Corydoras aeneus
(Gill, 1858) |
his Corydoras is usually the first
one kept by aquarists and subsequently leads them into the fantastic
world of catfishes. Many new exiting colour varieties are beginning
to appear in the hobby mostly from Venezuela, these include the
“Peru Green-Stripe”, the “Peru Gold-Stripe”
and the “Peru Gold-Shoulder Red”, there is also a black
variety, it may be in the future that these fish will be reclassified
into a new species, only time will tell.
In the early days of the modern hobby this
Cory along with Corydoras paleatus, the 'Peppered Cory' were
the main diet of catfish enthusiasts as there was not much call
for importing exotic species as keeping catfish was not as popular
as it is today, and with the world opening up with faster trade
routes and the growing popularity for catfish, and indeed other
exotic species, we have today hobbyists themselves who go and collect
these species and bring them back to their own tanks.
This Corydoras is abundant in the hobby mainly due to their breeding
in fish farms in the Far East and I think that this has given us
a poor representation of aenus in the aquatic shops today.
You can still find good specimens but you will have to shop around
and of course fish auctions can throw up a surprise or two. The
albino variety is also very popular with first time hobbyists. This
is probably why the serious Cory enthusiast tends to overlook this
species which has been with us for so long.
If starting off with
this species buy at least half-a-dozen as with most Cory's they
are happier in there own company, and with the comparatively low
price of aeneus ( apart from the new varieties) it would
certainly not break the bank, and you could end up of course with
at least a pair of these hardy Cory's.
Breeding is comparatively easy with cool water changes
that lowers the temperature, triggering them off. Feed a good
balanced diet making sure that they get their full quota of food
if kept in a community tank. A good quality flake food provides
all the essential vitamins that they need with extra feedings of
frozen bloodworm, white worm ( sparingly) and tablet food.
The new varieties mentioned earlier are not quite so easy to breed
and need a little more work. In the two following pictures you can
see male and female albino with the eggs laid high up on the glass
front in the full flow of an internal filter. The second photo shows
the fry against a one new pence (U.K.sterling).
Below is a gallery of a few of the new so-called aeneus
varieties, just click on the thumbnail to get a larger image.
| |
Normal bronze;
Photo Credit: C.H.Bishop |
| |
Albino;
Photo Credit: Kathy Marshall |
| |
Gold Form; Photo
Credit: Adrian Payne |
| |
Green Laser; Photo
Credit: Adrian Payne |
| |
Black aeneus;
Photo Credit: Sandy Milne |
Make sure that you keep them in rounded gravel or preferably on
sand as sharp gravel can erode the barbels, making them virtually
useless for breeding, especially on the females. Even if you do
keep your Cory's on rounded gravel or sand, do keep the substrate
clean as a build up of bacteria there can also harm their delicate
barbels.
Dorsal 1/7; Anal 1/6-7; 21-23 bony scutes
in the upper lateral series, 19-21 in the lower.
Colouration uniform yellow-brown to delicate
reddish-brown with a strong metalic glint on the sides of the head
and body. Sometimes shining green, sometimes coppery or, in sunlight,
golden. The colouration along the middle of the flanks is substantially
darker.
Will do well in a community setup with smaller
tankmates such as Rasboras and Tetra's. Do not house with aggressive
species or large Cichlids.
Like to lay their eggs (300 or more) in the
direct flow of a filter usually high up on the glass where the flow
strikes. Eggs will hatch in 3 to 4 days and will use up their yolksac
after 3 days. I did find that the C.aeneus 'albino' fry are
a little more difficult to raise to adulthood, than some other Cory's,
so keep the water changes up. (See image of spawning sequel with
the eggs high on glass in the flow of internal filter and the fry
in a small plastic holding tank.)
The fry after 3 days feed on infusoria then
on to microworm, fry flake, then progress on to Brine Shrimp naupli.
Adults can be fed the usual good quality flake food, frozen bloodworm,
tablet foods, white and grindal worms.
| Etymology |
Corydoras:
Cory = helmeted;
doras = leathery skin,(helmeted
Doras) cuirass.
aeneus: Bronze.
|
| References |
Sterba's Freshwater
fishes of the World Vol.1 1973
Top: C.H.Bishop
Bottom: 
|
|
|
| Synonyms:
|
| Corydoras
schultzei, C.macrosteus, C.venezuelanus, C.microps,
Hoplosoma aeneum. |
| Common
Name: |
| Bronze
Cory |
| Family: |
| Callichthyidae |
| Subfamily: |
| Corydoradinae
|
| Distribution: |
Brazil
Ecuador
Surinam
Venezuela
Colombia
 Peru
Trinidad
 Argentina,
northern |
| Size: |
| Male : 6.5cm, Female : 7.0cm |
| Temp: |
| 20-27°C (67-81°F)
|
| pH.: |
| 6.5-7.2. |
| Donation: |
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