CassCats
Fish Aficionado
Pet of the Month 🎖️
2x Fish of the Month 🌟
4x Tank of the Month🏆
🏆 Tank of the Year 🏆
I happened upon a rare group of cories from my lfs, they were ordered in as hoplisoma habrosum, but the store received ONLY hoplisoma osteocarus, which is only available as a by catch species and normally only a couple mixed as contaminants... not the entire batch being the mixed up species! Given the general rarity of the species kept globally, and the opportunity to get them again wouldn't pop up, I bought them. They're a rare dwarf species, not growing larger than 1.6 inches tops.
I set up my 10 gallon for them and opted to create a biotope from their natural range after doing more in depth research using GBIF . org to cross reference occurrences of this species with other species for plants and fish.
H. Osteocarus is found in Rio Atabapo, Rio Meta, and Rio Orinoco. Finding a tankmate that comes from these rivers that is also 1, easily found and 2, not too big/active for a 10 gallon was a little bit of a challenge, but found that where Rio Meta and Rio Orinoco meet, both Hoplisoma osteocarus and Paracheirodon simulans (green neon tetra) occur together.
My lfs was gracious enough to order me in a nice group of really handsome P simulans and I since added some water lettuce and a touch of guppy grass that is struggling with the dark water... all plants found in the same area. Pothos and zebra plant added up top, while not reported to exact location, both are at least found in the same country and I needed some root cover to mimic an edge of a river.
Because this is a very soft, acidic river, this tank is running at half distilled, so GH sits around 2°. I feel the tannins from the leaf litter, and the very soft water used along with a diet high in baby brine shrimp and daphnia, it has brought out more of the red in my P. simulans than expected, making them almost rival P. axelrodi (Cardinals) except the neon stripe extends right to the tail which rules out axelrodi and innesi.
Temperature sits at 78F given this region is a hot area.
I am going to attempt to spawn the corydoras, right now I am mimicking a dry season and will increase flow and increase distilled water to lower GH to 1° come wet season (May in Venezuela).
I set up my 10 gallon for them and opted to create a biotope from their natural range after doing more in depth research using GBIF . org to cross reference occurrences of this species with other species for plants and fish.
H. Osteocarus is found in Rio Atabapo, Rio Meta, and Rio Orinoco. Finding a tankmate that comes from these rivers that is also 1, easily found and 2, not too big/active for a 10 gallon was a little bit of a challenge, but found that where Rio Meta and Rio Orinoco meet, both Hoplisoma osteocarus and Paracheirodon simulans (green neon tetra) occur together.
My lfs was gracious enough to order me in a nice group of really handsome P simulans and I since added some water lettuce and a touch of guppy grass that is struggling with the dark water... all plants found in the same area. Pothos and zebra plant added up top, while not reported to exact location, both are at least found in the same country and I needed some root cover to mimic an edge of a river.
Because this is a very soft, acidic river, this tank is running at half distilled, so GH sits around 2°. I feel the tannins from the leaf litter, and the very soft water used along with a diet high in baby brine shrimp and daphnia, it has brought out more of the red in my P. simulans than expected, making them almost rival P. axelrodi (Cardinals) except the neon stripe extends right to the tail which rules out axelrodi and innesi.
Temperature sits at 78F given this region is a hot area.
I am going to attempt to spawn the corydoras, right now I am mimicking a dry season and will increase flow and increase distilled water to lower GH to 1° come wet season (May in Venezuela).
