Corydoras paleatus

By Joseph Huisman

The Paleatus Corydoras is found in the rivers and streams around Buenos Aires and also Montevideo.  This Cory will attain a length of about 6 cm.  The appearance of this fish is noted for having blotchy patches along the lateral line and along the back.  The basic colors are grey to brown-beige with a noticeable metallic blue-green shimmer.  This Cory will spawn quite easily, much like the C. aeneus Cory’s.  There is no problem with spawning, or raising the fry. This is a good Cory for the first time Cory spawner.  There is not much that can go wrong.  The price of the fish shows this.  They run about $2.00 - $4.00 at most fish stores.  They are a common Cory found at many places.  The fish I have, I bought down in Chicago at a GCCA auction last March 2001.  They were young fish, about 4 months old.  The Paleatus Corydoras grow fast if given the right care.

Spawning Information: The first time I spawned these fish they were in a 20 gallon high with about 35 Albino Ancistrus Pleco’s. I did not plan to spawn these fish at this time.  I did not think they were old enough to spawn. Therefore, the size of the spawn was small.  There was about 40 eggs. The normal for a full-grown fish is 100 – 300 eggs per spawn.  I spawned these fish later in a 10-gallon tank and in a 5-gallon tank.  When these fish get larger, they will need at least a 10-gallon tank to spawn.  The tank does not have a heater in it.  I have a sponge filter with an air stone in the tank.  The fish were fed Freeze Dried Tubifex Worms every day and they receive Baby Brine at least twice a week.  After they spawn I remove the 50 eggs and place them small container.  I place a fungicide in the container with the eggs to stop the eggs from getting fungus on them.  I also put an air stone in the container to keep the water moving over the eggs.  After 2 or 3 days, the eggs start to hatch.  This is a short time for Cory eggs to hatch.  Most Cory’s are a minimum of 3 – 4 days.  Out of the 50 eggs, 40 eggs hatched. It is not common to have a 80% - 90% hatch rate with this type of Cory cat.  Once the eggs hatch, you do not do anything for two days.  After two days, you start to feed the fry Baby Brine at least twice a day.  Once in the morning, and once in the afternoon.  Change the water in the container at least every other day; more if possible.  The water has to stay clean.  After a week of feeding, the fry they will be about ¼” long and they can be put in a 5-gallon tank.  Do not go to a larger tank than that.  The larger tank may make it hard for the fry to find food.  Make it easy for the fry at first.  They will be good in this tank for a couple of weeks.  Then you will have to move them again to a larger tank.  The size of the tank is depending on the number of fry you have.  Keep feeding the fry at least twice a day.  You can start feeding the fry flake food once a day.  The other feeding should still be Baby Brine as long as you can.  This will keep the fry growing faster. In about 4 months you should have a Cory cat at least  ½” long.