Category:Corydoras

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[edit] About Corydoras

While there are hundreds of catfish available to the aquarist today, only a few are suitable for the casual hobbyist. They are almost all cory cats - a fish in the genus Corydoras. These little, armoured catfish, mostly from South America, are comical, attractive, peaceful, and easy to keep.

Pronunciation: Corydoras = "Kory DOOR uss"
Size: 4cm - 7cm
Feeding: bottom scavenging for algae, live food, and food waste
Temperament: community, prefer species group
Origin: South America

[edit] Websites on Corydoras

• Corydoras World - Excellent site on Corys

[edit] Breathing

In these fish the posterior intestine is modified to function as an air breathing organ by being air-filled, thin-walled and highly vascularized. This means the fish often comes to the surface to swallow gulps of air and passes this to its rear intestine to supplement its oxygen intake via its gills.

[edit] Breeding

To initiate the breeding of Corydoras, you need to fatten up the Corys with good quality food for a week or two then simulate a sudden flood of cold fresh water in their tank. Replace 50% of your tank water with cooler water that takes the temperature down by 5-10°C (10-20°F). Then keep the water cool around 22-23°C (71.6-73.4°F) for 24 hours.

Within a few days or so you'll notice that the male will be trying to attract the attention of the bigger female by following her and trying to touch her barbels or belly with his barbels. He then tries lying across her mouth in a classic T-position.

If he is successful, he will grasp her barbels with his pelvic fins for a few seconds and he will deposit some sperm which the female swallows. This is passed down her system to the eggs which are quickly fertilised internally. She then holds the fertilised egg in her fins and finds a spot to lay her eggs on any surface (we mean any surface!). They hatch within 3-4 days. Note - the Corydoras will eat the fry^[1][2][3].

[edit] The Poison of Corydoras

Several species of Corydoras have a poisonous self-defence mechanism against being eaten by much larger fish. All Cories have very sharp fin spines and some seem to give off a low level toxic chemical into the water when frightened or highly stressed.^[4] This toxin is believed to be only mildly irritating to people and only if the person is stressing and handling the Cory with their bare hands and is stung.^[5]

[edit] Self-poisoning

A rare but recorded event is that at least some some species of Cories appear to be capable of releasing a poisonous mucus from its' gills when alarmed which causes itself and other fish in confined volumes of water to rapidly die. Species believed to show this trait are C. adolfoi, C. arcuatus, C. melini, C. metae, C. panda, C. robineae', C. rabauti, C. atropersonatus, C. sterbai and C. trilineatus. This ability is poorly researched and other Corydoras species may be affected. ^[6][7]

[edit] References

1. ↑ Breeding Corydoras - Scotcat.com - Various Articles
2. ↑ Breeding Corys - 30-minute audio interview with professional fish breeder, Steve Corandan, about how to breed Corydoras.
3. ↑ Breeding Corydoras by Eric Naus, May 2005 on Aqua Articles
4. ↑ Book: Catfish of the World vol. 1 by David Sands, 1982
5. ↑ Poisonous spines
6. ↑ PFK issue 10 Oct 2008:page 26-Ian Fuller
7. ↑ new atropersonatus batch

[edit] References

1. ↑ Breeding Corydoras - Scotcat.com - Various Articles
2. ↑ Breeding Corys - 30-minute audio interview with professional fish breeder, Steve Corandan, about how to breed Corydoras.
3. ↑ Breeding Corydoras by Eric Naus, May 2005 on Aqua Articles
4. ↑ Book: Catfish of the World vol. 1 by David Sands, 1982
5. ↑ Poisonous spines
6. ↑ PFK issue 10 Oct 2008:page 26-Ian Fuller
7. ↑ new atropersonatus batch