Will a Cory Catfish eat dead shrimp?

If you’re new to the world of cory catfish, you’ll probably have a fair amount of questions – and the top of the list is likely to be questions relating what your cory catfish will eat. 

At first bite

If you’re new to aquarium fish then the cory catfish is right up your street.  Peaceful, beautiful and fascinating to watch, these fish are also fairly easy to care for, making them perfect for beginners.  

The cory enjoys quite a varied diet and menu favourites include: 

• Fish flakes – these are great for cory catfish at all stages of development
• Algae wafers – algae is an essential part of the cory’s diet and so sinking algae wafers should be introduced straight away
• Bloodworms – while these may not sound too appetising, they can make a great treat for cory catfish, however, bloodworms should be given occasionally rather than daily.
• Bottom feeder tablets – these nutritious tablets are suitable for all bottom dwelling fish and are available from most pet stores as well as online
• Shrimp pellets – another cory staple, these are recommended for mature catfish
• Dead shrimp – its absolutely fine to feed dead shrimp to your cory catfish, in fact, when sharing a tank with shrimp, the cory will often feed on dead and dying shrimp.  While dead shrimp won’t harm your cory catfish, dead shrimp should be used sparingly as an addition to the diet. 

Feeding your cory catfish

When caring for your cory catfish, a balanced diet is important and the recommendation is to feed twice a day with each serving comprising of an amount of food that the fish will consume within three minutes.  If this is not possible, it’s fine to feed your fish once a day instead with an amount of food that the fish will consume within five minutes. 

Conclusion

Cory catfish will happily eat dead shrimp as part of their diet, however, this shouldn’t make up the bulk of the diet.  In order to keep your fish healthy and happy, it’s always a good idea to provide some variety with some of the foods listed above.  You may find that you need to try different foods and different feeding routines before finding the one that best suits your fish.