Have been hearing and reading varied opinions and need some advice please.
I have 6 species of Corydoras now and have them throughout various tanks, I would like to keep them all in my 7ft together but am worried about crossbreeding ?
I have been told that Cory`s will crossbreed and have read that Cory`s can be kept together no problems without having to worry about crossbreeding.
Which is the right advice?
The Cory`s i want to put together all in my signature
Thanks in advance for all your help
Craig
Albino bristlenose
Peppermint bristlenose
Corydoras sterbai
Corydoras polystictus
Sturisoma panamense
Synodontis multipunctatus
Synodontis polit
Anthicus Adonis
L 333
L 128
L 260
L 397
L 134
Since signatures don't show up when replying to the thread, it makes life a little more difficult than if you actually add the species to your post...
The general rule, according to Coryman, is that if you keep "sufficient numbers of the same species". Also, as the principles of speciation works, chances are that any species that have common distribution should be OK together [otherwise, they would just mix themselves back and forth and eventually merge into one species again].
Ok, so the simple rule is:
1. If you keep "sufficient" (say more than 6) of the same species, this will reduce the chances of crossbreeding.
2. Distinct species from the same place do not cross-breed [because if they did, they would never have established into different species in the first place].
There was a thread about a year or two ago about crossing different Corydoras species - if you search the forum, you will probably be able to find it. The thread has a list of species that are known to cross. This is not the same as a list of species that are known NOT to cross, of course [in the same sense that "A dog has a tail, therefore everything with a tail is a dog" doesn't work].
Can I ask why you are worried about cross breeding?
A 7ft tank is rather large for a tank set up specifically designed to breed corys in, so it is presumably a mixed community tank with other species in? If it is, then the likelyhood of any hybrid fry surviving would be small anyway.
I have kept multiple community tanks with multiple cory species and, as yet, have never had any fry survive let alone hybrid fry. Ancistrus have a great knack of finding and consuming cory eggs as have corys themselves, especially if they have laid the eggs.
My 7ft is a catfish only tank with small cats and already ive had sterbai and aenues "gold shoulders" breed numerous times with having taken out over 20 juvies that have survived and grown to 2cm just this weekend gone, this is even with 13 peppermints and other cats that dont seem to get all the eggs.
Once my other Corys have grownout and spawned in the 7ft then i will move them to specific breeing tanks which i have already setup.
What triggered this question is a few weeks back my sterbai`s and gold shoulders spawned on the front of the tank on the same day and i thought i might end up with a few hybrids( which i didnt fortunately)
Cheers
Craig
Albino bristlenose
Peppermint bristlenose
Corydoras sterbai
Corydoras polystictus
Sturisoma panamense
Synodontis multipunctatus
Synodontis polit
Anthicus Adonis
L 333
L 128
L 260
L 397
L 134
Sounds like you have a good set up there with regular spawnings.
Like Mats said, as long as there are males and females of each species, then hybridisation is unlikely to occur. The problem comes where you have a single male or female who gets the urge to spawn, this is where he/she will mate with a member of the opposite sex from a different species.
Where two different species spawn separately on the same day in the same tank, I would say there might be a slight risk of some stray sperm finding its way to another species egg. However I think it is very unlikely on two accounts. Firstly the intimate nature of the corydoras spawning ritual means sperm is not sprayed everywhere (as is the case with danios for instance)and secondly the size of your tank means the excess sperm will be heavily diluted.
In the case of your 2 species laying eggs on the front of the tank, the eggs were probably fertilized elsewhere in the tank and then the females were placed already fertilized eggs on the front glass. In Corydoras, egg fertilization and egg placement are two distinct steps in the spawning ritual.
i have only 5 cories atm now and that is all the room i have since i have limited space and keep other fish too. anyway, this is what i have.
1 albino cory
1 panda cpry
3 peppered cories
so you see i mix different species together and don;t really see any problem with mixing species of corydoras. my albino and panda like to hang out together and the peppered ones are still being quarantined as they are recent additions. so all is good.
1. If you keep "sufficient" (say more than 6) of the same species, this will reduce the chances of crossbreeding.
Im keeping 9 C142`s , 9 Corydoras sterbai, 8 Corydoras polystictus , 4 Corydoras concolor, 6 Corydoras blochi and 6 Corydoras aeneus "gold shoulder" all together in a 7 x 2 x 2 so the larger numbers were concerning me but am happy with the advice i recieved and they are all happy together atm ( Will increase numbers of other species when they become available again )
Cheers
Craig
Albino bristlenose
Peppermint bristlenose
Corydoras sterbai
Corydoras polystictus
Sturisoma panamense
Synodontis multipunctatus
Synodontis polit
Anthicus Adonis
L 333
L 128
L 260
L 397
L 134
