Cory catfish are the most common fish aquarist prefer to add to their community tank. They are peaceful fish and do great with other peaceful fish. Some aquarists add cory catfish to keep their tank clean, but do they help keep the tank clean? Are cory catfish good cleaners? Let us find out.
Cory catfish are good cleaners as they feed on fish leftovers, dead and decaying plants, and small fish. They are bottom dweller fish and spend most of their scavenging on the bottoms in search of food. However, don’t rely on your cory catfish to clean algae, as they don’t feed on algae.
This article will discuss whether cory catfish are good cleaners and how they help in keeping the tank clean. So, let us get into it.
Contents
Will cory catfish keep the tank clean?
Cory catfish are bottom dweller fish and will spend most of their time on the bottom of the tank in search of food.
They are excellent cleaners and help you keep your tank clean from leftovers and other wastes.
However, we don’t recommend relying on cory catfish to keep the tank clean and suggest you maintain the tank by performing a regular water change and maintenance.
Relying only on cory catfish will not help you keep the tank clean, and you have to take care of your tank by yourself.
Consider performing a weekly water change of at least 35% to ensure clean water conditions.
Add a good filtration system with biofilter media to protect the water from harmful toxins like ammonia and nitrite.
Also, add plenty of live aquatic plants to ensure enough oxygen and clean water.
Relying only on cory catfish to keep your tank clean is not appropriate.
If you do not keep your tank clean, your cory catfish can become sick and come under stress by living in poor water conditions.
Do cory catfish feed on leftovers?
Cory catfish do feed on fish leftovers.
Cory catfish are bottom dweller fish and will feed on leftovers from the bottom of the tank.
If you have cory catfish in your tank, you don’t have to worry about the leftovers, as your cory catfish will help you keep the tank clean from the leftovers.
They will spend most of the time on the bottom of the tank, searching for food.
They will feed on the leftovers sunken on the tank’s bottom.
However, we should provide various types of food to our cory catfish and don’t rely on leftovers and other waste.
Cory catfish are omnivore fish and require various types of food to fulfill their ideal dietary requirements.
Consider feeding them bloodworms, tubifex worms, blackworms, mosquito larvae, shrimp pellets, and sinking flake foods.
Also, feed them blanched vegetables like carrots, zucchini, and cucumber to fulfill their plant-based nutritional requirement.
Also read: Why Is My Cory Catfish Not Eating?
Do cory catfish feed on dead and decaying plants?
You will see your cory catfish collecting dead plants on the bottom of the tank and munching on them.
Cory catfish will feed on dead and decaying plants.
They are omnivore fish species and require plant and meat matter food in their daily diet to ensure their ideal nutritional requirement.
They will munch on dead plants on the bottom of the tank.
Usually, cory catfish feed on larvae, worms, and insects from the bottom but will also feed on dead and decaying plants.
Will cory catfish feed on dead fish?
Cory catfish will feed on small dead fishes.
They are peaceful bottom dweller fish and spend most of their time scavenging on the bottom of the tank in search of food.
They will never try to chase and hunt alive fishes as it is against their natural behavior.
However, they will feed on dead and decaying small fishes if present in the tank.
Do cory catfish feed on algae?
Cory catfish do not feed on algae.
Many aquarists think that cory catfish are good cleaners and will clean the algae by feeding on them.
But, cory catfish will not feed on any type of algae, whether green, brown, or floating algae.
You can see your cory catfish sometimes munching on algae, but they will not eat it.
Cory catfish are good cleaners for keeping the tank clean from leftovers, dead and decaying plants, and small dead fishes.
Cory catfish will search for food on the bottom of the tank and feed on leftovers.
Algae don’t provide any nutritional value to your cory catfish, and they, too, are not interested in feeding on algae.
Also read: Do Cory Catfish Eat Algae?
What other cleaning tankmates can I add to my cory catfish tank?
These are some of the best cleaning tankmates you can consider keeping with your cory catfish:
- Amano shrimp
- Nerite snails
- Assassin snails
- Rabbit snails
Amano shrimp are great cleaners when it comes to cleaning your tank from excess algae.
They will also feed on hair algae, which is a fish tank’s most common problem.
Amano shrimp are peaceful creatures and will happily live with cory catfish in a community tank.
Nerite snails are also good algae eaters and will take care of algae attached to the glass and plants.
They are also peaceful creatures and will not interfere with your cory catfish and spend most of their time feeding on algae.
If your cory catfish tank is full of snails and you want to eliminate it, consider adding assassin snails.
They hunt snails like crazy. Assassin snails will feed on snails that are grown in your tank.
They are peaceful and will do great with your cory catfish in a community tank.
They will also feed on algae. So, assassin snails are one of the best tankmates for your cory catfish.
Rabbit snails are also known as elephant snails.
They feed on soft algae that grow on hard surfaces.
They are peaceful creatures and will not cause any issues when kept in a community tank with other peaceful fish.
Also read: Do Cory Catfish Eat Snails?
Conclusion:
Cory catfish are good tank cleaners as they feed on leftovers and other wastes.
They are bottom dweller fish and spend most of their on the bottom of the tank in search of food.
Cory catfish will feed on dead and decaying plants and small fish.
Don’t rely on your cory catfish when it comes to algae, as they will not feed on any algae.
They will feed on dead plants sometimes, but no algae.
You can add Amano shrimp, nerite snails, and rabbit snails to eliminate algae from your tank.
Reference: ResearchGate, Wikipedia