Date: Thu, 10 Apr 1997 22:22:44 -0700 (PDT)
From: esarchy@wsunix.wsu.edu
To: Mary Louise Borg <mlborg@mail.keyworld.net>
Subject: Re: catfish breeding

On Thu, 10 Apr 1997, Mary Louise Borg wrote:

> first of all i'm Josef Borg (louise is my sis) from Malta
> I would like to know how to breed corydoras.The easiest ones the better. Till now...i sucessfully bred convicts and siamese fighters

thanks in advance
Josef

Josef,
Corydoras are the easiest catfish spawned and usually the first catfish spawned by catfish hobbyists. One of the easiest species to spawn is Corydoras peleatus. This is because it is easy to tell males from females. Males are thinner and have a long curved dorsal fin (like a shark). Females are much larger, especially in girth, and have a shorter dorsal fin. In nature, Corydoras spawn in large groups. Most Cory breeders recommend two males to each female. Truth be told though, I have also had good luck with just one male and one female. The C. peleatus need to be about one inch (2.5cm) before they are ready to spawn. At this size it is easy to tell the males from females. Place a trio (2 males and 1 female) in a 5-10 gallon (16-38 liters) tank. The temperature should be about 76 degrees Fahrenheit. The tank should have about one inch of fine sand, a heater, a sponge filter, and some broad leaved plants (real or artificial) like Amazon sword plants. Feed the adults with lots of good "meaty" foods such as bloodworms and brineshrimp. After about two weeks you are ready. The Corys need a large water change and drop in temperature to induce them to spawn. They also need soft water. If your water is already soft you just need to chill some. If you have hard water (above 5 DH) you can use rain water or demineralized water.

At 5:00pm change 50% of the water and replace it all with the chilled soft water. You want to drop the tank's temperature down to about 65 degrees F. The fish will then spawn in the morning from about 8:00am to 11:00am. Cory fry are easy to raise and will not be much more trouble than convicts. Just make sure that whatever food you use sinks. I like to use Tetra Bits because they are red and I can look at the fry's stomuchs to make sure they are eating. If the belly is red I know they are getting enough food. Keep up on the water changes if you want to raise a lot of fry!

Good Luck,
-Shane