# smallish cories and a 5.5?



## Guest (Sep 12, 2007)

i have a 5.5 gallon aquarium with some guppy/platy fry in it. once i get the gupies and platies to the lfs, i would like to get some kind of small corycat. none of the lfs's here can order dwarfs so i am stuck with pandas because i don't feel comfortable buying fish on-line. and i don't want to pay shipping...lol. so...i know that pandas do get a little big for a 5.5. i have a topfin? 10 gallon filter on the tank atm. i don't plan on getting a larger or smaller filter. atm...it is very lightly planted with a gravel substrate and a castle ornament. 

once the pandas are in the tank, there will be no more fish going into the tank except the snail that is in the tank now as well as a few shrimps. prolly ghosts, maybe bamboos within the next month. 

I was thinking about 3 pandas because 2 i feel is too few. i know that they like to be in groups but the tank is not suitable for a school of dem. If i can get away with more pandas, please say so. I WILL NOT get any less than 3 cories. 

Andrew


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## Guest (Sep 12, 2007)

I wouldn't get Pandas. They get 2 inches and are pretty active, so a 5.5g would not provide them enough swimming room IMO. Also, Pandas especially seem to do much better the more you have and you couldn't fit 6 in a 5.5g which is the minimum number I would keep them in (8-10 is better).

If you can't get Dwarf cories, I'd try to find some type of small shrimp for the tank. If you can't find shrimp, then I'd explore other options for the tank.


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## Guest (Sep 13, 2007)

if i could find dwarfs, how many could i have in the 5.5?

also, in my 10 gallon with the trio of platies and a pair of bolivian rams, how many pandas could i get? how many dwarfs could i get?


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## Guest (Sep 13, 2007)

If you can find dwarves, then you have room for 10-12 of them in a 5.5g. They stay around 1" so having 12 would not overcrowd the tank. They also like large groups, so I would not keep less than 8 long term.

For the 10g, 6 Panda cories would fit in nicely.


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## Guest (Sep 13, 2007)

are you sure 12 would not over crowd the tank? that seems like an awful ot of fish.


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## Corydora_FREAK (Feb 21, 2007)

i would go with 8, Just1more20 gives a lot of knowledgeable info and i am not slamming her, but 12 is a little many for 5.5 IMO


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

Jom & Fg:

I am not at all familiar with the parameters associated with a 5.5G tank

BUT

what do yall think about 3 sterbai for Fbg?

TR


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## Guest (Sep 16, 2007)

Dwarf cories only get around 1".....in a 5.5g there is plenty of room for 12. Especially if they are just in there with fry. My C. hastatus are about 1/2" now...I'm not sure how fast they grow, but it can't be too fast. Mine are in a 3g at the moment...all 11 of them...  until their new tank is setup. I believe with proper maintenance, I could keep all 11 of them in for awhile because they are tiny fish and while they swim around the tank, they have enough room at their current size.

If it makes you feel better Andrew, just get 8....don't get any less than that though, as Dwarf cories especially feel safer in larger groups. This is assuming you can find Dwarf cories.

IMO Sterbai get too large for a 5.5g....these tanks are smallish and I wouldn't put any cories other than the 3 common Dwarf species (C. hastatus, C. habrosus, or C. pygmaeus).


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## Guest (Sep 16, 2007)

so if i can get 12 inch long cories, why can't i get 4-6 neon tetras? I'm guessing that the neons have the same, if not less of a bioload than the cories. and the tetras are less active.


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## Guest (Sep 16, 2007)

Neon tetras need more room to swim around IMO. And while you could have 4 in a 5.5g, they wouldn't be happy.


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

Cories, from what I have noticed so far, use the entire tank more than my neons. My neons really stay fairly close to the mid level of the tank. My cories will go up and down and all over the bottom. I believe because they use the entire tank and not just a single level it would be easier for them to deal with slightly less space. Thats just from what I have noticed.


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## Guest (Sep 16, 2007)

that's what i was thinking. IME, neons normally stay still, around mid-leval, while cories are all over the tank.


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