Do Corydoras eat microscopic foods/Biofilm?

[Yohance1130]

Hey guys, I was looking at a couple of threads related to Corydoras and in a lot of the threads they mentioned that Corydoras eat microscopic foods from the biofilm that grows on wood and Indian almond leaves. I was just curious to know if this is indeed true.

I have a group of pygmy Corys in my 10 gallon and they have some Indian almond leaves in their tank also.

1. How long could my Cories survive on just microscopic foods?

2. What type of microscopic foods could be growing?

Just curious.

 

[heatherpooreks]

Following

 

[Sgooosh]

Hey guys, I was looking at a couple of threads related to Corydoras and in a lot of the threads they mentioned that Corydoras eat microscopic foods from the biofilm that grows on wood and Indian almond leaves. I was just curious to know if this is indeed true.

I have a group of pygmy Corys in my 10 gallon and they have some Indian almond leaves in their tank also.

1. How long could my Cories survive on just microscopic foods?

2. What type of microscopic foods could be growing?

Just curious.

i thin kif you have a lot of algae, the little algaes are on the sand and they filter it through... not sure

 

[FishGuest5123]

They can eat the bio film but I wouldn’t depend on that to sustain them. They need a healthy diet too.

 

[Yohance1130]

They can eat the bio film but I wouldn’t depend on that to sustain them. They need a healthy diet too.

Ohh! I did not know they ate the bio film, Yea I still feed my Cories frozen and bottom feeding wafers/pellets like shrimp pellets. I was just wondering if they actually do eat bio film and microorganisms.

Interesting!

 

[itiwhetu]

Most fish scavenge for food all day, eating anything they come across. This is why it is a good idea not to get rid of every bit of algae and not to clean the tank to thoroughly, there are all sorts of goodies in the aquarium for the fish to feed on.

 

[mbsqw1d]

From: https://www.researchgate.net/public...formes_Callichthyidae_on_freshwater_nematodes

Corydoras aeneus (Gill, 1858) is a typical predator ofbenthic invertebrates in tropical streams (Aranha et al., 1993;Lopes et al., 2016). C. aeneus belongs to a fish family withspecies that were recorded to be tolerant to abrupt temperaturechanges, low-quality habitat and low dissolved oxygenconcentrations in South America (Mol, 1993;De Araujoand Garutti, 2003). Thus, C. aeneus are commonly found in themost degraded urban streams (Casatti et al., 2010), in additionC. aeneus are also heavily traded as ornamental fishes all overthe world, making them of general interest and easily availablefor experiments.In continuation of this endeavor, we seek (1) to examine thepredation pressure of C. aeneus on different species of free-living nematodes, and (2) to measure the amount of nematodebiomass ingested daily.

In the wild, yes corydoras feed on micro organisms, mainly nematodes. They are plentiful in rivers but not as abundant in the aquarium, and not to the extent of supporting their diet entirely.
Leaf litter promotes the growth of microorganisms that live to break down organic matter.

 

[Yohance1130]

From: https://www.researchgate.net/public...formes_Callichthyidae_on_freshwater_nematodes

Corydoras aeneus (Gill, 1858) is a typical predator ofbenthic invertebrates in tropical streams (Aranha et al., 1993;Lopes et al., 2016). C. aeneus belongs to a fish family withspecies that were recorded to be tolerant to abrupt temperaturechanges, low-quality habitat and low dissolved oxygenconcentrations in South America (Mol, 1993;De Araujoand Garutti, 2003). Thus, C. aeneus are commonly found in themost degraded urban streams (Casatti et al., 2010), in additionC. aeneus are also heavily traded as ornamental fishes all overthe world, making them of general interest and easily availablefor experiments.In continuation of this endeavor, we seek (1) to examine thepredation pressure of C. aeneus on different species of free-living nematodes, and (2) to measure the amount of nematodebiomass ingested daily.

In the wild, yes corydoras feed on micro organisms, mainly nematodes. They are plentiful in rivers but not as abundant in the aquarium, and not to the extent of supporting their diet entirely.
Leaf litter promotes the growth of microorganisms that live to break down organic matter.

I see, I did not know that. Do you know by any chance what are the names of the type of microorganism leaf litter promotes to break down organic matter in our aquariums?

Thanks for the responses everyone!

 

[mbsqw1d]

I see, I did not know that. Do you know by any chance what are the names of the type of microorganism leaf litter promotes to break down organic matter in our aquariums?

Thanks for the responses everyone!

Haven't read through all of this, sounds like it might end up mentioning which microbes are involved..

(https://academic.oup.com/femsec/article/93/10/fix108/4103542)

"Macrophyte leaf litter is the major source of energy-supporting food webs and is an important driver of carbon and nutrient cycling in aquatic ecosystems (Cadish and Giller 1997; Wallace et al.1999; Baldy et al.2007). As an important source of autochthonous inputs, leaf litter is a basic food for aquatic invertebrates, which in turn provide energy for their predators at higher trophic levels..."

"...to answer the following questions: first, which types of bacteria and fungi take part in the decomposition of macrophyte leaf litters at the surface sediment? Second, what are the dominant factors regulating the bacterial and fungal community composition for the decomposition of certain leaf litter? Third, what are the primary relationships between bacteria and fungi during microbial decomposition?"

 

[mbsqw1d]

I just know theres a ridiculous number of microorganisms, that each have their own place on the microbial food web. Its a very interesting topic that I'd love to delve into sometime. Currently I enjoy checking out of the posts of this guy on Instagram, who collects pond samples, records the output from his microscope and provides a little write up... (his favourite are tardigrade aka water bears)

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[Yohance1130]

I just know theres a ridiculous number of microorganisms, that each have their own place on the microbial food web. Its a very interesting topic that I'd love to delve into sometime. Currently I enjoy checking out of the posts of this guy on Instagram, who collects pond samples, records the output from his microscope and provides a little write up... (his favourite are tardigrade aka water bears)

Login • Instagram

Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.

www.instagram.com

Also has a YouTube channel..

Yes this is a very interesting topic! that's why I was curious to know if anybody had any knowledge about this topic.

Thx for the help and responses everyone appreciate it!

Learned something new today!