Elegant Cory

Scientific Name	Corydoras elegans Steindachner, 1876...
Common Name(s)	Elegant Cory
Type Locality	Amazon R. at Tefé, Amazonas, Brazil.
Pronunciation	Kory DOOR ass - ELL ee ganz
Etymology	Cory = helmet, doras = skin. In this case it was incorrectly used to mean armour (cuirasse) instead of skin in allusion to the dual rows of plates that run along the flanks of this genus. From the Latin, elegans meaning tasteful, fine.
Species Information
Size	55mm (2.2") SL ...
Identification	Corydoras are identified by their twin rows of armour plates along the flanks and by having fewer than 10 dorsal fin rays. They are most commonly confused with the other genera in the sub-family, namely Brochis, Scleromystax and Aspidoras. A very variable species not made easier to identify by the difference in colouration of mature males and females. Similar to C. napoensis, C. nanus and C. pestai, C. undulatus and a few variations therein.
Sexing	... the male is smaller, less high bodied, slender and more strikingly patterned.

For more information on the Elegant cory, click here.

Corydoras Panda

Scientific Name	Corydoras panda Nijssen & Isbrücker, 1971.
Common Name(s)	Panda Cory
Type Locality	Aquas Amarillas, trib. of Río Pachitea, Río Ucayali system, Huanuco, Peru.
Pronunciation	Kory DOOR ass - PANN dah
Etymology	Cory = helmet, doras = skin. In this case it was incorrectly used to mean armour (cuirasse) instead of skin in allusion to the dual rows of plates that run along the flanks of this genus. Panda in allusion to the Chinese mammal.

For more information on this cory, click here.

Corydoras Trilineatus

Scientific Name	Corydoras trilineatus Cope, 1872
Common Name(s)	Leopard Cory
Type Locality	Tributary of Río Ambyiacu, Peru.
Synonym(s)	Corydoras dubius, C. episcopi
Pronunciation	Kory DOOR ass - try lin knee ah tuss
Etymology	Cory = helmet, doras = skin. In this case it was incorrectly used to mean armour (cuirasse) instead of skin in allusion to the dual rows of plates that run along the flanks of this genus. From the Latin Tres meaning three and lineatus meaning 'of a line'. Alludes to the two pale and single black line running along the fishes body.

For more info on this cory, click here.

Corydoras Haraldschultzi

Scientific Name	Corydoras haraldschultzi Knaack, 1962.
Common Name(s)	Schultz's Cory
Type Locality	Rio Guaporé, Brazil.
Pronunciation	Kory DOOR ass - harald SHOOLTS eye
Etymology	Cory = helmet, doras = skin. In this case it was incorrectly used to mean armour (cuirasse) instead of skin in allusion to the dual rows of plates that run along the flanks of this genus. Named to honour Mr. Harald Schultz.

For more information on this cory, click here.

Corydoras Caudimaculatus

Scientific Name	Corydoras caudimaculatus Rössel, 1961
Common Name(s)	Tail Spot Cory
Type Locality	Main stream of upper Rio Guaporé, Rondônia, Brazil.
Pronunciation	Kory DOOR ass - caw dee mack ewe LATT uss
Etymology	Cory = helmet, doras = skin. In this case it was incorrectly used to mean armour (cuirasse) instead of skin in allusion to the dual rows of plates that run along the flanks of this genus. This specific epithet refers to its tail(caudus=tail) spot(maculatus=stained or spotted).

Read more on this cory from PlanetCatfish.

New Project

I am setting up a new home tank for my corydoras. The 12in high 75 gallon tank and wooden cabinet stand will be arriving on Tuesday but I have already started buying the fixtures. I got the sponge filter a few weeks earlier and today, we went to Cartimar to buy gravel, a new net, and a new air pump.

This is going to be a planted tank and I plan to build it slowly but surely. It will be gorgeous. My corys will love it.

Excited!

Save the cheerleader, save the dolphins

Fourteen thousand dolphins are killed in Japan every year. The manner of killing is barbaric. I learned about this sad fact, because Hayden Panettiere went to Japan to try to save a group of pilot whales from slaughter. msnbc wrote "As a spokesperson for SaveTheWhalesAgain.org, Panettiere hopes her traumatic ordeal will help raise awareness. 'We all crossed our fingers that those whales didn’t die in vain,' she concluded."

While it is not fair to condemn an entire country or a condemn an entire people for the actions of a few, or even the actions of the majority, the rational mind has it limits, and 14,000 Dolphins is past mine. I do condemn.

"Whales and dolphins are traditionally used (as resources) in Japan," said Hideki Moronuki of the Japanese Fisheries Agency. "In this light, we cannot accept an argument simply based on emotional causes."

I am angry, and angry people are not rational ones. I just lost my taste for anything Japanese, their cars, their foods, their clothes... everything with "Made in Japan" stamped on it. I will do my best, to give Ms. Moronuki, more than "emotional causes" to change her mind.

Next time someone ask me to eat at a Japanese Restaurant, I will just have to say, "I am sorry I do not eat Japanese food. They kill dolphins." Besides, all the blood killed my appetite.

Photo from SaveTheWhalesAgain.org

- by Robin Lim (reproduced from mobilityph.blogspot.com)

Corydoras Panda

"I see you."

Corydoras, famous for their fully movable eye sockets, are known to wink at their owners. In the picture above, the Panda on the left has its left eye looking directly at the camera while its right eye remains fixed to its right.

Panda Corydoras are widely available in the Philippines. They seem to like the tropical weather as I have had no problems with diseases despite a lot of feedback from foreign forums characterizing the panda cory sensitive and prone to diseases. They sell for Php50-Php70.

Brochis Splendens

Common Name(s)	Common Brochis, Emerald Catfish
Type Locality	Rio Tocantins, Brazil.
Synonym(s)	Brochis coeruleus, B. dipterus, Callichthys splendens, C. taiosh, Chaenothorax bicarinatus, C. eigenmanni, Corydoras semiscutatus
Pronunciation	BROK iss - SPLEN denz
Etymology	Brochis: From the Greek brochis, meaning inkhorn; in reference to the resemblance of the fish to one.

For the rest of this info click this link.

Zygatus Corydoras

Type Locality	Río Hallagua system, Yurimaguas (5°54'S, 76°04'W), Loreto, Peru.
Pronunciation	Kory DOOR ass - z eye GAT uss
Etymology	Cory = helmet, doras = skin. In this case it was incorrectly used to mean armour (cuirasse) instead of skin in allusion to the dual rows of plates that run along the flanks of this genus. Zygatus from the Greek zygados: team, pair. On the similarity with Corydoras rabauti

For the rest of this info, click on this link.

New Fish for 2007

Got me some new fish today:

4 Apistogramma Borelli (Php120)
3 Apistogramma Cacatoides (Php140)
3 Brochis Splendens (Php350)
3 Corydoras Zygatus (Php350)

Pics soon!

Kribensis Cichlids

I am planning to set up a planted 50gal tank with kribs and corydoras paleatus. Corys generally go well with dwarf cichlids, but I am not too sure with kribs, which are African, unlike most dwarfs that are found in South America. I hope it goes well though because I found some very nice specimens of kribs at a local petshop and couldn't help getting myself some.

Article: Starting with Corydoras

From www.scotcat.com:

Starting with Corydoras

Ian Fuller

ver the years I have been asked many questions about keeping and breeding Corydoras Catfish, by people that would like to start keeping them and others that have them but would like to try and breed them. The ten most popular questions I have listed below. The answers I have given to these questions are based on the many years of experience I have gained with keeping and breeding these wonderful little fishes, and are meant as a guide rather than the rule.

Questions.
1. How big do they get? 2. How should I set up a tank for them? 3. How many can I put in my tank? 4. What species are best to start with and how expensive are they? 5. Where are the best places to get them from? 6. What should I look for when buying? 7. What do they eat? 8. How can I sex them? 9. Can I breed them? 10. How many species are there?

Answers click here.

An Inventory

Here's what I've got so far (Updated on May 15, 2007):
Zygatus
Brochis Splendens
Paleatus
Panda
Aneneus (longfin)
Trilineatus
Sterbai
Arcuatus
Haraldschultzi
Caudimaculatus
Schwartzi
Elegans
Leucomelas
Ambiacus
Sodalis
Similis

Some of them are not easy to find in the shops. If you need help finding these little gems just leave a message for me in the comment box. Ciao!

Feeding Time!

Watching corydoras eat can be very entertaining...

What's new: Flickr Badge and Trils

Here's a neat pic of some of my exotic corys. They seem to like staying side by side as I often see them that way. That's a good thing about corys, they are not territorial and they love company.

Anywho, check out my flickr badge at the links column. I am so amused by this. Clicking on it will bring you to my flickr account where I post all my photos.

On the topic of corys, I saw some giant trils at metro petshop in cartimar a few days ago. Price is around 700 pesos. Angel's also got new stock of trils, the regular sized ones. They're a lot cheaper and if you're patient enough, they would grow into the 700 pesos sized ones. There are also some more sodalis left in metro plus the tank regular aeneus cory (bronze long and short fin and albino).

Haraldschultzi

These are gorgeous corys. They look somewhat like sterbai with their "golden arms" but they are bigger and have long snouts. Also, notice that whereas the Sterbai color scheme is white-on-black, Haraldschultzi is black-on-white. I got these corys from a dealer friend, I haven't seen them in any shop though.

More Eggs In the Cube

There are a few more eggs from the paleatus tank today and two from the panda tank last night. That pushes my egg count to 63. Today is day two for the first batch of eggs.

Betta Fry

Robin "imposed" two pairs of bettas on me for breeding. Since he figured I had nothing much to do with my free time. (Nevermind the waterchanges for one 42gal tank, five 15gal tanks, two 20gal tanks, one five gallon tank, seven 2.5gal tanks, and not counting the hospital tank and a couple of one gallon tanks.) Anyway, the first pair didn't yield a successful spawn. But the pair I put in last friday did. I took out the female sunday night when I noticed tiny black dots on the surface thinking they were fertile eggs. There was no bubblenest by the way so I thought it was a bust. But come monday morning, I saw very tiny fry swimming about near the surface. I started feeding them eggyolk which I did thrice a day. I kept the father in the tank to find out how he'd raise the fry as how male bettas normally would in the wild. I'd see him gather fry in his mouth when I drop food in the tank. I'm going on faith here that he ain't eating them. I'm planning three simultaneous spawns next and I'm thinking of separating the father just to see how that goes as well. Hopefully when I get the hang of this I'd be able to breed the bettas like clockwork.

Panda Fry

Yesterday, I decided to overhaul the 15gal breeding tank that housed 8 C. Pandas. The plan was to transfer the 8 pandas to the 20gal that housed the 5 other c. pandas, rid the 15gal of snails and move in a trilineatus breeding set there. But while I was pulling out the plants from the 15gal, I noticed about 5 tiny panda fry about three weeks old dashing about the tank. It was a pleasant surprise considering I never saw eggs being laid in that tank. After a long debate with myself, I decided to put back the breeding set in the 15gal. They seem to multiply pretty well there on their own. I didn't want to mess up their little community.

Later on, I saw a tiny transparent shrimp in the tank where I put the plants temporarily. Amazing what can trhive in an extablished tank.