What is the Best Food for Cory Catfish? 

Diet is an essential part of keeping fish as pets. What you feed them determines a lot about their health and survival. What food a fish will eat depends upon its species?.

Various species have different things in their diet. You as the owner have to feed them the food which is best for them. In this way, your fish can lead a carefree life. 

Cory catfish aka Corydoras Catfish easily ranks among the most popular freshwater fishes. These species of fish are hardy, and even beginners can take care of them without any trouble. All these are the reasons why many aquarists love them. 

That being said, diet is a crucial thing regarding the Cory Catfish. This article is here to help you to understand the diet of the Cory catfish and will list out the best foods for Catfish. 

Diet of Cory Catfish  

Cory Catfish are omnivores. Cory Catfishes look for food in the bottom of the substrate of the tank. They love dwelling in the bottom of the tank looking for food and can do it for a whole day without getting tired. Cory Catfish even digs the substrate for food.

So Cory Catfish eat everything that is on the bottom of the tank. They can leftover food and dead plants and fishes or crustaceans. So at some point, these Catfish come off as cleaners of the tank. 

Although, the leftover food and the dead plants should not form the margin of its diet. With just those, the Catfish won’t be able to get all of the nutrition.

Owning Cory Catfish means that you have to feed them as well and not just reply on the kinds of stuff on the substrate. You can feed them flakes, pellets, and algae tablets. You will have to feed them what they can eat in 2 to 3 minutes.

You will also have to monitor whether they are getting the food or not. For if you keep them in a community tank other fishes can eat their food before it can reach the bottom for the Cory catfish. Although in time they can learn to swim up the water column to reach for food. 

How to choose the best food for Cory catfish? 

Giving your Cory catfish the food with the most nutrition is always what you should aim for. Cory Catfish eat anything they come across in the substrate, so giving them the correct type of food comes as an obligation. 

Before giving any kind of fish food to the Cory catfish, you should always check the ingredients. Sometimes fish foods can contain ingredients that are not at all beneficial to the Cory Catfish. These kinds of food will only increase the waste in your aquarium. So you should always aim for Cory catfish food which is high quality. Low-quality foods are what you should always avoid. 

The low-quality foods contain ingredients that don’t have any for the health of the Cory Catfish. You should avoid foods with ingredients such as soy, corn, rice, preservatives, food coloring, and wheat. Foods made from scales, guts, bones, etc should also be avoided.

All the scales and all leftovers don’t benefit the Cory Catfish. 

The type of food you must aim for is protein-rich and nutritious food. Foods like squid, worms, shrimp, spirulina, krill, and garlic are the best for Cory Catfish. All these foods have what the Cory Catfish needs protein, Vitamins, and Minerals.

Best food for Cory Catfish 

Pellets 

Pellets are an ideal food for Cory catfish. But remember to always check the ingredients before getting one for your Cory Catfish.

The pellets must contain ingredients such as shrimps, krill, spirulina, kelp, seaweeds, squid, garlic, etc. Read and examine the pellets carefully and look for the mentioned ingredients. Giving them such pellets will result in the perfect health of your Cory Catfish.

The best Pellets you can feed your Cory Catfish are New Life Spectrum Pellets, Northfin Fish Food Sinking Pellets, and Omega One Sinking Shrimp Pellets. 

Bloodworms 

Your Cory Catfish enjoy bloodworms as well. They are nutritious for your Cory catfish and provide them with a lot of protein.

You can feed the bloodworms live, dried, and frozen. If you’re giving them live bloodworms, make sure that it is free from any disease or parasites.

So get your live bloodworms from a good source, or the best thing is to raise them yourself. So instead of going to all the troubles, you can give them dried bloodworms. Although, you must not feed them bloodworms daily. The worms should be given to them occasionally, like once a week as a treat. 

Tubifex Worms 

Tubifex Worms are also a good source of nutrition for Cory Catfish. You can give them dried tubifex worms as dried ones don’t contain any kind of harmful substances.

These worms are a good source of protein. Not only protein but they provide vitamins and minerals as well. Tubifex Worms are one of the best foods for Cory Catfish and are recommended.

The best-dried tubifex worms you can get are Hikari Freeze Dried Tubifex Worms. These contain all the beneficial vitamins and nutrients for Cory Catfish. It also has ingredients that can bring out the color of the Catfish and flaunt those colors. 

Algae Wafers 

In their natural habit, Cory catfish love nibbling on algae. So you must provide them with algae in an aquarium as well. The best way to provide them with algae is with Algae Wafers.

But remember to pick a good quality Algae Wafer for the low-quality ones won’t provide the best nutrients. Algae Wafers are good for Cory Catfish.

They contain the best of the ingredients which are the best for Cory Catfish, like vegetable and plant matter. These components are healthy for Cory Catfish. 

The Algae Wafers also sink to the bottom, making it easy for the Cory Catfish to eat it. Even if the Cory catfish are in a community tank, it will be easy for them as they sink to the bottom and reach your Cory Catfish.

The best Algae Wafers in the market is Hikari Tropical Algae Wafers. This is the best one you can get for your Cory Catfish. 

Flakes

Flakes are a good source of nutrition for Cory Catfish. Similar to the pellets, for flakes as well, you must aim for the one with ingredients beneficial to the Cory Catfish.

When getting a flake for your Cory Catfish, look for one with shrimp meal, earthworms, fish meal, spirulina, squid meal, and enough vitamins and minerals to provide them with enough protein and nutrition. 

Although with feeding flakes you will have to make sure that your Cory catfish are getting access to it. As other fishes in the tank can gobble it up before it even reaches the bottom.

One thing you can do is give flakes on one side of the tank and distract the other fishes. Then feed the Cory Catfish separately. This way you can ensure that your Cory catfish gets those flakes. 

How to feed Cory Catfish? 

Now that we are over with the best foods for Cory Catfish, let us deal with how to feed Cory Catfish. Cory Catfish, as you already know, are bottom dwellers and search for food in the bottom of the tank. You can feed your Cory Catfish twice a day.

Twice a day will be enough for them. At one meal, give them what they can eat in 3 minutes. You can also go once a day. If you plan on feeding them once a day, give them what they can eat in 5 minutes. But it is better to stick to twice a day. 

Don’t give Cory Catfish the same kind of food

Also giving them the same type of food is not good. You must feed them a different type of food for them to get all of the nutrients. You might have bought the best pellets which contain all the ingredients for Cory Catfish, but you should change their food once or twice a month. By changing their food, they will get all the nutrients and remain healthy. 

Give your Cory pellets mixed with bloodworms, brine shrimp, vegetables like lettuce, and frozen peas. You can switch twice a month between shrimp, worms, and vegetables. Feeding them such a diet will allow them to get all the nutrients that they need. Their stress will remain as low as possible, meaning no chance of disease, and will remain healthy. 

Conclusion

Cory Catfishes have to be fed good quality food. You must always check the ingredients before giving it your Cory as it might contain additives that are not users of the Cory Catfish and will only increase the rate of fish poop in your aquarium. Give them the best pellets and flakes mixed with bloodworms, shrimp, lettuce, boiled peas, etc. You must give them a mixed diet. With a mixed diet, it is ensured that they get all the nutrients. Feed them twice a day and watch your Cory live a healthy life.