Cory's alright for cycling?

[DrDanke]

I was under the assumption through various reading that you shouldn't use cory catfish to cycle a new tank? Is this assumption correct, or would they cycle my tank fine? Are cory's extra sensitive to ammonia, moreso than a normal fish?

The only fish I can find right now that I really like are some small cory cats. I seen the cutest Leopard (julii) corys today that I would absolutely love, but my new tank needs cycling.

 

[Katz]

Not that I'm an expert by any means, but I think you are right about Cory's not being a good choice for cycling. Aren't they scaleless and will burn from the ammonia?

Have you considered fishless cycling (there is a sticky about that in the Newby forum) or Biospira? That way you could get the fish you like without making them suffer.

Good luck!

 

[OrionGirl]

Cories are not a hardy fish for cycling.

 

[JSchmidt]

I don't really think most catfish are good candidates. Plecos may survive -- they're pretty hardy -- but the amount of waste they produce makes them a bad choice for any tank without a developed biofilter.

I'd think you'd lose a good percentage of cories if you cycled with them.

Jim

 

[baileya74]

It depends. I went through the entire cycle process with the peppered cory and they made it through. I did alot of water changes. It was something like 50% once a week.
Know that i look back I think my tank had to many fish
3 cories
6 zebra danios
5 black tetras

 

[Leopardess]

IMO cories are definitely not a good candidate for cycling.

 

[brookelyn]

Yes, I would definitely not cycle a tank with corys in it. I lost two of mine before I realized this.

 

[Hound]

I know most people don't, but I cycled a 50g tank with 6 peppered corys with no deaths. More recently one of the females laid eggs for the first time. That being said if you don't have any fish atm you may want to look into fishless cycling also.