Cory Catfish (Corydoras) are fun to watch

Otis and Pepperjack (two Corydoras catfish) are swimming in formation looking for food. I have had various Corys for years, their lifespan in my tanks is about 8-10 years. Only the albino cory does not seem to form shoals (schools) in an aquarium. The color of the gravel/sand has affected these two Corydoras; on black gravel they are both darker than they were on lighter "natural" colored gravel. So my albino cory is in another tank with natural gravel. I don't want it to get stressed as its color would stand out too much on black gravel and so this fish might not come out to eat.

I have had Corys successfully living in community, semi-aggressive and even some types of cichlid aquarium groupings. They are non-aggressive, but spiny and plated, so more aggressive fish will not bother them.

If you buy Corydoras get at least two at the same time, they like to stay together and this causes them less stress. While they are often purchased "to clean up the food the other fish leave behind on the tank bottom", they eat a minimal amount of algae, and require some (about 1-2 per individual) sinking shrimp pellets, and/or some frozen brine shrimp or bloodworms to stay healthy. They are scavengers.

We enjoy their antics, zooming up and down the height of the tank, my younger son likened them to really fast elevators, naming some of them "Otis".

A few places to learn more about these active diurnal plump fish:
Corydoras Catfish (aka Cory or Cories)

Numerous Corydoras photos and Latin names on Planet Catfish

Archive of Catfish articles by species