A dwarf species and the third mentioned so far in the blog. C. hastatus are quite easy to spawn without much effort in planted aquarium setting probably due to they are more accustomed to it as their nature habitat. Likely you may not even know when they did.
About an inch at adult size, C. hastatus is a good mid-swimmer and are a welcome addition to a mainly bottom dwelling corydoras tank.
C. hastatus pair on the upper left of the community tank in the right photo. As you can see they are quite small compared to the other corydoras species - C. seussi pair and C. agassizii in the foreground.
In natural condition, fry abnormality (See right picture) is not unknown but chances of survival is small. However in a breeder enclosed eco-system another sub-species may emerge.
Breeded in 2005. Hope you enjoy my article today.
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| Community Tank |
About an inch at adult size, C. hastatus is a good mid-swimmer and are a welcome addition to a mainly bottom dwelling corydoras tank.
C. hastatus pair on the upper left of the community tank in the right photo. As you can see they are quite small compared to the other corydoras species - C. seussi pair and C. agassizii in the foreground.
Their eggs are relatively small of about 1mm and about half the length size of C. duplicareus. At birth and days after, babies are bottom dwellers.
Notice the unique pattern of few days old fry in the extreme right of the left photo, R-Pic. Do remember to click the photo to get a close-up view because seldom we get a chance to see them. (Miracle of Life Forming).
Brine Shrimp
Breeding is easy. The catch is how to raise the frys to adulthood since at birth they are much smaller and quite picky on the food that they will eat. Hunger strike till death is not uncommon. :( Micro live brine shrimps have to be specially hatched to ensure their survivals as they prefer live food that are able to fit into their small mouth. Alternatively small daphnia or some micro organisms which are found in ponds may do but will not be as clean.
The process of hatching Brine Shrimp is a bit tricky and tedious if you do it the first time. There are different methods and quality of the eggs to consider. If you are interested to do an internet search, there is also complete kit on sale. The hard part is ability to purchase quality brine shrimp eggs locally and timing their hatching to support the first few feeds critically needed to ensure the frys do not die of hunger.
Wiki link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brine_shrimp
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L-Pic: C. hastus egg - almost translucent C-Pic: C. hastatus egg (L) C. duplicareus egg (R) R-Pic: Different stages of fry development |
Notice the unique pattern of few days old fry in the extreme right of the left photo, R-Pic. Do remember to click the photo to get a close-up view because seldom we get a chance to see them. (Miracle of Life Forming).
Brine Shrimp
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| C. hastatus, Adult (L), Juvenile(R) |
The process of hatching Brine Shrimp is a bit tricky and tedious if you do it the first time. There are different methods and quality of the eggs to consider. If you are interested to do an internet search, there is also complete kit on sale. The hard part is ability to purchase quality brine shrimp eggs locally and timing their hatching to support the first few feeds critically needed to ensure the frys do not die of hunger.
Wiki link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brine_shrimp
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| Normal C. hastatus juvenile |
After a few weeks, the fry developed colouration of their parent. Once they start to take-off, they are almost ready to be released into the community tank.
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| Dark C. hastatus juvenile |
In natural condition, fry abnormality (See right picture) is not unknown but chances of survival is small. However in a breeder enclosed eco-system another sub-species may emerge.
Breeded in 2005. Hope you enjoy my article today.
Cory
7th April 2012
Thanks for this! I keep looking for these, and haven't found them yet but will continue the search. They are indeed adorable!
ReplyDeleteHi, This is exciting !
ReplyDeleteI just got some and tried feed Hikari Algae wafer, Carnicore tabs, micro pellets, frozen blood worms but they wouldn't eat anything except tubifex worms. Many of them are getting very skinny. Any advice please?
Thanks! :)
Kenny
1. Try chopping up the frozen worms to smaller pieces.
ReplyDelete2. Buy frozen dapnia
3. Frozen brine shrimp is ideal. Remember to breakaway sides of shell residue that is settled after frozen. You can see it by holding the frozen block against the light.
4. In some places they may sell live brine shrimps. You can feed some and freeze the rest.
To clarify ... i mean Baby Brine Shrimp.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much!
ReplyDeleteWill try out your methods ASAP :)
Where can I find these? I had a few and lost all but 1...he is getting very lonely!
ReplyDeleteSorry for the late reply. Such fishes can be seasonal. Typical LFS though not commonly seen. C. hastatus is relative common among corydoras species but not as much as C.aeneus in Asia part of region like Taiwan and Singapore.
ReplyDelete