Hello everyone,
Corydoras are one of the most mis-fed species of fish there are in the freshwater aquarium hobby. Most people (as pet stores lead them to believe) think Cories will live off the leftover flakes and grunge on the bottom of the tank, which
is very mistaken. Corydoras need a variety of food just likeother fish, and in these next couple paragraphs you'll learn how to feed your Cory properly.
To start, a good staple diet for Corydoras are shrimp pellets. They are healthy, and sink right away so other fish can't gobble them up easily. Look for good quality shrimp pellets though, by reading the ingredients. Remember, wheat
flour or corn meal is basically like eating cotton candy for you, so look for brands in which the first few ingredients
are seafood or fish.(Note: stay away from Wardley shrimp pellets, they have been known to cloud water and they get
very messy.) Put a couple shrimp pellets in each day if you only have a few Corydoras, but if you have many, adjust the
amount of pellets you give them to suit their needs.
Then, start adding algae/veggie wafers. Try to get the Hikari brand; they make excellent Cory food. It gives the Cories some vegetable matter, which is essential in their diet. One or two algae/veggie wafers a day for a group of
Corydoras is suitable.
Once you start feeding your Corydoras both of those, you're doing well, but you should still give your Cories more variety.
Hikari Sinking Wafers (a Cory favorite) is even better for your Corydoras then shrimp pellets or algae wafers. So if
you can pay a little more, I would highly recommend getting these too. They mix both vegetable and animal matter
together.
Like all fish, Corydoras need some non pellet/wafer food. They need something thats more 'real'; and also for you, not
outragously expensive. Hikari Bio-Pure Freeze-Dried Tubifex Worms fit the bill perfectly. They are cheaper then live or
frozen foods, but in my experience Corydoras like them more. They come in small cubes, and the problem is they float so
Corydoras can't get them easily. But, there is a way to get them to sink. Wrap some aquarium metal weights (plant
anchors work well) gently around the cube, then throw it in the tank and watch a feeding frenzy begin at the bottom of
your aquarium.
If you feed your Corydoras properly, you'll have more lively and beautiful Cories then you've ever had before. I hope you enjoyed this article.
Matt M.
