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Fish Hiding

Joined
17 Mar 2012
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2,003
Location
Dorset
I have six Corydoras in my 60L and I very rarely see them, they constantly hide. I’ve been thinking of scrapping this tank and getting a larger tank that is landscaped in such a way that they cannot hide. Would this be a bad idea? At the moment it’s pointless having them in my current tank as I only get fleeting glimpses of them and due to it being a cube it would be difficult to create an environment without lots of areas for them to hide.
 
Can you show us a photo of your tank? Often fish hide because they don't feel safe, so you could modify the scape in this tank to help them feel safer.

I don't recommend getting a bigger tank and scaping it with no hiding places, it would be better to get a bigger tank and scape it with lots of hiding places and research what the corydoras would feel most comfortable living in and making it with all those features - generally the more hiding places a fish has, the more comfortable they feel add they know they can easily hide if needed. When you create a naturalistic tank, you get more natural and interesting behaviour.

Another option might be to get a group of small schooling fish, I have kuhli loaches which were very very shy and never came out, then I added some cardinal tetras and suddenly I see the kuhlis all the time - they use the tetras as a sign that everything's safe weekend the tetras are out.

I think the best option would be to get the bigger tank, scape it according to their needs (with hiding places), buy a few more (they are always happier with a bigger group), and buy some dither schooling fish to make your tank corydoras heaven!
 
Completely agree with above, the more cover you have, the more secure the fish feel and the more likely you are to see them.

Which species of cory do you have? Some like the small pygmy cories need large groups to feel secure. They can also take a few weeks to settle and become bolder.

Cories also don't like bright light, or take a while to,adjust to it, preferring the darker dim areas of the tank. Plenty come from tannin stained water areas where there is an abundance of leaf litter or overhead vegetation, so bright light isn't so natural. If you quietly watch your tank when the lights are off you might be able to see more of them and if this is the case it could be the lighting.
 
What type of Corydora do you have?

I maybe weird, but I don’t mind not seeing fish. Fish feeling safe and fish hiding are very different things. I would have cover, many twigs and leaf litter. I’d feed in the open too.

I’ve had a fair bit of success that way.

Edit: if your Corydora aren’t the Pygmy, then I think you need a bigger tank 👍
 
The more cover the safer the fish will feel and show themselves. Keeping them exposed will just cause unnecessary stress. The larger tank however will still be a good idea as it will allow you to increase your corydoras numbers which will make them more confident. I’d recommend say ten instead.

what species are you keeping?
 
E's 60l is full of hiding spots and we see all 5 panda cories at various times during the day, they're much more active as a group at night and often hang out in the feeding spot I've established at the front corner of the tank (i give half in the early afternoon, and they come individually or in pairs and I give them the other half mid evening when they're all socialising) They do not love being stared at though, they'll tolerate you being 3 feet away, but any closer and they melt away
 
This is the tank at the moment, I have 4 Sterbai and 1 Panda plus some shrimps.
D827A526-2324-4E8D-9406-22503776AD6F.jpeg
 
Here's mine , I had to sneak up on them a bit, they're in the right hand corner. They either hang out there, under the arch of the wood or in the back left corner which is a secondary food spot in case the snails get to the front first
One thing - you might be lucky and get two species to school together, but they'd feel better and safer if there were at least 5 of each

af65e14d9b4eb62128ff4a5d55fad647.jpg


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I do think more of a school would help. I have 8 C. pygmaeus (planning to go up to 14 or so eventually) in a tank with a pile of lava rock they can hide in if they want, but they are basically always out and about.
 
The tank is setup ok for cories with plenty of cover and an open area but the open area is right at the front which makes it feel more exposed to the fish. It's a sensible look for the aquascapers but not perfect for cories. You will likely get plenty of different opinions but personally I don't think it's an ideal tank for sterbai because the footprint is limited, meaning you can really add many more plants to build cover and the small volume making it hard to house a decent sized group, therefore if they don't start to come out on their own I think you are limited to what you could try. The easiest would be to go for some dither fish (ember tetras perhaps) as mentioned above but perhaps the best longterm approach is to either switch to a tank with a larger footprint, where you could add a few more, or switch the species to a pygmy species where they wouldn't feel so cramped.
People do keep small breeding groups of cories is similar sized tanks, so it is possible but in such tanks the aim isn't necessarily to see the cories so I consider a display tank a little differently and perhaps more conservatively.
 
There is also the fact they are a catfish and will spend plenty of time under cover regardless. My duplicareus are pretty out going but my gold lasers spend a lot of the day hidden only showing themselves more sporadically. Additional numbers helps but you’re very limited in a tank with a foot print that size.

cheers
 
I’ve had Corydoras eggs stuck to the glass again today. This has happened at least 5 or 6 times that I’m aware of.
 
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