Catching The Corydoras Bug

[RShinjiro]

When i first got back into Fishkeeping I had no clue what a Corydoras was. I just bought a nice tall 18 Gallon tank to sit on my cabinet next to my desk at home and bought the equipment and whatnot and initially cycled the tank with a pair of Sunset Platys. Then I started to think what to get next. Gouramis? More Platys? Fleet of Neon Tetras? After digging around online for good community fish that were fairly hardy i was reading about Corydoras at Fishlore.com and ended up buy 4 the next week. I had no clue what type they were, just knew that they all looked alike.

Fast forward 6 months, my original 4 corys are now 6 (spawned and gave me a bunch of fry, of which 2 survived and are fat and happy now!) and I identified them as Corydoras Paleatus (specifically Longfin type II as identified via books and some friends I made online). And just today I evicted my school of Platys to a 12 gallon Nano Reef (setup for freshwater) to make room 4 Corydoras Adolfoi (At least I hope they are, could be Duplicareus, not totally sure on the visible differences).

These little guys have been way to much fun to watch and take care of, and in the near future I will be moving them all to a nice big new home (75+ Gallons based on the dimensions I can fit in my room) and hopefully buying them some other new friends! (Unless they keep spawning the way they have!)

Just thought i'd share my experience so far in how i got into these little guys. Also here are some photos (sorry for the low quality, only got my cell phone camera at the moment) so maybe someone here can help me figure out if they really are Adolfoi or not LOL. Thanks all!

3 of the 4 new guys sitting around

 

[pippoodle]

yes i have the bug lol
it started with me adopting a couple of corys and that was it i was caught

i have
4 peppereds
14 pygmys
1 hasbrosus (adopted more on order)
4 leopards
1 panda (lost 3 pandas and 3 albinos in poisoned water change so getting some more albinos and some more pandas)
7 bronze juveys
4 black juveys

i'm getting some sterbai's and hopefully some melanistus in a few weeks

 

[8inary]

must admit, i do like my cory sterbia - that said i have had my two bronze corys for about 4 years now, and they are still going on strong - i believe the sterbias can withstand ph and temp drops/rises better than most.

 

[pippoodle]

my ph is 70-7.2 and my tanks are kept at 24 c - with fluctations my water is soft i dont have any readings but devons water is very soft
all my corys do well , well as long as SWwater dont devide to flush the system with a cleanser that is with in the safe limits for humans - but my fishies didnt like it i lost about 70 fish overall including some of the corys)

 

[Inchworm]

Hi RShinjiro

Thanks for sharing your story and the picture of your new corys. That stripe looks fairly wide so they just might be C. duplicareus. They are delightful fish too. Here's a link that shows adolfoi with other corys that have similar markings:

http/www.scotcat.com/factsheets/corydoras_adolfoi.htm

What do you think?

 

[RShinjiro]

pippoodle: Wow that's alot of Corys you got there! I see myself kind of leaning that way over the course of the next year as well haha. I plan on buying the bigger tank where I will migrate the guys I have now and keep my 18 up and running for whatever else comes my way! Not too many shops here carry Corys other then Pandas, Aeneus, Paleatus, and the related Albino strains, but i'm going to keep an eye out and hopefully something else interesting swims my way. Though there is a fairly large Guapore hanging out in the Discus tank at my LFS, maybe i'll bring him home too!


8inary: Good stuff! i've done some bonehead water changes myself by accident and none of my Paleatus seem bothered by it one bit. In fact I came to find out that's how I triggered them to spawn in the first place, now if only they'd stop for a bit so I can clean my glass properly! LOL

inchworm: Yeah I think your right, nonetheless I'm liking the little guys already. Not as active as my current inhabitants just yet but let's see how they get over the course of the next few days. I make have to expand their rock cave, getting crowded in there!

Thanks for the warm reception all! I'm now constantly studying and learning as much as I can so maybe one day I can have a nice collection and be as knowledgable as you guys. Also I really need ot get a better camera, so many great photo ops missed! You should see my Paleatus Fry, one of them has a dorsal fin as long as his body right now. Here's an older pic of the mother and one of the fry eating (which they do 90% of the time):

C. Paleatus and Fry

 

[pippoodle]

what a lovely pic

 

[Inchworm]

HiRShinjiro

C. paleatus are frequently egg eaters, much more so than most other corys. I gave up on them after watching the males try to steal the eggs from between the female's fins, even before she deposited them on the glass.

You might just have a good lfs. Not everyone stocks C. duplicareus, and it's even more unusual to find a C. guapore. It would probably be worth your while to talk to the owner and ask what other corys he can get. The cory market is seasonal and not everything is available through an lfs. There are, however, some very reliable sellers on AquaBid for the more difficult to obtain ones.

Corys are indeed addictive and there are so many possibilities. They come large and small, short and long, brightly colored and patterned as well as plain. They are far and away my favorite fish.

Thanks for showing us the picture of the mama and baby. So cute!

 

[RShinjiro]

Went to my LFS yesterday and got some amazon swords for eveyrone to hide under (the rock cave I had was way to small to fit all 10 Corys).

I believe you about the Paleatus eating the eggs, i've seen them pick them off the glass a few times but as a whole i've seen the eggs sit on the glass for several days and eventually "pop".

Anyway in other news, the new guys are doing great! They like to play in the current of the powerhead and are very active eaters. Even th eone who was a bit lethargic at the store is now looking ot be in good shape!

 

[RShinjiro]

Just a little update, the Duplicareus appear to be spawning. I've moved the Paleatus to the other tank now to prevent any excess egg eating/confusion (as they are spawning as well) and with any luck we'll see if I can have a few more of these guys!

 

[StrontiumDog]

Good Luck, hope all goes well