We
had owned a variety of Corydoras for years before we ever
saw them spawn. As it turns out, it isn’t that hard if you
follow a few simple guidelines.
Sexing Corydoras is pretty easy if you have several in
a tank. The females are generally much larger than the males, and
their bellies swell up when they are full of eggs. Although they
will lay eggs on slates, etc, they seem to prefer to lay on the
glass sides of the aquarium. It is best to keep the pair or two
in a separate tank, or the eggs will disappear about as quickly
as they are laid since the beige-colored spheres are so easy to
spot on the glass.
The behavior of the spawning pair is interesting to watch. The male
chases the female, brushing up against her and pushing her belly
with his mouth. They swim around the tank, clean off spaces, and
lay eggs, which are immediately fertilized by the male. Our Corydoras
spawned in pretty hard water with a day/night cycle of 10/14.
The temperature is the key. We kept ours at about 75 degrees F.
That is, until one night when our heater kicked off and it got down
to –60 F wind chill out in Nowheresville, Indiana. The room
we kept fish in dropped to about 50 degrees, and chilled the water
in many a tank. This seemed to inspire our Corydoras, and
they spawned up a storm.
We carefully removed the eggs with a razorblade and placed them
in a 2-gallon tank at 77 degrees F with a few drops of methylene
blue and a slow bubbler. The eggs hatched in about 3 days, and the
fry look like miniature adults. They ate baby brine shrimp right
away. Corydoras are easy to keep and fun to spawn. They
are a great beginner fish, and are extra-adorable as fry! Good Luck!
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