Happy St. Patrick's Day Felllow Fishkeepers!

Breeding Report Corydoras concolor, Slate Cory

This is one of my absolute favorites and a much underrated species. The fish available in the shops are often juveniles that are not that impressive to look at, mainly due to their greyish coulour.
This drastically changes as the animals mature and adults are among the most impressive Corydoras there is.

Like with most Corydoras the females grow rounder than the males, this is however a very robust species in general so even the males have a heavy look to them. Both sexes grow an extended dorsal fin but the dorsal fin of the males grew to a very impressive length.

I acquired these fish in May 2013 from Artane Aquatics as wild caught juveniles, I also later added a few individuals from a second supplier.

The fish were kept in a 60x40x30cm grow out tank with fine sand, plenty of twigs and moss. An air driven sponge filter as well as a sponge filter driven by a power head was used, the current was in places of medium strength.

The diet consisted of live foods such as mosquito larva and white worms but also dry foods such as catfish pellets and flakes, the fish grew very well.

Weekly water changes using slightly colder water were made of about 20% of the total volume, this might have triggered the intitial spawn. It should also be noted that breeding activity intensified as live foods were offered on a regular basis.
  
The first spawning took place nearly exactly a year after the purchase, the reading were as follows:

Temp: 24-25°C
pH: 7
Hardness: 30-40 ppm

The fish scatter their eggs and they can either be collected and raised in a breeding box or left in with the parents as quite a few seem to survive in their presence.

For the first spawns I collected the eggs and raised the young using fine flakes, brine shrimp, micro worms and mosquito larva. After the initial spawn the adults continued to breed on a regular basis and I stopped collecting eggs. There were still quite a few survivors appearing now and then.

I personally try to keep plenty of moss and dried oak leaves with my fry as these provide both shelter and micro organisms for fry to feed on.

The group was later moved to a community setting containing guppies, tetras and also other bottom dwellers such as Hypancistrus and Ancistrus species. Even in this setting there were juvenile Corydoras concolor appearing on a regular basis.