Some ideas for Corydoras biotopes

Have been looking at Youtube for some really good videos, here's a collation:

Scleromystax sp. (barbatus?) in Rio Quiriri - 15 deg C

 

Swarm of corydoras in Manaus, Brazil



School of wild Corydoras sp."NOVO AIRAO" in the Rio Negro, Brazil

School of wild Corydoras melanistius in the stream of Amazon

Corydoras robineae - Upper  Negro River

Corydoras cf. narcissus in  Cano de La Libertad, Colombia (I don't think it's C. cf arcuatus)

New additions to my collection

Here's an interesting catch! - Corydoras orcesi

So special they got their own genus - Scleromystax barbatus

My very first corydoras that bred, so they'll always have a special place in my heart - Corydoras robineae

The classic underappreciated cory - Corydoras concolor

Breeding Frenzy

Am glad to say that I've moved up one level in terms of keeping corydoras - I've been lucky enough to breed two species in the last two weeks! They are:

1. C. hastatus (22/11/2011)
2. C. robineae (14/11/2011)

Especially proud of the robineae spawn, even though it was accidental; it was said on some prominent websites that they spawn only in very low temperature environment. The lucky thing was, instead of just finding eggs, I found fully formed fry already scavenging in the muck! Hope to have more success soon. Stay tuned!

Walking on the Shoulder of Giants

On the day I was to visit the Aquarama 2011 in Singapore, I had the inkling that I would be meeting some luminaries of the catfish world, and very cleverly I brought along my Identifying Corydoradine Catfish book, which is recognised by most corydoras keepers around the world as the seminal work on corydoras identification.  The writers of the book are of course long time authorities on the species and I'm very glad I did bring the book, because at the Pleco Club Singapore booth,  I had the rare pleasure of meeting Hans-Georg Evers.

After getting the pleasantries (and the autograph taking =) ) out of the way, we started to talk corydoras, and it's obvious that this guy really knows his stuff! Having gone personally to collect corydoras and plecos in South America, and also having the record of breeding almost 107 different species already (if you're reading Hans, I hope I got this right!) there is no question that he has vast experience in the husbandry of each different species. Talking to him was enough to convince me to sign up at CorydorasWorld that very night, to read the threads that he was talking about in our conversation! Well enough of the narratives, here is a gem of a picture that we took after the discussions =)

With an international and a local legend
From left: me, H-G Evers, Irwin

Shortly afterwards, I also got to meet another famous personality in the catfish world, Ingo Seidel. Although  I had a big regret, because I didn't bring the book he wrote down to the exhibition as well (I didn't expect to get lucky twice in a day) I did get his picture along with the original Singapore pleco guru, who kept the original God of Pleco, a 28" monster LDA65 male with 6" chew chew (like him):

More famous catfish personalities!
From left: Allen, Ingo Seidel, me

Well, suffice to say that I received as many lessons on catfish husbandry in a day, as I learnt in 3 years of keeping these special fish. Good job to everyone who made Aquarama a success. It was amazing to meet so many like-minded friends whom I have not met for a while, some for a few months, and some for a few years! It's events like this that bring us hobbyists together. Here's wishing good health for everyone, and hope to see you all again at the next Aquarama 2013!

Corydoras eques and CW43

So I need an opinion on the fish below. Mark's fish is from the same batch as mine, we were told by the LFS that our fish come from Brazil. But does his/my fish (Z1) look more like C. eques (A) or C. cf. eques(B)?

Mark's fish (Z1)

CW's eques female (A)

CW's CW43 (B)

Which cories prefer warm baths?

Where I am from , temperatures are a consistent 27-32 degrees, and while this temperature is perfect for keeping fish from the larger rivers of South America, which have warmer temperatures all year round, it is certainly challenging to specialist fishkeepers like us who have the darned luck to take a preference to fish that originate from mountain streams and smaller tributaries of the main rivers, which tend to be much colder.

Hence I now keep a list, which I am sharing with readers of this blog (if you still exist, since I don't get comments)  as well as a record for myself which is accessible from any part of the world. This list consists of all known species of corydoras which are likelier to survive in our climates.

Confirmed
C. sterbai
C. gossei
C. suessi
C. similis
C. eques
A group of Corydoras from the Rio Negro drainage, including C. adolfoi, C. duplicareus, C121 and C. davidsandsi
C. oiapoquensis
C. amapaensis
C. hasbrosus
C. atropersonatus
C. hastatus

Possible/Rumored (anyone can confirm?)
C. weitzmani

So with all the upheavals, drastic changes to the tank and to my personal life have cumulated with the following corydoras species in my tank:

1. Corydoras sterbai x 9
2. Corydoras weitzmani x 5
3. Corydoras venezuelanus x 7
4. Corydoras concolor x 1
5. Corydoras duplicareus x 9
6. Corydoras eques x 4
7. Corydoras sp. "Gold Laser" x 3
8. Corydoras robinae x 3

Already a few breeding pairs are identifiable in the stock tank, hope to get some success soon!