Corydoras Leucomelas

[Starfishpower]

im pretty sure this is the kind of cory iv got. i read the index profile on taking care of them but it was a little lacking. i need to know how many more i should get to make him (or her, idk) happy. iv had him for atleast a month now and he seems ok. lost a little colour when i brought him home and hasnt regained it but seems to be in good spirits. fidgets a bit like he wants to play or something and then stops when he realizes there is no one to play with. (he does end up sitting on top of my banjo catfish, i think its kinda cute cause it looks like hes trying to make friends... though the banjo isnt much of a friend since hes highly inactive and all during day light hours lol) what id like to know is what kind of a diet is good (does it need to vary from time to time or are sinking cory cat pellets a decent staple), what water paramaters need to met, the complete spectrum please, i want to cover all my bases and know im not screwing up. any information can help even if its not everything i need to know. thanks and ill try and get a pic up.

 

[jollysue]

Congratulations, starfishpower! He does look nice and healthy. Very nice barbells.

He is one of the spotted Corys. The fins are a little in the dark to see well, so it is hard to be sure of an id. I am seldom sure anyway! LOL

Corys are party animals: the more the merrier. I always try for 6. That way I will most likely have at least 5 if there is a mishap. They can be mixed species, but like the company of their own species.

They are easily intimidated and stressed by aggressive or overly territorial tank mates. In those cases they need lots of cover and will not be seen much. They will not play or breed as much if they feel threatened.

Sinking Cory/bottom feeder wafers, tabs and pellets are fine. They will appreciate a treat occasionally of live, frozen or even freeze dried bloodworms etc.

Corys are for the most part a river fish. So they like strong currents and fresh clean oxygenated water. While salt can be used as an occasional tonic or medical treatment, it sould be changed out and not used consistently.

75 degrees is usually acceptable with most Cory species. Some like it lower and some higher. I don't have my chart here and am iffy on the C. leucomelas.

 

[Kuhni]

Possible ID's are C. Delphax or C. Ambiacus. Nice cory nonetheless.

 

[Starfishpower]

ok thanks he's in a 10 gallon right now till i get the money for a bigger one, so i dont think ill be able to get 5 more. ill try for 2 more, thats better than nothing.

 

[Coryman]

without a doubt Corydoras delphax

Ian

 

[jollysue]

Hey! nice to see you two, Coryman and Kuhni. So cool to get some ID folks around and to hear from you both also.

I think he would reallt appreciate 2 friends of the same general behaviors, Starfishpower!

 

[Starfishpower]

i went back to the LFS i got him from today and they no londger carry spotted corys (they called them corydorus paleatus, not sure how accurate that is). so now im looking for other pet stores that have them, if i cant find one, what is another commonly traded species of cory that will make good companions for him? would peppered corys be ok? iv also seen green emerald ( i think) corys, would those be good? they'r a little more expensive and they get a little bigger than the spotteds but if he doesnt mind then i wouldn either (too much)

 

[jollysue]

Emerald Corys/Brochis splendens are a different genus than Corydoras, but will often get on with Corydoras very well. One of my sterbai ladys thinks she is a Brochis splendens from when she was with some in a quarantine tank. I guess I will never separate my splendens and my sterbai while I have her.

I have never had C. delphax, so I cannot say what they get on with. But you can be nearly cerain of Coryman's ID.

It is most definately not a C. paleatus! I am amazed at times at the tags put on fish at the lps. If anything the delphax is a more rare find. If you can ask where they got them, perhaps you can get more or find when they might get some in. Speak to the manager.

Where are you?

 

[Starfishpower]

the manager said they are a discontinued item. im going to try some other petsmarts in the area. i think thats my best bet since i cant order things online. if i cant find any more ill just end up getting some emeralds though id really rather find some other than those. idk why but i just dont like emeralds.... then again i didnt like this guy when i got him (bought to cycle a tank) but now he's grown on me and he's one of my favorites. he has this little personality that you have to watch for t pick up on. he'll roll his eyes, and fidget, lol he's pretty funny. do you know of any other types of corys that might do well with him?

 

[Starfishpower]

ok so i was going to catch my cory and take him up to the pet store to see if they could recognise him and get me some more but now i think im just going to print off a picture of him so he doesnt stress out from such a trip. i do love my little fishy and wouldnt want anything bad to happen to him... or maybe it's a her. here's a better pic for ID purposes. you can see his fins more clearly here than in the first picture.

 

[jollysue]

Lovely fishie! I hope you can find some friends for him/her. I am not familiar with the species, so I am not sure of the gender.

I think using the pic is a really good choice. Even if you can't find another just like yours,you might find some similar so they will get on together better. Physical similarities seem to often help.

 

[Starfishpower]

yep. thats the plan the lfs guy said he would know if he could get them tuesday so im gona call or go back up there then. if he cant i might drive to some of the other lfs that i havent checked cause they're kinda a ways off and i hate driving in that traffic. if those turn up empty (or i might just skip them) ill just settle for some peppered corys. and thank you, he is a lovely fishy if nothing else though i really would like to get my 55 gallon out of the attic and set up here pretty soon cause right now he's in a ten gallon. though i must say, for all the dirty looks and what nots that iv gotten from ppl about how supposedly bad small tanks are i seem to be doing very well. maybe its just that a little tender loving care goes a long way that and iv been doing a ton of reading on proper fish care. ill keep yall posted on how things go.

 

[jollysue]

He/she has a really lovely snout!

Yes keep in touch.

I have some ten gallon tanks that are in use all the time. They can be overstocked, but they are very useful. The only problem will be if you have to be away, I suppose. It can be easy to overstock them. And they need watching.

 

[Starfishpower]

agreed. trips and vacations can be tricky at times with such a small tank. oh! and while i was at one of the lfs today i saw a fish that looked really interesting. i plan on getting to the store tomarrow when it opens to make sure no one else buys it. i cant figure out what kind it is so, assuming it isnt priced so high i cant afford it, ill try and post pics on here to see what everyone thinks. ill probably make a new thread for it in "other catfish". it seems to be some sort of sucker fish, but it has the oddest fins... if in fact they are fins. nose to tail its about 3" right now and has the apearance ot 2 stingrays sortof on top of each other. its like it has 2 disks for front fins and the bottom one protrudes from behind the top one. its amazing. i cant wait to show everyone on here. i looked it up on catfish planet but couldnt seem to find it. after about the three hundreth picture in the pic catolog i gave up i just hope i can keep it alive. cant believe im breaking my cardinal rule of research before buy but its just so cool. wish me good luck

 

[jollysue]

Luck! And good fortune!