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Permalink Reply by Robert Jango on March 19, 2012 at 2:58am

Throw some live blackworms in and let them sink to the bottom of your tank and become established. The catfish will dig for them like crazy and love waking up in the morning.

Just curious. What is your substrate? Catfishes barbels are adapted to soft dirt and can be hurt by always sifting through gravel. Rounded substrates like pool filter sand won't aggravate their mouths as much a rough or sharp edged gravel.  

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Permalink Reply by 2apes2gp667wr on March 19, 2012 at 8:38am

Corys love bloodworms.  Mine never went for the shrimp pellets, but I tried the small Hikari sinking wafers for bottom feeders and they love them.  Try those to supplement the usual flakes and pellets.

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Permalink Reply by ashley on March 19, 2012 at 11:08am

Can you get Blackworms from a pet store? The substrate is very fine gravel....I chose it because I knew I was going to get Corys and its good for growing plants in.

If I give them bloodworms, do you just put one frozen cube of them in the bottom of the tank?

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Permalink Reply by Robert Jango on March 19, 2012 at 9:05pm

Glad to hear you got fine gravel. You are a kind person. :)

Most pet stores that specialize in fish carry blackworms. Once your corys try it they'll always be on the lookout. You know what they say, "once you go black you never go back. (sorry!) But seriously, all fish prefer live food and it is used by breeders to get them "in the mood". I would try to find some and, if the corys love them, (they will) order them online - its a lot cheaper.

I keep my worms at room temperature in a 12" X 18" container with about 1 inch of water. I change the water everyday (with my own aquarium water) because even worms like clean water. For food I just add some mashed potato flakes but my aquarium water probably contains enough nutrition to sustain them. Online the minimum order is a ridiculous - $38, but this will last you for like a year and, if the worms reproduce, even longer. Surely you can't put a price on your Corys happiness? :)

Other LIVE foods to consider are baby earthworms, whiteworms, and bloodworms. I raise these in my backyard during the summertime. But if you live in an apartment this could be an issue. 

I'm not a big Cory fan but Dustin loves them. Until I watched his video I didn't realize they school. Of course I never kept more than one at a time; so how would I know! 

Good luck Ashley.

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Permalink Reply by ashley on March 20, 2012 at 7:23pm

Thanks for all the great info! We do own a house but I'm not sure I want to get into breeding worms LOL!

Corys are alot of fun and they add personality to the tank. If you only have one you should get him a few buddies. They like to be kept in groups of at least 4 and are much more active when kept in groups :)

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