Spawnings today

[kim m]

Even though I haven't done any waterchanges for over a week (Busy christmas) two species of Corys decided to spawn today

Both quite rare even

C7, a small species from the paleatus-complex and C115/116 (a saddle snouted species from Madre de Dios) have depositet a good amount of eggs in the java moss of their respective tanks. The pictures are not new, but some old ones. I didn't have time to take new ones today.

Especially the C7 are fun to watch; the males fight like mad over the female. No harm done though

[stormhawk]

Congratulations Kim. I especially like the saddle snout species in your picture. I had Corydoras cervinus some years ago and they were splendid fish.

[kim m]

Thanks

Saddlesnouts are amazing fish, but I find them more sensitive than other groups. These C115/116 are very easy though. I bought them on my trip to Peru in 2008 directly from the wholesaler. I've never seen them offered in shops in Europe.

[stormhawk]

These have been spotted in Singapore before, but not in recent months. I saw some nice C. schwartzi but decided not to get them, since I have no spare tank for a group.

[kim m]

A few fry pics... C. carlae youngster, even younger S. prionotos and a group of C115/116 in various sizes

[Shi Xuan]

Congratulations to your new hatchlings, I guess your Cories should be breeding like rabbits given the current temperature in Europe? Our local temperature has turned warm (29°C - 31°C), so that might be the reason why I haven't seen anymore eggs from either C.hastatus or C.pygmaeus. Simply can't wait to see these youngsters of yours turn into fine adults someday.

Is there any updates on the C.gracilis or maybe the S.kronei? I would like to see how their fry looks like.

[stormhawk]

Thanks

Saddlesnouts are amazing fish, but I find them more sensitive than other groups. These C115/116 are very easy though. I bought them on my trip to Peru in 2008 directly from the wholesaler. I've never seen them offered in shops in Europe.

You are right in this sense. They are much more sensitive. I never got them to take pellets or tablet foods. They would ingest some then spit it out or just let it go past their gill rakers if they are digging about.

[kim m]

Yeah, breeding is going well at the moment. Today my oiapoquensis started spawning again after a loooong break.

I have some pics of gracilis fry from a previous spawning somewhere...have to dig around a bit

The kronei was short lived. Only one hatched and it died within a few days.

I found saddlesnouts very fuzzy about food too. My C115/116 and vittatus will go for dry food sometimes, but orcesi and serratus won't. I am expecting to pick up some C53 in 2 weeks...hope I can keep the alive.

[stormhawk]

All saddlesnouts that I kept before, never really took anything except for live foods like worms and such. I believe in the wild, these saddlesnouts are found in fast moving streams with a sandy bottom. Perhaps next time, I can try a river tank layout designed for hillstream loaches, to see if these saddles love such conditions. Only some slight modification in terms of tweaking the flow rate of the tank would be necessary I think.

[kim m]

They definately like current!

I have a friend who has done a lot of research on Corys...he has looked at gut content of wild fish from all over South America and measured nitrogen levels. Actually saddlesnouts have quite low levels of nitrogen in their gut content which suggests that they don't eat a lot of protein but more "debris". On the contrary, round snouted species have very high levels and so, they eat a lot of protein.

He has also done a lot of DNA-analysis and eventually it will probably lead to a revision of Corydoradinae from 4 to 9 genera....all the preparations are done anyway :P

[stormhawk]

Good grief! From 4 to 9 genera? That'll be a shocker alright.

By debris you mean detritus, or perhaps plant matter? If that's the case then perhaps the saddlesnouts may appreciate the occasional algae wafer or two.

[kim m]

The genera will be the "old" names like Hoplosoma and so on if there is such. Some will need new names though, like the "paleatus group"...really exciting and most of it makes sense. I can send you some of the publicised material? There's also a chapter in Hans Evers and Ian Fullers ID-book supplement.

Yes, detritus...

My friend says that algae watfers might be a good idea. The saddlesnouts he had at the lab liked them better than ordinairy Cory tablets. With my own fish I see some interest from the saddlesnouts, but they are not going crazy like I would like them to.

[stormhawk]

Perhaps you can experiment with algae wafers dipped in some GarlicGuard from Seachem? I always wondered if that product was as efficient as it claims to be. Hikari Algae Wafers were largely ignored by my round snouts in the past.

[kim m]

Perhaps...I can't remember which brand my friend used. Must ask him

[RonWill]

Kim,
By "saddlesnouts", you meant the long snouts like Scleromystax barbatus / kronei? I have 2 trios under my care, trying to differentiate between the two species, and they show little interest in commercial foods, be it sinking tabs or algae wafers. However, they do pig out on livefoods and are spawning quite regularly

Their eggs are in clusters instead of singly-deposited on glass panels and the highest count to date was 17 eggs. It puzzles me though, to find sand-covered eggs on the tank's floor, as if it was deliberately laid there. Have you any similar observations with other long-snouts or kronei?

Incubating harvested barbatus's eggs prove challenging enough, either going bad or failing to hatch. Have tried different methods with temperature, pH, light and anti-fungal agents (treatment and natural aids) and managed to retrieve only 3 little buggers from different clutches. Any advice will be most appreciated.

I did note that the Scleromystax fry take a much longer time to deplete the egg sac and thankfully, they are doing ok in the midst of hastatus and Orange Laser fry.

Will look forward to updates from your gracilis breeding group.

[kim m]

No, by saddlesnouts I mean the "real" Corys; Corydoras geoffrey, fowleri, amapaensis, serratus, acutus etc.

With Scleromystax I also find single eggs scattered on the tank floor even though the majority are clustered where the current hits the front glass. My Scleromystax are also a bit picky with food, but this is mostly in CW38. My kronei and lacerdai go for anything.

When harvesting Sclero-eggs I don't take them out until the 3rd. day as I find them very prone to fungusing if they are taken too early. These are the only eggs where I use razorblades and avoid touching them with my fingers. All other "Cory"-eggs I just pick with my fingers. The doesn't apply to the prionotos though, as they spawn very differently; the use spawning mops. Here I wait 2-3 days as well though, but use my fingers.

[kim m]

So...kronei eggs again. Fingers crossed this time!

Also a couple of spawns from S. prionotos, C7, C. carlae and C. oiapoquensis!

[stormhawk]

Congratulations again Kim. Ronnie here bred plenty of C. oiapoquensis in his old rack system. They never re-appeared locally again since then. It's a pity because it's a beautiful cory.

[RonWill]

So...kronei eggs again. Fingers crossed this time!

Hey Kim, that's great news!! I'm planning to do with the barbatus what you did with your kornei. So... will you be rolling out the eggs or leaving it in the tank? Any idea if Scleromystax are habitual egg-eaters (like the robinea)?

I used to have oiapoquensis spawn on a regular basis but sold the breeding group just before I took a hiatus from the hobby and it would be nice to have them again. For now, I'd want to concentrate on the napoensis. Huge, well conditioned but refuse to lay. Have already tried most known triggers, so I'm pretty stumped.

The hastatus, however, are churning out tubs of fry... cute little buggers and the first group of approx 100 juveniles, ranging between 5 to 11mm, have taken on the distinctive peduncle markings found in adults. Nice to watch them eat heartily and schooling readily.

Kim, I had a crazy thought over the Lunar New Year... probably the effect of not working and having too much time in hand... and was wondering if cory eggs can be shipped like killie eggs (breather bags, not peat, via EMS). If that is a feasible attempt (should be viable), I wonder if you'd be game to play. Barbatus for your gracilis perhaps? If you're all for it, maybe we can work in a few species of killifishes' eggs and I can reimburse you via Paypal or your preferred method. Sounds exciting, no?

[stormhawk]

Ron, move the napo to new surroundings? Might get them into the mood, or you can always use that shrimp viagra.

Cory eggs can survive the shipping process but you might have to add the anti fungal. I don't know how sensitive they are to changes in temperature during transit Ron, so it'll be a huge risk to undertake. Good luck, because if this works.. HOORAY~