MY DELIGHTFUL CORYDORUS CATS
by: WILMA DUNCAN
(Corydorus Anenus)

I love these little creatures and recommend them to any one who has an aquarium. Not only
are they cute, but they possess a character all to themselves. Each species presents an unusual
flair for winning your heart and they are great for stirring up debris in your tank. I began
keeping Cory Cats when I purchased my first 4 years ago. As I stumbled through this hobby,
little did I know what a profound effect they would have on me.

The first two cories I purchased did so well and somehow managed to survive my many
blunders, as I began my journey into this hobby. As they grew, I found 4 more and they
completed my group of Corydorus Anenus. They were housed in a 10 gallon set-up, with a
undergravel filter and a cheap hang on power filter. Also, in the tank were a couple of mollies
and 10 bloodfin tetras.

In April I did a large water change, fed them, and turned off the lights. The next morning I left
early to make my rounds at the local flea market. Upon returning home, I discovered white
transparent eggs on the glass and my few Amazon Sword plants. I screamed at my husband
(yes- screamed) to come look at what I saw. He just starred at me as if I was losing my mind,
as I pointed to the eggs. I quickly removed all the fish, turned off the power filter and rushed
to the nearest local fish store, 30 miles away, for another tank and shrimp eggs.

My computer had led me into the realm of fishkeeping and information on egg-layers, but did
nothing to prepare me for this excitement. I followed the directions for hatching the baby brine
shrimp and spent the rest of the time with my nose pressed to the tank, hoping to see a glimpse
of a wiggle. Twenty-four hours passed with no sign of any fry. Some of the eggs had turned
snow white but many looked as if something had broken free. I would later learn that the white
eggs had not been fertilized by the male and the eggs had fungus. After a couple of days, as I
was staring into the tank, I saw something dart across the gravel. It was too small for me to see
what it was. Within a week, I saw several wiggles across the tank and after putting in a small
amount of live brine shrimp, there were many more.

One morning, as I was watching the Cory fry, I spotted something hanging on the glass of the
tank about half way up. What could this be? Surely not Cory fry. They would be on the
bottom of the tank, not sticking midway up the glass. If these were fry, they had to be from
the bloodfin tetras, they were way too small to be Mollie fry. They just had to be tetra fry, but
how was this possible? I grabbed my magnifying glass, but all that was visible was 2 eyes and a
body that resembled a sliver of glass. As I continued to probe the tank, I saw more fry hanging
on the glass. I decided to feed the fry a powdered egglayer food that I had purchased at the
LFS. (local fish store). Within a couple of weeks I counted 15 bloodline tetra fry swimming on
top of the tank water and several Cory fry on the bottom. The tetras must have spawned at the
same time as the corys. I pondered on the tetra fry, how would these tiny creatures survive my
inexperience at fishkeeping.

I searched and found several good articles on caring for tetra fry. I followed the advice of
several top tetra and cory breeders and soon my fry were growing. One evening, I saw a cory
fry swimming up the undergravel filter tube. I panicked, how was I going to get him out? How
did he get there? Why was he so much bigger than the other fry? I decided to move them into
a plain bare-bottom 10 gallon tank with a sponge filter. I slowly began the task of catching the
small corys in a net, praying I would not harm them. Soon, I had rounded up 65 cory fry.
After settling the corys in their new home, I pondered how I was going to remove the tetra fry.
I decided to use a small clear cup that I had used for feeding live brine shrimp. This worked
wonderfully. Soon I had 11 bloodfin tetra fry added to the cory tank. Only one problem
remained. How was I going to get that larger tetra fry?

I decided I would have to drain the water from the tank, leaving a couple of inches. Then
somehow, remove the undergravel plate, without harming the cory fry. I began
to lift the plate slowly, hoping the remaining gravel would not fall on the cory and kill or hurt it.
I got the plate out and could not believe all the debris I found. Soon, I saw the large cory and
two more. How long had they been there? Certainly from their size they were not of the new
cories. I managed to catch them and place these with their parents. Just as I was about to pour
out the rest of the water , I saw another fry, only this one had something wrong with it. It
could not swim well. I managed to get it into my clear cup and I saw what had happened. It
had spent it's life under the filter, crowded, unable to grow properly, resulting in a bent body.

Since that day, I have never used an undergravel filter or recommened it to anyone. My fry
continue to grow and many have been given to friends. The bloodfin tetras grew and I
managed to raise eleven. I lost the original parents years later to a nitrite spike in one of my
many tanks. I do have one left from them. This story doesn't end here: it goes on as I pursue
my dream of having many species of these delightful cory cats.
EMAIL: thecause.cause@yahoo.com
Copyright@2007 WD