can I keep a shoal of cories with my green?

They have full grown 1-2" cories at a fish store around here. I have a 40 gallon with a lone (3-4") green sunfish. I think the tank would be much more interesting with a 5-6+ group of cories roaming the bottom. The sunfish, while it has a large mouth isn't large enough ot actually eat a corie. Will he ignore them or try to eat them anyways? Last thing I want is a dead cory inside a dead sunfish.


any info is appreciated.

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I wouldn't risk it, even if the green is small now it won't remain small. They have big mouths and corys have sharp locking dorsal and pectoral spines. Not a good combination IMO.

I wouldn't risk it, even if the green is small now it won't remain small. They have big mouths and corys have sharp locking dorsal and pectoral spines. Not a good combination IMO.

The green comes from a little puddle near my house. The fish in this pond never exceed 2-3" in adulthood. He's been the same size for about a year now.

he's a special case. Does that change anything?

The green comes from a little puddle near my house. The fish in this pond never exceed 2-3" in adulthood. He's been the same size for about a year now.

he's a special case. Does that change anything?

They never exceed 2-3" in the puddle but this fish is no longer in a puddle. I wouldn't bank on it remaining the same size, even though it may. In the end its up to you, I would personally go for something else.

They never exceed 2-3" in the puddle but this fish is no longer in a puddle. I wouldn't bank on it remaining the same size, even though it may. In the end its up to you, I would personally go for something else.

what type of small, active bottom dweller would you choose?

As Drew linked, Bob Bock's article called "Sunfish & Cories: A Great Combo", therefore I am sure he did a significant amount of research before writing this article. So, I am sure corydoras and sunfishes will do just fine together. I would not do it because I do not like mixing natives with tropicals, but thats me, not you, so go for it!

Blake

As Drew linked, Bob Bock's article called "Sunfish & Cories: A Great Combo", therefore I am sure he did a significant amount of research before writing this article. So, I am sure corydoras and sunfishes will do just fine together. I would not do it because I do not like mixing natives with tropicals, but thats me, not you, so go for it!

Blake

For the record I'm not implying that a sunfish/cory combo is impossible, I just caution against mixing certain species. I'm sure many small sunfish do fine with corys. Most corys average about 2", I would caution putting a large mouthed green sunfish with the potential to reach 10" or more with fishes of that size. While we're on the subject my Lepomis punctatus and peltastes live with peppered corydoras and emerald brochis.

I wouldn't risk it. Greens are voracious feeders, and I wouldn't risk the double-death that could result if the green's eyes get bigger than his mouth. Here's a quote from the Fishes of Texas website (Texas State University http://www.bio.txsta...20cyanellus.htm ) on food habits of L. cyanellus.

"Food habits: Trophic classifications: Invertivore/carnivore; drift/whole body feeder. Trophic mode: water column/ambush. Main foods are insects, mollusks, and small fishes (Goldstein and Simon 1999). Species has larger mouth than most other sunfish of same size and eats larger food items. Young feed on zooplankton. Adults feed on insects, crayfish, terrestrial arthropods, Micropterus salmoides eggs and fry, other fishes including Gambusia affinis (Carlander 1977); aquatic and terrestrial insects appear to be most important food item (Stuber et al. 1982). In Bull Shoals Reservoir (Arkansas and Missouri) fish smaller than 48 mm TL feed primarily on aquatic insects and small crustaceans (copepods and cladocerans); from 51-76 mm TL, major prey include large aquatic insects such as mayfly larvae; fish longer than 102 mm TL feed heavily on large crustaceans such as crayfishes (Applegate et al. 1967); Applegate (1966) noted L. cyanellus feeding on bryozoans (Fredericella sultana). In streams where L. cyanellus is not native, species has been implicated in causing the disappearance of several native minnows (Lemly 1985)."

The ones I've seen in tanks go after anything (foodwise) that moves and is less than half their body size.

I'm sure there are many Cory/Lepomis combos that work, but I doubt that this one will in the long run.

Edited by rjmtx, 16 October 2008 - 11:23 PM.

The green comes from a little puddle near my house. The fish in this pond never exceed 2-3" in adulthood. He's been the same size for about a year now.

he's a special case. Does that change anything?

As much as we all would like, we cannot change an answer to fit our needs or wants. Greenies do get large, especially by comparison to the tiny cory cat. sooner or later he would try to eat them. sorry

BTW, Zephead's use of the term "shoal" is interesting, and entirely correct, although we don't use that term much in the US. To wit, a school is a polarized shoal (one in which all the fish are pointed in the same direction). A shoal is an unpolarized group of conspecifics.

BTW, Zephead's use of the term "shoal" is interesting, and entirely correct, although we don't use that term much in the US. To wit, a school is a polarized shoal (one in which all the fish are pointed in the same direction). A shoal is an unpolarized group of conspecifics.

I try to use the term shoal as well, I've trained myself to the point that when people say school it annoys me.

BTW, Zephead's use of the term "shoal" is interesting, and entirely correct, although we don't use that term much in the US. To wit, a school is a polarized shoal (one in which all the fish are pointed in the same direction). A shoal is an unpolarized group of conspecifics.

I wondered what the difference was, thanks for putting it in small words I can understand!

I wondered what the difference was, thanks for putting it in small words I can understand!

I'm from the government, and I'm here to help!

I'm from the government, and I'm here to help!

That explains a lot of what's been on the news lately ...