Corydoras sp. CW21
By Eric Bodrock
In May of 2008, my better half Regina and I had the fortune to spend twelve days in Germany at Ingo Seidel’s home. We traveled over with our good friend Stephan Tanner, of Swiss Tropicals (www.swisstropicals.com) of Columbus Ohio. Not only did we stay at Ingo’s place, but Regina and I actually slept in his fishroom. Ingo’s fishroom isn’t exactly like what many of us here in the USA think of as a fishroom; Ingo rents a small storefront across the street from his apartment! About twenty tanks, along with a bathroom, refrigerator and bed…now that is a fishroom!
While spending many hours admiring his fish, I couldn’t help but notice a group of great looking adult Corydoras CW21 swimming about with their offspring of all sizes! They are an undescribed specie of Corydoras, which resembles the more commonly seen C. axelrodi. Imagine how excited I was when Ingo told me to take some fry home when I go! I took him up on the offer and netted a group of eight or so before we left. The little guys traveled well and made it back home to our place without any problems.
The young fish ranged in size from 3/8” to 1/2” in total length. Feeding was no problem as they accepted anything that was offered to them. Growth is quick with these guys, reaching their sexual maturity and adult size of 1 3/4” in only a year.
Much to my surprise, on January 27, 2009, two days after a 50% water change, I found a scattering of about 40 eggs in the ten gallon tank they were housed in to grow out. At the time of finding the eggs, the pH was 5.8, temperature 70°F and the TDS was 218 ppm. Water changes were being done about every 8-9 days, using R/O water with a small about of Marc Weiss Companies ‘Instant Amazon’ added. I removed the eggs into two separate hatching containers. They hatched in three days, and started to feed a couple of days later. I’d guess about 60-65% of the eggs hatched….not bad for a first time spawn. Sponge scrunge and APR were the first foods added, with Microworms added a few days later. Live baby brine after a week, along with finely crushed flake food.
At thirty days old, they reached 8-9 mm in total length and looked nothing like the adults! By day sixty two, at 12 mm, they start to look a lot like the adults..man are they cute!
They have continued to spawn but with no regularity. They are housed with a group of adult Corydoras habrosus, which have not spawned. I find that rather odd, since often when there is an active spawning group in a tank, it will trigger other species to spawn. I’ve stepped up their diet to include more live foods such as Daphnia and glassworms to go along with their mainstay of live blackworms, frozen bloodworms and dry foods in hopes of getting spawns that are more frequent. I would love to get these guys going good and get them distributed in the USA. As of now, not many hobbyists here have had or have seen them in the hobby. As I think about too, maybe they will produce better as they mature….only time will tell!
Eric Bodrock, April 2009
Editors note: Marc Weiss Companies. Inc., makers of the Instant Amazon that is mentioned in the article, is one of the clubs more generous sponsors. More info about their products can be found at www.MarcWeissCo.com