# Cory cat personalities



## fishielover123 (Apr 21, 2010)

Are cories like bettas? Do they have different personalities?? Because 1 of my cories is always darting up and down side to side in the tank and the other one is either just scavenging or sitting there. Is this bad? Is he sick or just different? He doesnt show any signs of sickness.


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## msclark1964 (Jul 23, 2011)

I have 3 panda corys and they are on the bottom of the tank scavenging most of the time. However, they get really active in the evening and start darting back and forth and up and down. They are healthy and it appears to be normal activity for them.

Hope this helps!


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## fishielover123 (Apr 21, 2010)

But hes not scavenging on the bottom..... like he was just laying there. But now he is darting with his friend


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## AquariumTech (Oct 12, 2010)

Sometimes its a sign of the mating dance/mating. Yes, they do have different personalities, although sometimes not as visible as a bettas, its defiantly there. 

Sometimes they could be doing that though if something is wrong, just test your water and make sure everything is where it should be (assuming you have ok water tests). Also do a visible check on them. If the water quality is bad they gulp air a lot. Its normal that they do, do it every once in a while though.


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## fishielover123 (Apr 21, 2010)

They do gulp a lot, but my water quality is fine!! Im wondering if I should lower the pH, but I dont think my new betta will like it. If I lower my pH to 7, will the bettas and cories be happy?
Also whenever there is something that says what hardness a fish needs it says "dH".
But my test kit only measures "total hardness" and alkalinity. 
Also the temp for cories says 75-78 degrees but mine is 82 in the summer. Is that bad??


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## AquariumTech (Oct 12, 2010)

Total hardness? Do you mean general hardness? You dont need total hardness for aquariums and doesnt really measure or matter much for aquatics sake. General Hardness abbreviation for testing is DH. Alkalinity is another way to measure measure PH. One side of the scale is alkaline the other acidic. Below 7.0 is acidic (the way most tropical fish like it 6.8 - 7.0) and 7.0 and above is alkaline (cichlids like high PH).

PH isnt a big factor for fish believe it or not. I would focus more on nitrate, nitrites, ammonia, and stuff like that. Although having the the PH between 6.8 - 7.0 is ideal.


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## fishielover123 (Apr 21, 2010)

I'll add a little pH down (i know that the pH cant fluctuate... ill do it gradually)
Whats a good nitrate level? Its at about 10 right now (and ammonia and nitrite is 0, of course)
It says on the test kit "Total hardness (GH) ppm - freshwater"


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## AquariumTech (Oct 12, 2010)

Yea like I said total hardness is pretty much useless for aquatics. A nitrate level of 10 or bellow if fine. If its a planted tank its fine to let it go to 20 ppm. 

Though according to you it sounds like your parameters are fine. So either the corries are sick, or your test kit is inaccurate. Which wouldnt be a surprise, especially if they are strips, those things are useless. 

Its ok if they suck air every once in a while, but doing it more than on average 1 time an hour, thats too much (this is per fish).


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## fishielover123 (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks so much!!!! They are strips, I cant afford the liquid :/


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## Blakeallred (Jun 22, 2011)

IME, cories do have different personalities, especially my little panda cories!


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## fishielover123 (Apr 21, 2010)

They are really fun to have


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