http://forum.aqua-fish.net/ A forum devoted to aquarium fish, plants, techniques and fish keeping as a whole. en http://forum.aqua-fish.net/?topic=cories-large-amont-of-general-information-#1 Lots of Species: You can usually find a good variety of species. Most people prefer the bronze corys (Corydoras aeneus), spotted corys (C. paleatus), and albino corys (probably both C. aeneus and C. paleatus). These locally raised species sell for less and do the same job as the “cooler-looking” imports. Origins: The Amazon River level goes up and down with the rainfall amount. Schools of thousands of corys congregate in shallow pools left behind. Labyrinth Breathers: Corydoras prefer to live in cooler waters but possess an auxiliary breathing organ that enables them to survive in those shallow pools of low oxygen warm water. You can see them come up to the top to breathe. If you’ve walked barefoot along a river in the summer, you know how warm these shallow pools can get. Water Conditions: Corydoras easily adapt to a variety of clean water conditions as well as nearly any temperature – even unheated goldfish aquaria. Appeal: Corys rank among the easiest fishes to keep. They stay small. They sport cute little whiskers. They roll their eyes occasionally. They interact with each other when kept in herds. Corydoras make excellent scavengers, but they are also good looking fish. And the different species provide a variety of color patterns. Size and Sexing: Corydoras top out at two inches. Mature females grow longer (and wider) than the males. The rounded belly of the female keeps her nose off the gravel when she rests. They usually take two years to attain breeding size, but some breed earlier. Corys live several years. Jumpers: Not usually thought of as jumpers, corydoras can leap out when going to the top for air. It happens most often where your filter stems release their bubbles. Their armored plates and air breathing abilities enable them to live quite awhile on the floor. We still prefer keeping ours wet. Beware Large Goldfish: Small corydoras mix poorly with large goldfish. Big goldfishes try to swallow small corys. The cory’s “horns” stick in the goldfish’s mouth. The cory drowns. You have to extract the cory with longnose pliers or your goldfish could die also. Foods: Corys eagerly eat whatever you feed them, but don’t expect them to clean up your overfeeding mistakes. They will not eat old, spoiled food growing mold on the bottom. Use snails to clean up any nasty food on the bottom. Corys love live California blackworms. Breeding Corydoras: Minimum you’ll need two males and a female. They breed best in larger groups. One trio laying eggs tends to trigger the others. Give them a large shallow tank. Add two trays of ice cubes (simulates rainfall) and watch them breed in the morning. They lay eggs on the glass or your filter stems. Remove the parents or the eggs. Use a single-edged razor blade to (carefully) slice off the eggs after they harden and put them in a half-filled pre-prepared tank. Newborn catlets make very tasty snacks. Fry Foods: Weirdly enough, corydoras catlets do best in tanks with a little gravel sprinkled on the bottom. Best first foods include microworms and newly hatched brine shrimp – even the frozen. You can see baby albino cory bellies turn orange when they eat brine shrimp. Use a sponge filter. They need clean water. LA. From Ackerz original post: January 3, 2007, 7:05 pm anonymous 2008-05-01 http://forum.aqua-fish.net/?topic=cories-large-amont-of-general-information-#2 I have a quick question, i have two corys, the tank trained in the middle of the night. All the other fish died except my cory's (of course) and now they are blowing bubbles all over the top of the aquarium. i thought with the others having died in there that i would clean the tank. Did so, and now they are blowing more bubbles then before? Is this bad, and if so what should i do? junebug5 2009-02-06 http://forum.aqua-fish.net/?topic=cories-large-amont-of-general-information-#3 Have you tested your water so that we know what is wrong with the parameters. mickey 2009-02-09 http://forum.aqua-fish.net/?topic=cories-large-amont-of-general-information-#4 I have 2 corys and I moved them from a 10 gallon tank (where there were only 3 fish total) to a 55 gallon tank with a dozen guppies. I turned my light on this morning to find them laying eggs all over the side of my tank. I managed to move/cover most of the eggs under a well-vented lid where the guppies don't seem to be able to reach, but how long until they hatch (so I can try to catch them and move them to the 10 gal)? Else 2010-02-03