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I have been breeding south American cichlids for a while now. Was interested in cory's so I dedicated a tank to them with 6 skunk 5 spotted and three julis. The tank sprung a leak so I had to remove fish empty tank and resealed the tank. My ? is what would be the best aquascaping for these fish to breed ? I know that I have males and females of all three species, but what type of substrate and cover and plants and things? All help is greatly appreciated and Thank you in advance
2cool

Best of all if you can find it is an 2-3mm sized substrate, in between small gravel and big sand grains. This is large enough to prevent dead anaerobic spots from forming, but still small enough to prevent large amounts of food from getting down into the substrate. Just remember to make sure the grains are smooth and that there are no sharp edges, or else you run the risk of damaging the cories' barbels.

Rusty

P.S. Please try and avoid topic titles like these, since it gives no indication of what is inside.

I've changed the title from the rather daft "Hello all interested in catfish" to the more specific "What is the best substrate for Cory's" and echo Rusty's comment on it.

Anyway, as I appear to have just posted elsewhere, the answer to this question is sand. But it's the question that is the problem.

IMO...

If the question is what's the best substrate for most aquarists to keep corys on (especially in community or "wide biotope" tanks) then the answer is fine rounded or pea gravel.

If the question is what's the best possible substrate for diligent intermediate to advanced aquarists to keep corys on (especially in species tanks) then its river sand.

Jools

Oh, once this has all been thrashed out, can someone edit the salient points and sling it in the FAQ?

Cheers!

Jools

Sorry about the datpost . Thanks for the info just wanted to get the opinion of the catfish people. Trying to breed these guys with no luck for over 6 months.
Thanks
2cool

Trying to breed these guys with no luck for over 6 months.

might have less to do with substrate and more with conditioning and spawning ques?

I keep no gravel or plants in any of my tanks. Up until now I have only kept common albino corys (6 to 8 per 10 G tank) and they breed like rabbits keeping a constant supply of eggs on the glass which the guppies find quite delectable. All I do is the occassional 10 - 15 degree colder 25% water change and then - look out. Eggs everywhere!!! - Guppyman

Jools wrote:
If the question is what's the best substrate for most aquarists to keep corys on (especially in community or "wide biotope" tanks) then the answer is fine rounded or pea gravel.

Jools

Jools, I've been thinking about changing gravel to sand in an 80g community tank with angels, praecox rainbows, neons, rummy-nose, flying foxes, leeri gouramis, and peppered cories. I'd appreciate your expanding on why pea gravel would be your choice in a community tank. TIA!!

if you use plants, i would suggest putting some potting soil (strictly organic) or aquatic soil to help give nutrients to the plants. but that is only if you are using plants. otherwise, as everyone else has said, use sand. sand from a creek or river is good. just make sure you know what is upstream!

I have probably collected over a dozen Corydoras and Brochis spp. and they are usually found over mud substrates, especially where there is a thin layer of leaf litter. The second most common substrate they are found over is sand. C. venezuelanus is the only sp. I have ever collected over something that would be close to aquarium gravel, but it is also one of the very few piedmont Corydoras sp.
If you are looking for a natural type substrate, I would offer two suggestions:

For Amazon Basin Corydoras, like your C. arcuatus and C. trilineatus (I'll also bet that your "spotted" corys are C. leucomelas, since all three of these spp are shipped together from Leticia, Colombia in large numbers), I would suggest a thin (1/2 inch) layer of fine sand and some oak leaves. You could decorate with driftwood. There are not many aquatic plants in this area but there are terrestrial plants that form habitats as the water starts to rise at the beginning of the wet season. The point being that these fish are not normally around plants except for a few months of the year. I would also recommend the use of black water extract.

Llanos Corydoras are more typically found over pure sand substrates. To replicate a natural substrate for these fishes, place 2-3 medium size stones and several smaller stones in the aquarium. Next, dump about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of sand in the tank. Stones always look more natural when put in the tank before the substrate is added. Driftwood can also be added for decor. Llanos corys are like Amazon corys in that they are only exposed to plants a few months of the year as the water levels increase. That said, some individuals make their home in morichales (natural springs that form an oasis) and these will have true aquatic plant life.
-Shane

In the December issue of Datz, there's an interesting article on this subject. While doing some rearranging, the author moved some Corydoras barbatus to a tank with a very thin layer of fine sand.

Because of overstocking and stress, the C. barbatus developed reddish areas on most of their fins and small white worms could be seen on all fins. He observed that the C. barbatus tried to go head first into the sand as if they wanted to bury themselves. Because of the thin layer of sand, this wasn't possible. Rather than using some sort of medication, he added more fine sand so the layer became 2 cm deep. The C. barbatus buried temselves so deep, that only the top 3rd of them was visible.

After a couple of days, the red areas were looking much better and after ten days, neither the red areas nor the worms could be seen anymore.

To me this sounds like something which could be a good alternative to medications at least in some cases.