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| Photo by MunstiSue |
Bronze Cory fish were imported from the Caribbean islands at the beginning of the last century. They soon became very popular in the United States because of their variety of colors. They are available in various shades of bronze - natural bronze, with some pinkish or golden shade and sometimes with a blue face. Experienced breeders have developed many different varieties from their original shape and size. They are now available in colors like black, green, orange and even in red. However, there is no change in their care and maintenance.
Bronze Cory fish live for a long time. Usually, they live up to 15 years. Occasionally, they will leave up to 25 years. Surprisingly even at their old age, they are eager to grab food and spend most of their time searching and eating food.
You do not need to make any special efforts for taking their care. The normal conditions of water for other pet fish will be suitable for them. The pH level of water may be in the range of 6-8 while the temperature of the water may be kept around 75 F. They can even tolerate higher temperatures for a short period of time.
You can feet Bronze Cory with the normal food. They can take frozen as well as live and prepared food you buy for other varieties of pet fish. The only thing you should remember is - you should not neglect their needs of food by considering them as scavengers. They will certainly pick up the food particles accumulated at the bottom of the tank but that may not be sufficient for their nutrition.
While feeding them, there is a possibility that the other varieties of fish in the tank will grab the food first and they will not be able to get their share. There is one solution to this problem - you can use a small pipe to drop the pellets of food at the bottom of the tank so that Bronze Cories can pick up such food easily.
Sometimes you will find them winking at you! This is a peculiar behavior associated with the Bronze Cory. There is a reason behind this. When they jump at the surface of the water for grabbing some air, and they will go back again to the bottom and wink for some time which is helpful for gulping the air.
They prefer to live in groups and you should keep them with at least half a dozen other individuals. They may not be happy when they are kept singly or in pairs. It will create stress and shorten their life.
You can easily spawn Bronze Cory fish. If you find the females slightly bigger in size, and the males a bit slim with pointed fins, you can assume that they are ready for spawning. You can separate them for at least a week. During this time you should feed them with good food like blood-worms or brine shrimps. You can set up another small tank for shifting them. After a week, you can put them in this tank. You should add an air-stone so that you will have bubbles in the tank. You should also have a powerful filter for cleaning the water.
The female will use her fins to store the eggs. The eggs are fertilized there. Thereafter, the female goes away to lay its eggs at the bottom. She will also prefer big leaves of plants. She will lay at least 200 eggs. After some time you will find that the males are remaining at the bottom of the tank and they are breathing very heavily. This is an indication that the spawning is done. At this point, you should remove the males and females from the tank.
You should carefully observe the eggs and remove the fungus on them carefully. In about a week, the eggs will hatch. The small ones will be at the bottom of the eggs for some time, absorbing the liquid substance from the eggs. The young ones will also try to eat critters which live at the bottom of the tank.
The young ones will grow very quickly and they will be fully grown up in four weeks. Then you can shift them in the common tank and once they grow up to one inch in size, you can start finding another tank for them!
Many pet shops will be able to trade them for fish food or tank supplies. So you can also make some money to support your hobby.
Chintamani Abhyankar is a goldfish enthusiast and has been raising and breeding goldfish for many years. He is an expert on their care and an advocate for raising healthy goldfish the natural way. Article Source: EzineArticles |
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