Bronze Corydora

So shy and mild-mannered is the Corydora that ir needs a variety of bodyguards to keep it safe! It can very well be compared to beautiful maidens in ancient times who needed an escort round the clock! Interested? Read on.

  • Aquarium Care: In the wild, you will always see the Corydora in a large group of its fellow-beings. Similarly, in an aquarium, they compulsively need to be housed in a group with other community tank fishes, such as small characins, livebearers and rasboras. Kept as single specimens, they are shy and easily frightened, while keeping them in groups will give them a sense of security and allow the aquarist the opportunity to observe their comical behaviors. Avoid large, aggressive fishes, such as cichlids and large barbs, as tankmates.

    These fishes should be housed in tanks with a substrate of dark-colored fine gravel or coarse sand to protect their barbels. A shallow tank is preferred because the fish will occasionally come to the surface for a gulp of air. The tank should be heavily planted with bunch plants (live or artificial), such as Elodea and Cabomba, as well as root plants like swordplants and Vallisneria, which will also act as hiding places. Decorate with driftwood and smooth rocks, leaving plenty of room in the center for swimming.
  • Food: Corys will accept a wide variety of live, frozen and freeze-dried meaty foods. Live foods, such as Tubifex worms, earthworms, bloodworms, glass worms and brine shrimp are especially preferred. Supplement their diets with vegetable-based flake and pelleted foods. Although it is possible to differentiate between the sexes, to ensure spawning success it is best to purchase a group. Condition on small feedings of a high-protein diet that consists of small live foods, several times per day.
  • Mating and Breeding: Spawning is preceded by a long courtship ritual consisting of chasing bouts interrupted by cleaning of potential spawning sites. Once courtship is finished, the corys lock together in the "T" position the female with her head nudged into the side of the male near his vent, the male clasping her barbels to his sides with his pectoral spines. The eggs are fertilized, the pair unclasps and the female deposits the eggs. Corydoras aeneus often uses the sides of the aquarium, the plastic filter box, the sponge media of an inside or sponge or individual plant leaves, on which to deposit clusters of eggs. (Most other species of Corydoras deposit only two to four eggs per leaf, repeating the process for an hour or two until 100 or more eggs have been deposited.) The spawning bouts are repeated over and over until the female is depleted of eggs. Once spawning is completed, the eggs should be transferred to another tank where they will hatch in two to 10 days.