Breeding Cories

[Chaos553]

I was talking about this in another thread I posted that was completely off topic, so I'll start it up here. What are a few pointers that I can use to help breed my cories? Also, do most cories interbreed, like Peppereds and greens, or albinos and peppereds etc. Thanks in advance

[Corydora_FREAK]

Well my good sir, i am going to kinda repeat what i said earlier, but better..
Breeding Corydoras is rewarding and fun, but presents challenges. First obviously you need to get males and females, unless you have a trained eye this can be trickier than thought. It is highly recommended that you get get 3:1 ratio of males to females. Males are the first and easiest to emit spawning behavior. Now i recommend setting up a tank specifically for breeding these fish, it will increase your chances for success greatly. For the spawning tank get at LEAST 10 gallons, the bigger the better but i don't recommend over 55 gallons. Next make sure you filtration is excellent, they need crystal clear water and clean. Sand or no substrate will work, but i have only used sand for breeding. Heavily planted with live plants or fake, and use caves or wood for cover. Leave some spaces open and clear, this is where they will initiate spawning behavior. You will need to let them settle into their new love pad for at least a week, then you will need to start condition feeding them. Live black worms are best, but you might be able to to it off live brine shrimp or freeze dried brine shrimp. Make sure to double their feeding schedule with these new foods, but make sure to alternate foods and not to foul the water. Fouling the water will ruin the whole process, if your corydoras like the food and are becoming conditioned for breeding, which can take varied times, then you will notice the females are going to look rather fat in the abdomen area, these are eggs. Then you will need to initiate spawining, the Corydoras spawn in the food rich rainy season in the amazon, (hence the extra feeding) and you will need to do a 25 to 30% water change with a water replacement temperature change of 4 to 6 degrees lower to recreate the influx of colder waters brought by the rain. Do this crucial step at night so they will spawn at night. If you have done everything right this should initiate spawining, still they might not despite everything seemingly perfect. Good luck with your spawning!

[Chaos553]

that was a very good explanation, and im glad you straightened a few things up i plan on using a 10g since its already up, and for now i have a slate rock cave, an amazon centerpiece, a small anubias plant, and an unknown plant that i wasnt told the name of when i purchased it. ill take my 5 gupps out sometime soon, run to home depot to pick up some 'play sand' and change the gravel to sand. right now it runs a box filter, but i plan on doing daily water changes to induce spawning and keep the cories happy. i plan on coniditoning them with freeze dried brine shrimp and blood worms, switching occasionally. will spirulina discs work as well since i might drop a few in at night. thats my plan for now, let me know if i need changes.

[Corydora_FREAK]

I never used spirunia disks, and how are you going to get the freeze dried brine to sink? I used sinking catfish pellets and they seem to help, but live food is by far the best.

[Chaos553]

oh im sorry, they are frozen, not freeze dried. they sink pretty nicely =P

would shrimp pellets also work?

[Apotheosis]

Live food would certainly work best in getting them to breed.

I found this off a website:

"A lowering of temperature and barometric pressure, when done in conjunction with water changes, may very well induce spawning. Another trick is the feeding of live foods, especially Tubifex and finely chopped earthworms. Two or three males to one female seem to be the optimal rate for successful spawning.

Males will pursue the females until they show interest. The female(s) will then clean surfaces (mostly plant surfaces and the glass sides of the tank). There is then more courtship -- the male rubs against the female and touches her head with his barbels. Finally, they start the classic "T-position" during vibrations, which dislodge some eggs into the basket, which the female has made with her ventral fins. They're then fertilized and the female places them throughout the aquarium. There is a quick rest and then the males advance on the females once again. This continues for a few hours (two to three, usually) and the female deposits between 100 to 300 eggs.

The parents do not disturb the eggs or fry if well fed, but they might be removed after the spawning so that the fry can be reared separately from their parents. The eggs darken over their five to six day incubatory period. Finally the wrigglers emerge and feed on infusoria for a little while. Supplemental feedings may start within the first week and advancement to fry foods for egg-layers should occur at the end of their first week."

I imagine the hardest part won't be getting them to breed...hatching and raising healthy fry will be tougher.

[doggydad38]

Another thing to consider is that some cories like soft water. Planetcatfish.com and fishprofiles.com have a lot of useful information. Bronze and Peppered Cories have been around for so long that they no longer have spawning seasons. They will spawn year-round with little prompting. Many species are still wild caught and are difficult at best to get to spawn. A friend of mine had a pair of Napoensis Cories that refused to co-operate. He tried everything that he read to spawn these guys. His favorite line was, "I guess they didn't read the book." One of the guys in our aquarium society gave him another technique that worked. He had some Panda Cories spawning in a tank so he put the Napos in with them. Within 5 days, the Napos spawned. It is believed that the pheromones in the water from the Pandas put the others in to the mood. Use the methods that most simulate the natural process. If it doesn't work, you can always us more unconventional techniques. Good luck and keep us posted.
Tony