Corydoras paleatus

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iCorydoras paleatus

Corydoras paleatus

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Siluriformes
Family:	Callichthyidae
Subfamily:	Corydoradinae
Genus:	Corydoras
Species:	C. paleatus

Binomial name

Corydoras paleatus

Corydoras paleatus is a common variety of the Corydoras genus of catfish. Its common name is peppered cat, pepper cory or salt & pepper cory.

It is a very good choice for the community aquarium, as it is a hardy, good looking, and peaceful fish. it is sometimes seen in the shops as an albino form, although this is similar to other albino corys. it grows to around 7.5cm, and is easily bred at home.

Size: Females up to 7.5 cm, males are 6.5 cm

Origin: Northern Argentina, South America

Discovered by: Charles Darwin on his famous five year voyage on the Beagle in 1831-36.

[edit] In the aquarium

Most importantly: These fish have sensitive barbels and you need to have the proper substrate for them. To keep their barbels (whiskers) in the best condition you need to use fine gravel that looks like coarse salt. This is available in white and brown, both look good. Beware that fry are difficult to spot on the brown gravel. Gravel with sharp edges will cut their barbels (until they are gone). They need their barbels to help them find food and stay healthy.

These fish prefer a planted tank and like to nibble on the algae that grows on floating plants. The lighting must not be too bright and you need to set up hiding places for them as they like to hide from the light during certain parts of the day.

They can be successfully kept with other small, peaceful aquarium fish like live bearers, danios and tetras.

They like to play in the current, so using a filter than creates current has three functions: improved circulation of the water, better filtration and a play area for your fish!

[edit] Spawning & Raising the fry

I have observed that these fish spawn shortly after their morning feeding.

The males initiate the courtship ritual, which entails them chasing the females around the tank. I have never seen a cory swim as fast as when a female is being chased by a group of males.

The female darts away and the males search for her and find her a few moments later. The males shiver all over the female and may lie down on top of her. When she is ready to spawn she turns to the male next to her and pounds furiously below his ventral fin. The male releases his seed and the female catches it in her mouth.

The female cups her ventral fins and lays a few eggs (normally about) 4 in them. She now starts cleaning a spot on the glass to lays her eggs on. Corydoras are egg scatterers and lay their eggs all over the aquarium. Favourite spots include the heater, filter tubes and the glass. Although sometimes eggs are also laid on plants.

After depositing a group of eggs closely together, the female rests for a few moments. The males regroup and start chasing each other and then resume chasing the female. The males are so relentless in their pursuit that they try to mate with the female even while she is busy laying her eggs.

The spawning lasts more than an hour and many eggs are laid. My first spawn had around 50 eggs, the second had almost 200 eggs (the Cories spawned over a period of two days).

When I first started breeding Corydoras I would transfer the parents to a different tank and allow the eggs to hatch in the tank they where laid in.

What I do now is much easier. On the evening of the spawning I gently scratch the eggs off the glass and into the cap of a food bottle using my nails. Corydoras eggs are quite sticky and are robust enough to survive this. After two days the eggs harden and it is much more difficult to move them.

Sometimes I have a lower hatch rate by doing it this way, however, Corydoras lay enough eggs for this not to be a problem.

Large water changes are the order of the day for the fry tanks.

I have a thin layer of fine gravel and a sponge filter in my fry tank. Eggs are placed in a fry saver where they hatch after about 7 days, they spend a week in the net and are then siphoned into the tank. Growth rates are very slow if not feeding with live food.