Can Shrimp Live With Corydoras? Picking the Right Cory for a Shrimp Tank

Corydoras come up in nearly every "what fish can I add to my shrimp tank" thread, and for good reason. A cory is a small, gentle bottom feeder with a mouth that points at the substrate rather than at anything swimming past it. That's about as safe as a fish gets from a shrimp's point of view. But safe isn't the same as harmless, and the two animals want the same food, sometimes different temperatures, and often a different floor to walk on.

Here's what to expect from cory catfish and shrimp together, which of the six common corys fit best, and how to set the tank up so neither side loses out.

Fine sand like this is the floor corys are built for, and shrimp don't mind it at all

Quick Answer

Yes, shrimp can live with corydoras, and corys are among the safest fish you can put in a shrimp tank. Adult dwarf shrimp are too big for a cory's small, downturned mouth, and corys forage by sifting the bottom rather than chasing anything. Most keepers who run the two together report no losses among adults.

The catch is shrimplets. A newly hatched cherry shrimp is about 2mm long, and a cory rooting through moss will eat one it stumbles on. In a planted tank with cover, enough survive that the colony keeps growing, just more slowly than it would alone. The other trade-off is food: corys and shrimp both eat off the bottom, so you'll need to feed for both without fouling the water.

Why Corys Are Among the Safer Fish for Shrimp

The reason comes down to how a cory eats. Corydoras have a mouth on the underside of the head, ringed with short barbels that they push into the substrate to find food, often burying the snout up to the eyes. They locate food by touch and smell, then suck it up. Nothing about that involves chasing prey through the water column, which is what makes a betta or a tetra risky.

A few more points in the cory's favor:

• •Small mouths. Even a 3 inch bronze cory has a mouth that can't take in an adult Neocaridina.
• •Peaceful by temperament. Corys don't defend territory or nip; Seriously Fish describes every species on this page as peaceful and gregarious.
• •They shoal. A group of 6 or more spends its time interacting with each other rather than investigating the shrimp.

Will Corydoras Eat Baby Shrimp?

Sometimes, yes. Every cory care sheet that mentions shrimp says the same thing in slightly different words: adult shrimp are fine, but a cory may eat a baby shrimp it comes across while foraging. Aquarium Co-Op's pygmy cory guide puts it as "may accidentally slurp up a baby shrimp," and its habrosus guide says they "may opportunistically consume any baby shrimp." That's the honest picture: not hunting, but not passing up a free meal either.

How much this matters depends on who you ask. Aquarium Genius describes the risk as "a slight chance" of losing "a baby shrimp or two." eFishkeeping says there's "a high chance" corys will eat fry. Keepers on the AquariaCentral and FishForums boards mostly report the gentle end of that range: people running sterbai, peppered and bronze corys with breeding cherry colonies say they've never seen predation, while a couple of others note they wouldn't be surprised if the tiniest shrimplets vanish. The sources disagree on frequency, and I'd treat that as variation between tanks rather than one side being wrong.

Three things tip the odds toward the shrimp:

1. •Dense cover. Moss, thick stems and leaf litter are where shrimplets spend their first weeks. A cory can't sift what it can't reach. See how to raise shrimplets for the full setup.
2. •A well fed cory. A hungry fish roots harder; a fed one spends less time turning over every square inch.
3. •A head start for the colony. Let the shrimp breed for a couple of months before adding corys. A colony of 50 absorbs a few losses; a colony of 10 doesn't.

Which Corydoras Work in a Shrimp Tank?

Sizes below are maximum lengths from Seriously Fish cross-checked against Aquarium Co-Op, Wikipedia and retailer care sheets; where temperature ranges disagree, I've said so.

◆Pygmy Cory (Corydoras pygmaeus)

The smallest of the group at about 1 inch (2.5 to 3cm). Pygmies are unusual in that they hover in midwater as much as they root around the bottom, which means less time nose-down in the moss where shrimplets hide. They want 72 to 79F and a pH of roughly 6.4 to 7.5. Keep a group of at least 8 to 12 in a 10 gallon or larger. Their mouths are tiny, so they can only take the very smallest shrimplets.

◆Habrosus Cory (Corydoras habrosus)

Often sold as the salt and pepper cory. It reaches 1.4 to 1.5 inches (3.5cm), stays on the bottom more than the pygmy does, and tolerates 68 to 79F on Seriously Fish's numbers or 70 to 78F on Aquarium Co-Op's. Either way it overlaps neatly with room temperature shrimp tanks, and its pH tolerance (5.5 to 7.5 per Seriously Fish) reaches down into Caridina territory. Groups of 8 or more in 10 gallons and up.

◆Hastatus Cory (Corydoras hastatus)

The dwarf or tail spot cory, about 1.3 inches (3.2cm) maximum and usually closer to 1 inch. Like the pygmy, it schools in midwater among plants. Temperature is where sources scatter: Seriously Fish gives 68 to 79F, Wikipedia lists its wild habitat at 68 to 82F, and retailer sheets range from 72 to 78F up to 77 to 82F. I'd aim for 72 to 76F, which every source accepts and which suits Neocaridina.

◆Panda Cory (Corydoras panda)

A full sized cory at about 2 inches (5 to 5.5cm) and the one to consider if your shrimp run cool. Seriously Fish gives 72 to 77F; Wikipedia and Fishlore widen the low end to 68F. What all of them agree on is that pandas prefer the cool end and don't do well kept warm long term. Seriously Fish warns that lifespan is "reduced considerably" above 77F. That makes pandas a natural match for Caridina at 68 to 74F if the pH (6.0 to 7.4) suits your shrimp. The larger mouth takes bigger shrimplets than a pygmy would.

◆Bronze Cory (Corydoras aeneus)

It's the biggest here at 2.5 to 3 inches (6.5 to 7.5cm). Temperature ranges vary by source: Seriously Fish says 70 to 81F, Wikipedia 68 to 82F, and Aquariadise's caresheet a narrower 72 to 79F. Keepers on the forums report keeping bronze corys with breeding cherry colonies without incident. Because it's the largest, it also has the biggest mouth, so give shrimplets cover. Plan on a 20 gallon for a group of 6.

◆Sterbai Cory (Corydoras sterbai)

The warm water cory. It grows to 2 to 2.6 inches (5 to 6.6cm) and wants 75 to 82F, a range that Seriously Fish, Fishlore and Aquariadise all give within a degree of each other. That rules it out for Caridina and puts it at the top end of the Neocaridina range. It's the cory for a 76 to 78F tropical community; below 75F choose something else. It needs 20 to 25 gallons for a shoal.

Cory and Shrimp Compatibility Table

"Shrimplet risk" here means how large a shrimplet the fish can physically take, not how often it happens. A pygmy can only manage newborns; a bronze can take juveniles a few weeks old.

Temperature: Matching the Cory to Your Shrimp

Our shrimp tank temperature guide puts Neocaridina at 65 to 78F and Caridina bee shrimp at 68 to 74F. Aquarium Co-Op gives cherry shrimp a wider 60 to 82F with a comfort zone of 72 to 76F.

Where the ranges overlap, you're fine. A cherry shrimp tank at 72 to 76F suits pygmy, habrosus, hastatus, bronze and panda corys. Push that to 78F and the panda starts to suffer while the sterbai starts to thrive. Drop to a heaterless 68F winter tank and only the habrosus, panda and bronze are within their published ranges.

Caridina keepers have the narrowest choice. At 68 to 74F, panda and habrosus corys are the clean fits. Pygmies and hastatus can work at 72 to 74F but sit at the bottom of their range. Sterbai is off the table.

Substrate: Sand for Barbels Versus Gravel and Buffered Soil

This is where the two hobbies collide. Every cory profile I checked recommends fine sand. Seriously Fish's line, repeated across its species pages, is that fine sand is ideal and rounded gravel "is an acceptable alternative provided that it is kept scrupulously clean." Aquarium Co-Op says smooth sand or gravel is preferred, then adds a point that's easy to miss: barbel erosion is usually caused by poor water quality, not the substrate alone. Sharp gravel on a dirty bottom is the combination that shortens barbels.

Shrimp keepers usually run one of two things:

Inert gravel or sand. Fine for corys as long as the grains are rounded. Coarse or sharp edged gravel is the thing to avoid. Pool filter sand or a rounded aquarium sand suits both animals.

Buffered soil (aquasoil). Caridina tanks run on Fluval Stratum, ADA Amazonia or similar, which hold pH around 6.0 to 6.5. The granules are rounded, and plenty of keepers house corys on them without visible barbel damage. The guides that address soils directly warn against coarse or crumbly ones, and the compromise most often suggested is a sand-capped or sand-fronted area where the corys forage. A full sand cap slows the buffering, so keep it to a patch.

Our best substrate for shrimp tanks guide covers the options. For a new tank with both animals, rounded sand is the easy answer for Neocaridina, and soil plus a sand patch for Caridina.

Feeding Corys and Shrimp Without Overfeeding

Corys are not algae eaters and they can't live on scraps; Seriously Fish and Aquarium Co-Op both state that plainly. They need sinking food most days. Shrimp, meanwhile, graze biofilm all day and need supplemental food only 2 or 3 times a week. Feed the corys the way a fish store tells you to and you'll overfeed the shrimp, which means rising nitrates and, eventually, planaria.

The workable routine:

• •Feed the corys a small sinking meal daily. Sinking pellets, frozen daphnia or bloodworms, or a wafer, in an amount they finish within an hour.
• •Let the shrimp clean up. Whatever the corys leave is the shrimp's ration. Skip separate shrimp feedings on days the corys ate.
• •Use a shared food a couple of times a week. Hikari Algae Wafers are a good shared option: corys eat them, shrimp swarm them, and one wafer broken in half feeds a 10 gallon community.
• •Remove what's left after 2 to 3 hours. A wafer that sits overnight is a nitrate bomb.

Our guide on what shrimp eat covers their side. If you see shrimp ignoring food, you're overfeeding; if they look thin, the corys are out-eating them, so put shrimp food inside a moss clump the corys can't reach.

Setting the Tank Up for Both

A few setup points:

Group size. Most sources put the minimum at 6, and Seriously Fish suggests 10 or more for the dwarf species. Six to eight pygmies in a 10 gallon with a cherry colony is a sensible start; six bronze corys need 20 gallons.

Filtration. Corys are messier than shrimp. Whatever filter you run, put a sponge over the intake so shrimplets aren't pulled in.

Add corys last. Let the shrimp colonize for two or three months. Once you're seeing berried females regularly, a group of corys won't dent the numbers.

Frequently Asked Questions

◆Will corydoras eat cherry shrimp?

Adult cherry shrimp, no. A cory's mouth is too small to swallow a full grown Neocaridina, and corys forage by sifting rather than hunting. Newly hatched shrimplets are a different matter; corys eat ones they come across while rooting through the substrate, so give babies dense moss to hide in.

◆Which corydoras is best for a shrimp tank?

Pygmy corys (Corydoras pygmaeus) are the usual pick: about 1 inch long, they hover in midwater rather than rooting constantly, and their tiny mouths can only take newborn shrimplets. Habrosus corys are a close second for tanks that run cooler, and panda corys fit Caridina tanks at 68 to 74F.

◆Do corys need sand if I keep shrimp?

Sand is the recommended substrate for corys, but rounded gravel works if you keep the bottom clean; barbel erosion is mostly a water quality problem. Buffered shrimp soils are rounded and generally fine. If your substrate is sharp, add a patch of fine sand where the corys feed.

◆Can I keep sterbai corys with shrimp?

Yes, but only in a warm tank. Sterbai want 75 to 82F, which is the top of the Neocaridina range and above what Caridina tolerate. In a 76 to 78F community tank with cherry shrimp they're a fine choice. In a heaterless room temperature tank, pick a habrosus or panda instead.

The Bottom Line

Corys and shrimp are one of the easier fish and invert pairings, as long as you match the cory's temperature range to your shrimp, give it a soft bottom to forage over, and feed for a fish that eats daily without drowning the shrimp in leftovers. Expect a few shrimplets to go missing and plan the cover accordingly.

For the other side of the equation, our best tank mates for cherry shrimp guide ranks corys against otos, rasboras and the rest.