideas for a filter, possibly a Stingray 5 or Whisper in tank power filter. I'm thinking whether or not to make it a planted tank, as I heard those are difficult to set up if it's your first time as they come with snails which infest your tank. A couple questions I have are should I make it a planted tank? If so, what substrate should I use? and what plants should i put in? If not, I want to use sand or something similar, should I use sand? And I heard that some Corydoras grow rather large, and I am afraid of it outgrowing (I read that some types of Corydoras grow larger than others while others stay small)the tank. I plan to house it in there alone, but I also read that they do well with others of their own kind, should I get one? two? or none at all? And I already have an idea of what to feed them (sinking pellets and bloodworms). Thanks for reading my long message for help :withstup:, also I didn't put anything about myself, so I might as well just put it here, I currently have a Red Claw Crab living by itself in a 5.5 gallon brackish tank with sand, their fun to watch


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## StripesAndFins (Dec 31, 2008)

the cories you see at petsmart are usually either bronze, peppered, albino, or julii cories all which get too big for a 2.5 gallon IMO.The only cories that might fit are a pygmy species like hasbrosus or pygmeus. And cories do best in groups of at least 3, prefeably more. atleast thats what i have observed

Loha would know more about these species of cories than me, but i thought i'd throw in my 2 cents


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## VincentK (Oct 6, 2009)

Yeah, I'm thinking of putting a couple bamboo inside with sand, the bamboo from PetCo, will those work as long as I have the top above water?


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

bamboo is not an aquatic plant..don't even bother.try some cryptocoryne..although it would be kind of tight ; you could put a couple of dwarf cories in the tank ; but that is about it...
but you could house a small group if killies in it and they would be fine...and killies have an extra plus...most of them are incredibly colorful..you just have to make sure that the tank is well covered..(not even small holes)...they aren't called "carpet bling" for nothing..
you can find lots of awesome killies on www.aquabid.com ..
and many of them are very easy to breed..


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

I just wanted to add that Cories need at least a 10 gallon tank. They like to swim around from time to time, but do spend most of their time resting on the substrate. I have some older Emerald Cories that are about 3 inches long and double the width of most of my other Cories, but that's about as big as they get. You could have about 4-6 in a 10 gallon though if there were no other bottom feeders present.


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## SouthernBelle23 (Mar 24, 2009)

I agree with Ghost Knife. Even Dwarf Cories need room to swim and just because they'll fit in a 2.5g doesn't mean they'll thrive there. 2 Dwarf Cories will hide all the time and won't really be worth it IME. They are best kept in groups of atleast 6-8. The tend to school more than other Cories too, which requires space a 2.5g doesn't have.

Skip the Cories in the 2.5g. They won't thrive there. Loha's suggestion of Killies is a good one. Look up Clown Killies. They are tiny and a pair might thrive in a 2.5g.


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## VincentK (Oct 6, 2009)

Where can I buy Killifish? and could i put other types of killifish or just clown?


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## VincentK (Oct 6, 2009)

Well I decided to just make it a planted tank with some shrimp, thanks everyone for the advice.


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## VincentK (Oct 6, 2009)

Yeah i don't know how to do that either so i posted another help thing, and i dont know how to close this thread


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## SouthernBelle23 (Mar 24, 2009)

It doesn't have to be closed I don't think. Other people will hopefully read through and shouldn't post in it.

Glad you chose the shrimp.


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## VincentK (Oct 6, 2009)

Yeah, I'm going to take your advice and wait until after winter and use my 20 gallon long for an aquarium and put a group of dwarf cories in there like you suggested, also some small school fish or something


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## RMC-GoodStuff (May 29, 2006)

You can keep cories in a 2-1/2 gallon tank with very few issues and they will spawn. My blacks, C-120's, C-089's, Weitzmani, and Plaleatus are all in 2-1/2 gallon tanks and spawning.

You just need to use your head when you setup the tank and filtration but it's pretty easy and doesn't require a lot excess work or water changes.


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