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Corydoras Photos

60K views 146 replies 65 participants last post by  Austin 
#1 ·
Hi all, I love to see pics of everyone's corys. Doesn't matter what kind, I love them all, but please let us know what kind it is you're posting!!

I'll start off with a couple of mine, sterbais.
:D





 
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#54 ·
scottven said:
is it a problem to have the that gravel with them?
As long as the substrate does not have sharp edges, you'll be fine.
 
#55 ·
Got a couple of Schwartzi yesterday. This is the best pic I could get so far. They seem a little more shy than the leopards. I'll try for some better pics later.
 
#56 ·
I have been trying to do some research on my own on corys. But since this is a thread now I might as well ask. Was my research correct if I read that Panda corys stay small? Well not small, but smallish compared to other corys? I like the Panda cory, and I was going to get maybe four. So will they be happy with only four? And they are fine with gravel right? I'm seeing tons of pictures with gravel. Oh, and does anyone know the smallest type of cory? I just really want them but I know they enjoy being with others but I'm afraid of over stocking.
 
#62 ·
Hi, all you Cory-lovers...

my name is Heiko Bleher and I just have done several lectures in Europe on biotope aquariums and including those for Corydoras species. Most of these South American beauties live only over sand and soft substrate NEVER over rocks, pebbles or stones (except for maybe visiting them).

I feel really sorry for all of those fishes (cories) you really keep WRONG. Specially I want to mention briefly:

Kateyoup's sterbai are doing very well, one can see it, but
Joeshmoe; Girlofgod; Love–my-fish (this is terrible, and NOT love how you keep those cories); Jinithith2's peppered are totally unhappy because they do not find their food in the substrate; and I really feel bad about Simplysplend's panda, they feel lost (don't you see that?); same as Lupin's panda, which are already very skinny because they cannot get to the food and are damaging terribly their snout in these large rocks; at least sweetwaterarabians (whataname) has some sand and they look healthy and also Megk's look very good over the sand; but not Falina's and not Mirta's (very unhappy on those black rocks); same as Jeaninel's trilineatus, which also want to dig into the substrate and cannot...; beetleb2's trilineatus ae also lost and so does the new schawrtzi Jeaninel bought.

And I will ot mention the albinos shown.

Don't you all Corydoras-lovers know that those fishes have evolved through millions of years and adapted to the substrate they live on (fine sand or soft substrate)? Don't you all see that they are built for that? Their snout is evolved to dig into the substrate from where they always look for food (microorganisms, detritus, etc.). That is their niche, not rocks, pebbles or fancy stones...

I have collected Corydoras since I was a boy in Mato Grosso (with the age of 8 years old living with my mother and Indians discovering Corydoras sterbai, C. guapore, C. caudimaculatus, C. haraldschultzi, C. araguaiaensis, C. xingunesisi, etc.) and on more than 300 expeditions in the meanwhile in Amazonia and NEVER found a single Corydoras on such substrate.

I can only tell you all: it is a crime to keep fishes this way. It should be prohibited. You can compare it with yourself. Do you want to live 24 hours on a concrete / cemented floor and eat from it? Think about it.

All the best from one who loves fishes and wants that they love me as well,

Heiko

PS: Why not give them a Christmas present: a soft sandy ground...
 
#63 ·
if or when i get a newer bigger tank i gotta get a couple more cory's. my one seems alittle lonely but very active and healthy. i'll try to get a pic if my uncle lets me borrow his camera again. everybody elses cory's look absolutely amazing! i love how the peppered and the skunk cory's look.
 
#64 ·
When I was little I always had cories in my small tank. At that time we had no information except for some scanty and imprecise literature. I felt instinctively that cories need to dig into the substrate. They didn't sell substrate in our shops back then and we had to find some in the wild. I remember boiling it forever in the kitchen to my parents' great surprise.

Once I got a batch of small cories (babies), and they all died. I myself was about ten years old. I realised then that they might have hurt themselves on some stones in the substrate looking for food. My other cories (older) survived and lived a long and I thought happy life...

I know about sand, but somehow I have read in many books that sand is not a good choice for a tank, besides I try to buy rounded pebble like substrate. They do not sell sand here in stores but it is possible to get some at the seaside or at the river... I do not feel safe with that. It has never occurred to me that cories might have objections to the colour of the substrate. I got that dark for the neons and other tetras. My punctatuses look happier and healthier now. That pic was taken right after I got them from the store and they were like this for a long time. I was afraid we would lose them. Now they run together with albinos who look great on black substrate, but probably suffer too... As I've mentioned I have never read or heard about the colour impact and got black for tetras.

I wonder if it is possible to combine sand with pebbles?
 
#65 ·
Mirta said:
I wonder if it is possible to combine sand with pebbles?
Yes, it is. I don't see how it is not possible.
 
#67 ·
You could do one side with rocks and the other with sand, that would be really cool. Also, you can get play sand at Home Depot for about $5/50lbs. Lots of people use it in their tanks, and it's completely safe, just make sure you rinse it thoroughly first as it's VERY dusty.
 
#68 ·
I got 2 mm black gravel yesterday to add up to what I have. I have already put that in all my tanks where I have cories. It covers the larger gravel now but I understand it will get under the large scale in the long run. I also thought of arranging 'sandboxes' at some places but I would have to seriously reorganise the whole tank.

What about the colour - is black really bad? Do they care?
 
#69 ·
Ok, here's my opinion, it's based entirely on educated conjecture.

Cory catfish don't have very good sight. They rely primarily on their sense of smell to locate food. They also seem to rely heavily on electrolocation and their lateral line to orientate themselves. Not that corys can't see, just that they are adapted to live in areas that can be quite dark. Also, they come from northern Brazil- the amazon river. This is a very murky river, which I would imagine has a lot of dark colored detritus on the bottom.

About a month ago I was in Brazil and visited the Sao Paulo aquarium, which is a "thematic aquarium" that reproduces the Amazon river and surrounding habitats- exactly where corys are from and I saw many there. The tanks all had dark coloured substrate. There were many corys and other bottom dwellers there as well who live side by side with corys in the wild. All of them looked incredibly happy and healthy and I saw some of the HUGEST catfish I had ever seen.

So, that's my opinion. I love corys and read all I can about them. As of yet I have no reason to believe that a dark substrate would be stressful for them.
 
#70 ·
Thanks so much for your reply!

I wish someone posted pics of a 'thematic' tank...

I suspected they do not rely on sight, they seem to be looking somewhere in the distance with a philosopher's air, even while looking for food.

It's probably all the same for them what the color of the substrate is as long as they can dig.

Cory catfish do not grow large, do they?
 
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