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Hello, I have a few questions about breeding cories...

1: When will cories be mature enough to spawn?
2: I have different species of cory in my tank. Will they crossbreed?
3: If they will, would there be anything to watch out for in the fry?
4: In the COTM page on Corydoras Aenus, it says that they will do the T-formation and spawn at 64 degrees after a 40% water change. How do I get the temperature that low without spending $1000 for a chiller? Could I use ice?

Thanks.

question 1

Cories will usual spawn between ages of six month to one year. It depends on the species both C. Aeneus and C. paleatus will at age of one year.

question 2

It is possible for species to form hybrids. I have seen a picture in a book of cross between C. panda and C. maculata. This seldom happens.


question 3

If the species are marked different will see when they reach adult coloration. This takes about three months. The fry normal go through several changes before they have adult coloration. Again it depends on the species.

question 4

My C. aenus spawned two days ago when placed in an unheated tank which had a temp of 68. Skipping water changes for a couple week and doing a big change might trigger them. C. aenus is really of the easiest cories to spawn. Especially if they are tank raised. You don't need a chiller. Do you have a room in the house of apartment that is naturally colder in the winter time?

good luck,

Scott

Do you have a room in the house of apartment that is naturally colder in the winter time?

My fishroom is in the basement, which is naturally cooler than the rest of the house.

to get the water temp down... do a cold water change with aged water.. i use aged water i put in the fridge

Hi!

Regarding Question 3: in case of spawning in a community Corydoras tanks ( housing 2 or more species) I would not take the eggs away unless I have seen who has spawn with who...
The best solution is to set-up a small (10gal) breeding tank and place a pair or trio of one of the species and attempt to have them to spawn in this tank....

Cheers
Yann

The age that Corys mature is not really measurable in a time scale, when they reach sexual maturity can vary within the same population depending on the conditions they are kept in. When you can recognose the sexes they are old enough to breed.

C. aeneus do not necessary need to have the temperature reduced down to 64 F to breed, in fact they will spawn anywhere from that up to 80 +. The way to trigger a spawning would be to give them a large water change using water 10 to 15 degrees F colder to replace what you have removed. The drop in temperature is short lived and the tanks temperature will return to normal within a few hours, but its the temperature drop that counts. Sometimes it only need a normal water change that does the trick.

Depending on the species you have, but if you have both sexes of these species you should not get any crossbreeding, most cross breding occurs when there is only a single member of a species in the company of others.

Ian