Ok to mix Cories?

[Aquaholic]

Hey everyone I'm new to this lifestyle and am thankful for access to such a vast aquarium knowledge base.
I appreciate everyone on this site, and aspire to become a great aquarist someday.

I currently own a 45gallon DW and semi planted tank with 5 Discus, 2 SAE's, 2 Neons and 4 Cardinals.
I now know, thanks to this site, that my tank is too small for my discus and plan on upgrading to either a 150gal or 180gal in the future.
I also know that my tetra combo is a bit unusual with 2 neons and 4 cardinals. I originally started out with 10 neons, but unfortunately 8 didnt make it. I believe it was due to the tank not being fully cycled... Then I found this site and was informed that cardinals are better tankmates with Discus and decided to get a few to try it out.

So far the tetras have been doin great and I am planning on getting 2 more neons to balance out the group/mix, which leads me to my next thought...

Has anyone tried mixing Cories???
I would love to have a school of 6 cories, not sure if I may be pushing the tank load too much but hope that their scavenger behaviors counteracts the bioload via waste control.
The problem is I just cant decide on a single species of cories. Sterbais, Adolfois, and emerald greens catch my interest.

Can I not have them all???

I would love to have 2 of each, or even 3 of 2 species... 6 total

Does anyone see a problem with this?
Has anyone mixed cories in a single tank before?
Can these species of cories all thrive in a water temp of 86F?
Do you think 6 cories are too many for my tank?

Tank Setup: (Running for 4 months now)
45 gallon 36"x12"x24" tank
Fluval 305 full with ceramic biomedia, no carbon
Deep Blue Sponge on Fluval intake tube
1 Airstone
1inch layer of White Pool Filter sand substrate
Driftwood with anubius
3 bannana plants
Temp 86 F
Ammonia 0.25 (Can't seem to get 0 reading with API test kit)
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0

Soon to be in tank:
10 dwarf onion plants
1 rock with dwarf baby tears
One 4" Moss ball

Livestock:
Four 3inch Discus
One 2.5inch Discus
2 Neon Tetras
4 Cardinal Tetras
2 SAE's

Soon to be in tank:
2 more neon tetras
4 to 6 mixed cories
6 to 10 Amano shrimp
4 Nerite snails


Water Change:
Approx 40% every other day with stresscoat treatment via python direct from faucet. (No aging)


Thanks in advance for your attention and support...

[DLock3d]

Even with the every other day water changes it seems like a high stock to me. The cories will take care of excess food but will also produce excess waste. Having 5 discus in that tank as a bare bottom by themselves is pushing it. Do you have any future plans of upgrading the tank? Keep in mind, I have a 75 that I overstock as well. So this is a little of Pot and Kettle.

[Aquaholic]

Dan,

Thx for the reply.
I do plan on upgrading to either a 150 or 180gal tank, but funds are low at the moment :(
As for now, I can up the WC to daily.

Any experience or concerns with mixing cories?

[DLock3d]

I've mixed cories before and never had any problems but I'm not personally an expert on them so other people may tell you differently.

I think you'll have a tough time with the bio load even with everyday water changes.

How do you plan to QT the cories you're planning on getting anyway?

It's up to you but if I were in your position I'd just wait until I was able to get a larger tank. Adding additional fish to a tank that's stocked well already is playing with fire. I know it's tough, it took me a bit to finally say enough is enough but I'd really recommend waiting until you have a bigger tank. When that happens you can use your 40 gallon to QT any fish you want to add to your current stock.

[Aquaholic]

Good advice.
It is tough especially when you visit your lfs at least 3 times a week.
I also have a 10gal shrimp tank and 30 gal spare, which i can use for QT.

Anyone else have experience mixing cories?
Do they require a minimum school of 6 per type of cory, or just minimum of 6 cories total (of any type)?
Will they school together or will they break off into seperate schools?
Will they be aggressive towards other types? i.e sterbai's picking on Adolfoi's or vice versa

[ericatdallas]

I'm not an expert, but I've wondered this myself b/c I did mix corydoras in the past. Apparently some types have been shown to hybridize. I'm not a purist when it comes to this hobby, but I don't like hybrids either b/c people who do it can sometimes be irresponsible with them.

For instance, if you have Cory A x Cory B but it looks like Cory A and sell them. Buyer might think it's Cory A, breed them with Cory A, and now have F1b Cory A x Cory B. This is purely a problem b/c F1b may exhibit multiple traits and worse, Fn's may affect other breeder's lines.

Unfortunately, it would be too hard and not worthwhile to have a rating and breeding system like dogs or horses have. So my preference is just not to mess with it.

But I don't get angry about it happening like I've seen other purist aquarists get. I just don't want to be part of the problem.

So not an expert here, but I do believe corydoras can hybridize. I suppose if you cross them and don't care about breeding or selling the offspring, it's not a big deal.

I mixed my cories in the past, with no intention of breeding in my community tank and they did fine. I did notice that the different cories preferred their own kind but would sometimes school with each other. At one time I had 10 from three different types... green(6), panda(3), and one other I can't remember that I got for free.

I did not see any aggression. They did break of into their subgroups but would come together sometimes.

[Aquaholic]

Eric,

Great input!
Thx for sharing your experience.
I dont intend on crossbreeding them, nor do I want them to break off into subgroups...
So I guess, i'll wait till i get a larger tank and just stick to Sterbai's.

Thx for the help

~Aqh