# Riddle me this...will a cory eat Con Fry???



## Hubbynz (May 10, 2008)

Planning to buy a couple of Panda Cory's to liven up my Con fry tank.....so will the Cory's eat the fry?


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## WakinAZ (Mar 16, 2006)

I had a couple of very small corys in a goldfish fry tank to help with all the messy small food that got missed. The had open season at night when the lights were off -took me a couple of nights to figure out what was going on. I thought these gentle little fellas would be harmless, but I guess not.

Eric


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## Nighthawk (Mar 13, 2003)

Please bear in mind I'm no expert. That being said it's been my experience that big fish eat little fish with very few exceptions. Convicts are very good parents so I'm betting that you'll still end up with quite a few fish to trade or sell.


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## Hubbynz (May 10, 2008)

I have removed the fry from the parents....my male would destroy the Cory's no problem

will a bristlenose eat fry?


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## oscarlover43055 (Jun 7, 2008)

Just get a regular pleco. They won't eat fry. **** there mouths never come off the bottom.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

Yes a Bristlenose will eat Convict fry... as will a common pleco... as will... well like NightHawk said, almost any bigger fish will...

Heck if you give them the chance last months baby Convicts will eat this months baby Convicts...

But I also believe you are correct that your Convicts will probably put a hurting on Cories... and probably a Bristlenose as well... as well as... well anything that tries to eat their fry that they can put a hurting on (or sometimes... die trying)

I have a young pair of Convicts in a tank which also houses a half grown Trimac. The young pair do everything they can to fight the Trimac away from their fry... But it's sort of like a cat hissing at a grizzly bear...


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## Joels fish (Nov 17, 2007)

Like Toby H said , your pretty well SOL when it comes to a clean up fish for a fry tank. Daily water changes are the best option short of leaving them with the parents. The daily water changes will keep your water quality high which is essential for growing healthy fry .


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

Everything eats small fry.


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## stuckinthemiddle (Feb 26, 2008)

And if you are going to leave the fry with the parents, there is a chance that the cory will be killed....My con paired killed two corys until I switched to a rafael catfish.


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## JWhipple (Jun 20, 2007)

Hubbynz said:


> Planning to buy a couple of Panda Cory's to liven up my Con fry tank.....so will the Cory's eat the fry?


My experience seems a bit different than what everyone else is saying.

I kept a pair of panda corys in with my Jewel Cichlid fry and had zero issues. They kept the tank nice and clean... Eventually I had to take the pandas out because the Jewels were picking at the top fins.

I guess though everyone's milage will vary!


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

JWhipple, when you first put the Cories and Jewels together, could the Jewels easily fit into the Cories mouthes? In the pics posted the Jewels seem too big for the Cories to eat, but it may not have always been this way...


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## JWhipple (Jun 20, 2007)

I put them in when the Jewel fry were about 3-4 weeks old. Since the pandas are so small, no, they could not fit into the pandas mouths - maybe if they really tried, but I never saw any issues between the two.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

So now I'm wondering... did the Cories not eat the Jewels because the Jewels were too big... or because the Cories just didn't want to...

I'd be interested to hear what happens with the next batch of Jewels if they are put in the same tank when real young...

I haven't kept many catfish/Cories/loaches so my experience with them is limited. So my opinions of them are simply based on their common reputation (which can sometimes be inaccurate).


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## JWhipple (Jun 20, 2007)

Loaches would make a snack out of any fry or eggs that they find...

Unfortunately I can't test with any my jewels - i gave them all away when I started going towards the larger south americans.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

So to tie the two conversation together...

What's the difference between Cories and Loaches? I mean, I know several species of each... and I know there are visual differences... but in actions/attitudes... what are the differences?

I've always avoided Cories as (I thought) they were prone to eat fry and they are a health hazard to any fish that swallows them... and I keep mostly breeding pairs of large Cichlids...

If they are not likely to go after small fish I may get some as a cleaning crew for my grow out tanks...


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## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

cory cats will eat fish if it will fit in there mouth, but a cories mouth is far to small for most fish to be eaten by them, if you get a new born guppy with a 3" Bronze cory, the cory can and will eat the guppy.


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## ksane (Mar 19, 2008)

I've got Corys in every tank I can put them in (not the Oscar tanks). They've never touched any Molly or Platy fry. They're the gentlest sweetest little things. Now my Clown Loaches....11 are in with my Severum, 3 Gold Gourami and 3 Pearl Gourami. They're BOLD little things. They'll steal food right from the big Severum's mouth. I've got 5 huge ones in with my 5"-6" Oscar and a 5" Plec, they swarm all over the Oscar snatching food right from his gills. They're fearless and fast and bold. The Corys are nothing like that. They wouldn't steal food if they were starving. If another fish comes to take a bite of something they're eating they just wiggle off and look somewhere else. I had Blue Loaches that would beat 2 male Convicts up (literally) and TAKE their food. I think Loaches need to be in with other Loaches  Or with fast greedy fish like Silver Dollars or most Cichlids. Except not with Angelfish or Discus. Those 2 Cichlids just aren't pushy enough to be able to compete. I love my Loaches for the same reason I love my Corys-they're excellent cleaner-uppers. But there's a place for each in different tanks I don't feel they're interchangeable. I also don't put Corys with Loaches because the sweet little Corys would never get anything to eat.


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## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

how small are your cories, mine used to eat guppy fry, i visually seen one eat a guppy fry LOL, but my bronze cories were very large compared to the fry.'

but your right, Loaches have more balls then the cories, my Yoyo loach chased around my 7" female Carpintis LOL, the Yoyo is 6" though. full grown.


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## ksane (Mar 19, 2008)

I've got several different kids but the ones that were in the Platy tank were the Albinos (that grew fast!), they were/are 2" at the time.
Yea, these Loaches are bold :-O I tried getting a picture last night of one with practically his whole head shoved up my 5 1/2" Oscar's gills grabbing the food coming out his gills. They're too fast and I couldn't get a picuture though.


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## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

> I tried getting a picture last night of one with practically his whole head shoved up my 5 1/2" Oscar's gills grabbing the food coming out his gills.


:lol:


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