Tips on Raising and Spawning CORYDORAS Catfish

Corydoras Panda - (CC) Wikimedia

The Corydoras catfish is a member of the family Callichthyidae. They are from the genus Corydoras. There are several different species of Corydoras. They all share similar traits such as body size, shape and behavioral habits. The distinguishing feature between the various species is their color palette, some of which are quite striking.

Catfish are bottom-dwelling scavengers. Scavenger fish generally have two traits in common. Their mouths are usually pointed downward. And the mouth has barbels on either side. A barbell is a tentacle-like organ that contains taste buds. They are used to find food and to feel their way around on riverbed floors in the wild. The Corydoras catfish has two barbells, one on either side of its mouth.

Corydoras catfish are often referred to as armored catfish. This is because they have two rows of bony plates on each side of their body.

Unlike most scavenger fish, the Corydoras catfish is not strictly a bottom dweller. The Corydoras is part of the Anabantoidei suborder. This means that although they do have gills, they require both atmospheric and dissolved oxygen in order to survive. Anabantoids or labyrinth fishes have a lung-like organ that allows them to consume airborne oxygen. The Corydoras catfish will frequently rise to the surface of the water to gulp in needed air.

The Corydoras catfish is a relatively small freshwater fish. When fully grown, they only reach a size of between two to three inches. The dwarf corydoras or Corydoras pygmaeus is even smaller, reaching only about one inch in length.

Corydoras catfish make great additions to community fish tanks. They have a docile temperament. And they do a great job of cleaning up food particles from aquarium substrate to help in the prevention of harmful bacteriological build-up.

Although Corydoras are primarily bottom dwellers, they are shoaling fish. They tend to congregate together in aquariums. They even search for food and rest together. It is not at all uncommon to see one catfish resting his head on the body of another catfish. The catfish do not necessarily even have to be the same species as long as they are of the genus Corydoras. Because of their social nature, you should add at least two or three to your tank. Corydoras are not meant to live a solitary existence.

Corydoras are omnivores. They will eat just about anything they come across on the aquarium floor. Sinking foods work best to ensure your Corydoras get their required food allotment. Unlike most bottom dwellers, Corydoras have been known to rise to the surface to eat foods such as freeze-dried worms. This may be because they need to periodically rise to the surface to take in atmospheric oxygen.

Corydoras are native to the rivers and streams of South America. They thrive in neutral water (pH of 7.0) in temperatures between 70-79 degrees Fahrenheit.

You want to use sand or rounded gravel as a substrate when keeping Corydoras to help prevent them from damaging their barbels.

It is not easy to distinguish between males and females. Generally, the females' bodies are a little wider than that of the males.

Breeding Corydoras Catfish

The Corydoras have some of the most peculiar mating habits found among freshwater fish. They spawn in groups of three (1 female to 2 males), usually assuming a T position. The female places her mouth against the male's genital opening and swallows some sperm. The sperm passes through her body rapidly and out onto the eggs she has just released. The female then carries the eggs with her ventral fin to a flat surface in the breeding tank and sticks them there until they hatch.

After spawning has occurred, the adult should be removed from the breeding tank. The fry will hatch in a few days.

Fry can be fed liquid fish fry food. When they get a little older their diet can be changed to newly hatched brine shrimp and then finely crushed fish flakes.

Aquarium keeping is a fun and rewarding hobby. Freshwater aquarium fish care is the easiest and most economical way to enter the field of aquarium ownership. Less than a decade ago freshwater or saltwater fish were the only options available. But that has all changed.

By Stephen J Broy - Article Source: EzineArticles

---

---

BRONZE CORY Fish Are Wonderful Addition to the Aquarium

Photo  by MunstiSue 

Bronze Cory fish is oldest in the catfish family. If you go to any pet store, you will certainly find some variety of this fish there. Experienced fish-keepers love to have at least a couple of them in the community tank. They are industrious, they are small in size and they are good friends of fish-keepers.

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.

By Chintamani Abhyankar 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

---

---

Creating a Conducive Environment to Help CORYDORAS Catfish to Breed

Corydoras Habrosus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A lot of fish-keepers love to keep Corydoras catfish in their tanks because of several reasons. They are friendly with other species of fish have, they are peace-loving, they are small in size and they are the best cleaners of the aquarium.

Once you start keeping them, you are obviously interested in breeding them. Sometimes, without any effort on your part, you will find their eggs at the bottom of the tank. This may be due to the fact that they are happy with the conditions of the tank and they are confident that their young ones will also be happy in the same environment.

Well, in such a situation, you obviously do not take any special efforts. However, if such a situation does not occur, you may be interested in breeding them. Here is some advice for you to do it successfully.

The first step in breeding any fish is to create a separate tank. That is very convenient and it increases your chances of success. The tank may not be big but it should be wide so that it will provide good space to Corydoras catfish for swimming at the bottom. It will also provide an opportunity for the new ones to get more oxygen. As these fish do not normally use the upper portion of the tank, you can arrange for a tank of about 10 gallons of capacity available at a reasonable price in the market. 

You should provide sand or small gravel at the bottom of the tank. You should also provide some hiding place for the fish to make them happy. You can also add some plants having big leaves because the females may like to lay eggs on such leaves. You can provide a small filter for cleaning the water. Do not go for a big filter because there is a risk of small fry being sucked into it.

You have to keep Corydoras catfish in groups for successful breeding. They should be kept in the proportion of two females for one male.

You should remember an important thing while breeding Corydoras catfish - they will not breed if they are not happy about the environment. So to make them confident about their surroundings, you should provide a few hiding places, keep the water clean and free of toxic contents, keep the levels of nitrites and ammonia within the limits and if the tank is too small, you should change the water frequently.

To help Corydoras catfish breeding, you should also provide them with plenty of food. They usually like bloodworms, so you should treat them with such food. Remember, the rainy season is considered ideal for the breeding of Corydoras catfish.

After all these preparations, you will find them getting ready for breeding. The female will get fatter, which shows that she is full of eggs and the males will be around her most of the time. At this time, you may change the water to make them comfortable.

The females will store eggs under their fins. They will try to go near the genitals of the mail and will start sucking the sperm. It will pass through her body and will be then sprayed on the eggs.

Once this is done, the females will approach plants or other hiding places where they will lay eggs. At this time, you should remove either the eggs or the parents from the tank because the parents do not take care of the eggs or the fry. The eggs are sticky and you can transfer them without much effort. However, it is better to avoid exposing eggs to open air. The eggs should be kept in a slow flow of water to avoid fungal growth on them. A simple way to do it is to put an air stone at the bottom of the tank.

The color of eggs will be beige and you may also find a spot on them as they approach the time of hatching. The eggs which are not fertile will look white in color. Soon, the new ones will come out.

They will require special food which should preferably be in liquid form. It is available in pet shops. 

After a couple of days, you can provide them with small brine shrimp for proper nutrition. With their growth, you can increase the quantity of food gradually. It is extremely important to look after the conditions of water at this time because the small ones will be very delicate and will not be able to tolerate abnormal conditions.

After about two weeks, you may transfer them to a bigger tank or to the main tank in which you are keeping other species of fish.

By Chintamani Abhyankar Chintamani Abhyankar is a goldfish enthusiast and has been raising and breeding goldfish for many years. Article Source: EzineArticles

---

---

Experienced Fish-Keepers Always Insist on Keeping CORYDORAS Catfish

Photo  by Genista 

Corydoras catfish are very famous in the American continent. There are about 150 known species which are spread all around.

Corydoras catfish are very good for keeping with the other species of fish in the same aquarium. They live peacefully and will never trouble any other fish in the aquarium. As they keep on searching for food at the bottom of the aquarium, they help in cleaning the dirt and excessive food which is accumulated at the bottom.

They cannot grow beyond 2 to 3 inches. In nature, they are happy in a place where the water is still. They usually eat the insects which are lying at the bottom of the water. They also eat the flesh of a dead fish, so they are called cleaners.

They are considered 'social' in the aquarium as they would form a group along with other Corydoras. This group will swim together, search for food together and even take rest together! Usually, you will find one catfish resting on the other. Even if there is no catfish around, they will become friends with other species of fish and live happily. So you must keep them in a group or at least with some other species in the aquarium. If you keep them alone, they may not live long.

You need not spend much on their food. You will find their mouths facing downwards so they will always be searching at the bottom of the aquarium. You can offer them the same food which you offer to the other species of fish. Usually, they will prefer sinking food, but occasionally they will come to the surface of the water to eat food like bloodworms.

If you provide them with normal conditions of water, they are happy. If the ph level of the water is 7.0 and the temperature is of about 80° F, they will have no problems. The only precaution you should take is not adding salt to the water. They may not survive in such water.

You can provide sand or rocks at the bottom of the aquarium but care should be taken to avoid rocks with sharp edges. As Corydoras catfish would like to hang around at the bottom, such things may damage their body.

Breeding of Corydoras catfish is not normal. They should be kept in the proportion of two males to one female. The female will put their mouth at genitals of the males for swallowing the sperm. It will pass through the digestive system and it will then pass on to the eggs released by her. Initially, she will hold these eggs in her fins. Once they are fertilized, she will carry them to a safe surface in the tank, maybe on a plant or on the glass.

The eggs will hatch in a few days. However, there is a risk of other fish eating them before they are hatched. For this reason, the breeding should preferably take place in a separate tank.

Corydoras catfish do not take care of their little ones so you can remove them from the tank after spawning.

The small ones will start swimming around and eating food available at the bottom of the tank. They will be happy with the small brine shrimp.

Corydoras catfish can adjust themselves to any setup. They are not colorful, but they perform a great job of maintaining the cleanliness of the aquarium. That is why they have recently become popular among the fish keepers.

By Chintamani Abhyankar 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

---

---

Callichthyidae Fish Care and Aquariums - ARMORED CATFISH - Corydoras

Photo  by Furryscaly 

Catfish Armored with Barbels

Coming from Trinidad and South America are the Mail and Armored Catfish. These catfish are well respected even by larger fish. The catfish have partly covered bony plates, which double and its back and head has a covering. The mail and armor catfish have fatty moveable fins, which the adipose surround a hefty backbone. The dorsal fins are near the backbone. These catfish have two sets of barbel at the base of its mouth.

Another group of catfish includes the Genus Corydoras. 

This group of fish is relatives to the Callichthyidae. If you are searching for tank catfish, hit the shop and buy a couple of these good buddies. The hardy fish have a curious nature, as well as amusing features. These catfish are ideal as well since they will clean up the neighborhood without a problem, thus eliminating pollutant build up.

If you are purchasing the mail or armored catfish for breeding, you will need a tank solely for housing these fish.

How to dress the tank

Armor and mail catfish tend to enjoy housing in murky colored waters where fine gravel rests at the bottom of the aquarium. Cryptocoryne is ideal to provide a hiding place for these fish, yet you should keep plant volume to a minimal. Stones are nice hiding spots for the mail and armored catfish, yet you must arrange them as arches, or related formations.

How do I decide on water temperature?

Catfish are not friendly to overheated waters. Therefore, the water temperature should be around 72 degrees Fahrenheit. You should also avoid over illuminating the tank. The water should have moderate alkalinity, hardness, or neutral conditions. As the fish mature, you will need another aquarium to manage conditions and segregated arrangements. During spawning, you should fill another tank up to fifteen gallons of water. You will know when spawning time has arrived at the shifting colors. Look for light rosy tints.

How do they mate?

The fish will naturally mate in pairs. Sometimes however when the fish are placed in separate tanks, spawning will not occur. If this happens, you want to reduce the water temperature to around 62 degrees Fahrenheit. In addition, you will need to add clean water to the tank. The fish will lay eggs the size of 2 mm and up to 400 eggs. After the eggs are hatched, you want to add methylene blue to the tank, so that the fry can prepare peacefully for deliverance. Fry fish from mail or armored fish tend to rot, so the water should be tainted a bluish shade, which is the purpose of methylene. Once the fry comes to the world, you want to feed them Micro worms, and later feed the fish saltwater shrimp.

Bronze Corydoras, otherwise known as Corydoras Aeneus come from Venezuela and Trinidad waters. The fish grow 2 ½ inches in size. This particular breed is not a favorite fish added to the tank water. The greenish sides of the fish offset a pink colored frame. While the fish is one of the harder fish to adapt to the tank water, it does make a good communal tank fish. Bronze Cory will not assault, mistreat, or interfere with the life of other fish.

Favorite dishes:

The Bronze enjoys Tubifex and white worms, yet he will eat dried dishes as well.

Water conditions

Alkalinity water is fine as long as the water condition is neutral. Hard water will suffice as long as you keep the volume in moderation. NaC1 or saltwater is not the Bronze Cory's preferred choice and these fish will let you know quick, therefore stay clear of this water condition.

Sven Hylten-Cavallius - Article Source: GoArticles

---

---

---

Breeding the Bronze Catfish, CORYDORAS Aeneus

Photo  by h080 

Sexing

The female is a little bigger than the male, but the shape is a better way of telling the sexes apart. The female gets a bigger belly, and if looked at from above the female is clearly wider than the male.

The male has a longer and more pointed dorsal fin.

Breeding

The bronze Catfish is probably the easiest fish of its genus to breed. The parents to be should be well fed for a while before breeding. It is common to use two males and one female for breeding. In the wild, this species will breed at the start of the breeding season. A drop in water temperature will often stimulate the breeding. This drop can be as much as 4 degrees C. Some people go further and lower the temperature by sprinkling cooler water over the surface of the water to simulate heavy rain. This fish is an egg placer. The female carefully cleans a number of places for the eggs. These places may be on the sides of the aquarium, or on the leaves of plants.

When they are ready the breeders assume the "T" position with the female's mouth adjacent to the male's vent. The female takes the male's sperm into her mouth ready for fertilization. She lays her eggs into a little basket formed by her pectoral fins and carefully places the fertilized eggs onto the prepared places.

The number of eggs laid each time varies between 1 and 10. The breeders repeat this until the female has laid all her eggs. This may be up to 300 eggs and the spawning will sometimes take several days.

When they are first laid the eggs are nearly clear, but they darken to a golden brown. If they turn white they are infertile. Infertile eggs get fungus which can spread to healthy eggs. Generally, the eggs are separated from the parents because some people have observed Bronze Catfish eating their own eggs and young. The eggs hatch in about 5 days.

Fertilisation

The method of fertilization used by many corydoras catfish is in dispute. The old idea was that the sperm goes very quickly through the female's digestive tract and comes out of her vent in exactly the right position to fertilize the eggs. It has always been recognized that there were problems with this theory. The sperm would have to pass through much faster than food normally does, and avoid being digested. Various ways were postulated to explain how this is done.

Another idea is that the sperm comes out of the gill covers of the female and are directed backward in the right general direction to fertilize the eggs. Reading forums, you can see that there are people who adamantly insist that one or other of the theories are correct. The supporters of both sides are experienced breeders who have carefully observed the spawning of Bronze Catfish. Personally, I think the second theory is more likely to be correct.

Raising the Fry

After hatching the babies will live on their yolk sac for 2 or 3 days. They will then eat infusoria and fine fry food including Microworms and other very small live food.

By Steve Challis Steve Challis has many other fish fact sheets and other articles on http://www.bettatrading.com.au including a fact sheet about the Bristlenose Catfish at http://www.bettatrading.com.au/Bristlenose-Catfish-Fact-Sheet.php. Article Source: EzineArticles

---

---

ALBINO CORYDORA Catfish

Belonging to the Catfish family, Albino Corydoras grow to about 2- inches in length, the female being a bit larger than the male. They are white to pink in color with pink eyes that appear to be looking directly at you. Surrounding their mouths are barbels with which they hunt for food. It is vital to have nothing in the aquarium with jagged edges as the barbels are quite delicate and even rough gravel can damage them. Check everything for roughness before putting it in the aquarium.

"Albino Cory Spawning" by Docmarius - via Wikimedia Commons.

These fish are non-aggressive in nature, yet are able to hold their own against a more aggressive fish due to their spined fins. Because they are schooling fish, Corydoras are happiest in a group of five or more of their own species. They are playful and love to chase each other, taking occasional breaks to swim to the surface for a gulp of air, sometimes making a good splash before swimming back to the bottom.

he Albino Corydoras are a fish that can thrive in the smaller aquarium. It is acceptable to house a group of 6 -- 8 in a 10- gallon tank. They are hardy enough to withstand most water conditions, with the exception of salted water. Keep the temperature ot the water between 72 -- 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Have for them plenty of plant life as they will rest under the plants to take refuge of the lights from time to time. These fish will eat flaked foods, but being bottom feeders they will wait until the flakes have made the journey to the floor of the aquarium. If you have other species in the aquarium who feed from the surface, consider giving sinking pellets to the Corydoras. They will welcome treats such as live worms and frozen brine shrimp too.

Breeding is no problem for the Albino Corydoras. After spawning, the mother carries the eggs with her ventral fins to deposit them onto plant life and aquarium decorations. If you wish to raise the fry, carefully remove a plant that she placed the eggs onto and put it into a separate tank. But you will have to act soon, as the adult fish will waste no time devouring the eggs. In the end, the mother will have scattered up to 200 eggs. After about one week the fry will hatch.

Be sure to lower the setting of the air filter afore-hand because a powerful stream will injure the tiny fry. Feed microworms to them for the first week, after which you may slowly introduce them to flakes and pellets. When they reach about 3/4- inches in length they will be safe in the community tank. It's quite amusing to see the adult Albino Corydoras and the babies together, as the babies look like exact replicas of their parents, barbels and all. And with a little tender loving care, you can expect these babies to live approximately five years.

By Cybil Frost http://www.cybilf.webs.com - Article Source: EzineArticles

---

---

Fact Sheet: PEPPERED CATFISH - Corydoras paleatus

(Original Title: Peppered Catfish Fact Sheet)

Photo by h080

The Peppered Catfish, Corydoras paleatus is also called Peppered Cory, Peppered Corydoras, and Peppered Cory Cat. This peaceful fish is a harmless scavenger. The only fish it eats are ones already dead. It is an omnivore and will eat most types of food. By nature it is a bottom feeding fish but it will eat at the surface at times. This fish comes from the warmer parts of South America.

In an aquarium this fish will rarely get longer than two and a half inches (six centimetres) although in larger water bodies it has been known to get close to four inches (ten centimetres.)

The Peppered Catfish is a tropical fish although its low temperature tolerance is much better than most tropicals. It does not seem to be able to take high temperatures well, and could be in trouble if the water temperature gets over thirty degrees C (eighty five degrees F.). In a normal house it can be kept without a heater, but I would not recommend it as a pond fish except in areas which never get cold weather. Certainly not anywhere in South Australia

Water

The Peppered Catfish is not very fussy about its water chemistry. I would suggest a Ph of 7 (Neutral), definitely avoiding extremes of acidity or alkalinity. The hardness of the water does not seem to matter to this versatile fish. A clean tank is definitely better than a dirty one. Make sure the water you use for your fish has had the Chlorine or Chloramine removed before it is added to the aquarium with your fish.

Breathing

Like many Corydoras Catfish, the Peppered Catfish can swallow air and extract the oxygen with its intestines. It is normal to occasionally see a Corydoras Catfish suddenly shoot to the surface where it presumably takes a quick gulp of air, and returning to the bottom. If it does this a lot, it can be an indication of something wrong, such as the aquarium being short of Oxygen.

Companions

The Peppered Catfish can be kept without others of its kind, but does interact if given a chance. Some people recommend six in a tank together, but this would only be practical in a larger tank. There are many other fish which are suitable companions for this catfish. I would avoid extremely aggressive fish and very large ones, but most common aquarium fish should be all right. This includes all the Tetras, nearly all the Barbs, Danios, White Clouds, peaceful dwarf cichlids, Angel Fish, Discus, Fighting Fish, Australian Rainbow Fish, other Corydoras Catfish, most loaches and Goldfish.

Uses

Apart from its interest and beauty in its own right the Peppered Catfish is often kept as a scavenger. It is one of the fish that can be used as a scavenger in either tropical or coldwater aquariums (As long as they are not too cold!) They will eat uneaten food on the bottom, but not fish waste. Also, it is always important not to overfeed your fish, even with an efficient scavenger in the tank. They are not specialized for eating algae and do not do the job of an algae eating fish like a Bristle nose catfish.

Breeding

Peppered Catfish are sometimes stimulated to spawn by a drop in temperature. It has been reported that a simultaneous drop in barometric pressure helps. It is a good idea to condition the potential breeders with meaty foods including things like Earthworms, Tubifex Worms or Daphnia. One male and one female is the minimum requirement for breeding. They are not communal breeders requiring a school to breed, but some people prefer two or three males for one female.

The female will clean surfaces such as a section of the aquarium glass or a leaf of a plant. The male may rub against the female's head. She will lay her eggs into a basket made with her fins, and the male will fertilize them. The female will attach the eggs to places she has cleaned. After a while the process is repeated and continues until the female has laid all her eggs. This can be over two hundred.

The eggs should hatch in about six days. Well fed Peppered Catfish do not usually eat their babies. At first the babies will eat mainly the protozoan organisms in the tank, but will soon be able to eat fry foods.

By Steve Challis Steve Challis has many other fish fact sheets and other articles on http://www.bettatrading.com.au Article Source: EzineArticles

---

---

---