Corydora Question

[Genesis]

Ive got one Albino Bronze Corydora, why does he/she keep bolting to the top of teh tank for air every 2 to 3 minutes?

please reply

'genesis

 

[Genesis]

 

[demonmagus]

they breath air a bit to help with breathing. Not so much as bettas or other labrinyth (s.p?) fish.

Also they prefer being in groups, this has nothing to do with the dashing up to get air question but...

 

[timmystood]

All my corys do it. Perfectly normal - they will settle down.
However, you need more than just 1 cory.

 

[Genesis]

yes, ive recently purchased a 50gallon tank, i will be adding 2 more corys as buddys

 

[love_fish]

Corys prefer to be in groups of six or more. So you prolly will have room in a 55 gallon for at least 6 right?

 

[shuttlechamp]

when i first introduced mine they did that, but then they settled down. no worries

 

[Inchworm]

Hi 'genesis

What you are seeing is an adaptation that corys have to enable them to get additional oxygen when their native rivers become muddy. They are actually taking gulps of air and swallowing them. The oxygen is absorbed into their system in their intestines.

This is just fine as long as it doesn't continuously happen. It's like humans yawn if they are in a stuffy room to get a bit more oxygen. If it persists, you might want to give your water parameters a check and see if the surface of the water is moving so that it refreshes the oxygen in the water.

 

[Genesis]

thanks inchworm, i was searching through my dad's things in the garage and found an old air pump, i rigged this up with some plastic tubing and purchased an 6" air stone, the cory (Jason) is now doing this much less frequently, thanks again for the info