Caring for your….

…Corydoras

Appearance

Corydoras (Corydora aeneus) are small catfish - that is, they are fish with distinctive long whiskers, or ‘barbels’, on the front of their face around their lips. These barbels house the fish’s tastebuds, and are used to search around in murky and muddy water for food. Their colours depend on the morph, or strain, of fish.

The morphs we sell are:

  • Corydoras aeneus, ‘Black’ - Also known as ‘Black Venezuelan’, these fish are dark-brown, almost black colour.

  • Corydoras aeneus, ‘Gold Stripe’ - These codydora are a silvery-green colour (depending on the lighting) with a distinctive golden stripe along the top of each side. These are also sometimes known as ‘Gold Laser’.

  • Corydoras aneaus, ‘Adolfoi’ - These are a pleasing white catfish with a black stripe over their eyes, a black stripe down their back, and a warm orange spot on their heads, looking a little like a koi.

They typically grow up to 6cm long, and live between 5-10 years with good husbandry, although some report as living up to 20 years.

Water Conditions

  • Minimum Tank Size: 75 litres

  • Water Parameters

    • Temperature: 22° c - 27° c

    • PH: Neutral to mildly acidic - Between 6.0 and 7.2

    • Hardness: 100 - 200 ppm

  • Tank Specifics:

    • They require sand to facilitate their feeding strategy of sifting through in order to find food.

Feeding

Corydoras are generally very easy to feed and will take most kind of foods readily. However, they are bottom-dwelling fish, and must therefore be presented with sinking food.

Compatibility

Corydoras are a peaceful, community fish that mix very well with other small and medium community fish, and do not seem to exhibit much aggression during breeding season. They are therefore suitable to many aquariums.

Breeding and Sexing

Females are plumper and larger than males, but do not exhibit much in the way of other sex-specific characteristics. They are hardy, and breed readily by laying egs on flat surfaces, like leaves, rocks, or even the side of the aquarium. They tend to spawn during thunderstorms or after water changes.