Laser catfish pregnant, a male? Unsure

[sammy2875]

I purchased a little laser catfish about a few weeks ago and I woke up the other morning and noticed a little bump between her pectorial fins, everyday this bump grows and has now taken to a shade of almost light brown or grey. Is my fish still growing or does she infact have eggs inside her? She is the only laser cory in my tank and I don't think fish inter-breed, do they? I'm very confused.

[Mod edit: Moved to the Cory section --Mats]

[Acanthicus]

Hi,

a little bump between her pectorial fins

Corydoras normally don´t "store" their eggs in this region. And if you have this single Corydoras for weeks now, I don´t believe in eggs.

She is the only laser cory in my tank

The only Corydoras as well?

and I don't think fish inter-breed, do they?

They do, and there are quite a few known hybrids from Corydoras.

Why did you only purchase one specimen? Corydoras should be kept in groups, the bigger the better. Possible that your Cory just ate to much, this happens sometimes. If the belly would be red it could be a bacterial infection, but it doesn´t sound like this to me. Any pictures?

[sammy2875]

Not the only cory, no, but the only laser cory. She was the only one I could purchase, my local pet shop is very limited on fish, the fact I got my corys at all is very lucky. And I don't think its any sort of infection, it swims very happy and healthy with the rest, and yes I did just purchase it and it could still be growing but the bump is very prominent. I have photos but unfortunetly every one is too big of a file to upload to the site. The only reason I want to know the status of my laser is because she/he adds a great amount of personality to my tanks and I would hate to loose her!

[sidguppy]

luckily for you, Corydoras cannot get pregnant
for that you need internal fertilisation and cory's don't have that.

gravid on the other hand, yes. Corydoras can be fat with unlayed eggs.

another thing that's luck in this case: IF they spawn (and hence: crossbreed) chances are very small that any fry will survive
Corydoras is notorious for feeding on eggs of other Cory's that are spawning, ditto the fry.

to spawn Cory's in almost all cases you''d need separate tanks and make a serious attempt. in community tanks Cory fry and eggs are viewed by the fish as extra food.

[Acanthicus]

Here is a picture of the Cory:



By the way: Corydoras should better be kept on sand instead of gravel. They will hurt their barbels on gravel and can not dig the way they are used to.

[sammy2875]

I know Daniel! I didn't plan on having catfish until I got my first one, is there any way to switch out the gravel by the way?

[Acanthicus]

Get yourself some buckets, put the fish in, get the decoration and plants out. Than just put the gravel out and the sand in. Don´t waste the water and save as much "old" water as possible. It´s important to clean the sand efficiently to avoid clouds of dirt. Dont clean the filter at the same time! Very important, because you would have a huge loss of bacteria if you clean the filter at the same time.

[sammy2875]

That sounds a lot easier then I thought. I'll be sure to take care of that as soon as possible. What about my Cory does she look like she's carying eggs of some sort?

[Acanthicus]

I think your Cory is just a bit fat, but it doesn´t look bad.

[sammy2875]

She's only getting bigger and bigger! Now I'm even more confused, if she was having eggs they would be here right now. Over the weekend I went away and accidently forgot to feed them when I came home they were fighting for food, but my little laser was still plump, much plumper then before. Could she have some sort of problem?