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.

Reviving Melander's Aquarium

Melander's Aquarium has been very quite for a long while now but I have decided to try my best to revive the blog.

I'm likely relocating in the future and have therefor had to sell off quite a few of my fishes, luckily I know fishkeeper's in the area and most of them have gotten new, good homes.

There will however be a new beginning, some fishes are kept and new tanks will be set up. I'm planning to write about this but I also have plenty of material from the past that I'm planning to post about. 

Have patience my friends:-)

Andreas

 

 

Happy Pleco

I'm finding less time to update this blog, in the meanwhile please check out the Happy Pleco Facebook page for updates!

https://www.facebook.com/happypleco

Wild Guppy (Brazil) update, Poecilia reticulata

I have beenkeeping this strain of guppies for about a year now. The population is based on four adult pairs and a few fry, all wild caught (Brazil).

The fish are doing very well, I have however had to downsize to two tanks with separate populations of the same strain.

Below is a sample of some of the male offspring, these would be 2nd and 3rd generation fish. 
I'm looking forward to following the development of these fish, perhaps it will be possible to see physical changes by keeping a photographic record.

Corydoras concolor, breeding tank

This is an old favourite of mine.

The tank is not designed for maximum production of Corydoras eggs but rather to be functional and nice to look at, at the same time. I think it's a very good example of how a breeding tank does not have to be bland and boring.

The 72 litre tank runs by a single powerhead with an attached sponge and a 50w Eheim heater. The heater might be the only thing I would have changed if I was reworking this tank. A less visible location would have made the tank look even better.

These are wild caught Corydoras concolor and it took some time before the first spawn occurred but after that the fish spawned regularly usually after water changes had been performed.

The fish are kept at around 24 degrees Celsius, pH of 6.5 and in very soft water. The interior of twigs, plants and moss, especially at higher locations provide perfect spawning material for these fish.

In this tank I do nothing when it comes to rearing the eggs/fry as I am happy with a few young additions to the group. Fry survival could however easily be increased by providing additional hiding spots for the fry such as clay piper, moss etc.. The fishkeeper could also easily remove the spawning material after each spawn and choose to rear the young in a separate tank.
 
Again this is not something for the fishkeeper that wants to produce large amounts of young but it's suitable for people that want to watch breeding behaviour in a nice setting.

I am also of the opinion that this kind of tank lead to quality fry as the young has to compete for food and survive on their own which naturally culls the weak.

Happy Fishkeeping!

 

Short update, away from the fish & new links

This has been awhile, the main reason is that I am currently away from my fish and don't really know what is going on, apart from that they are doing well.

The only fish close to me now are my precious Ancistrus sp., plenty of tetras and a two pairs of Angelfish. Both the Angels and the Ancistrus are spawning but in a community setup I fear that  that very few fry will survive.

I have also added two new links to the site, these are two excellent sites that I have used many times for information so I highly recommend having a look!

Aquafarmen - very interesting Norwegian breeding projects


wildguppies.com - anything you need to know about wild guppies


Melander