Peppered Corydora

[NanotankBank]

So I was looking into different Corydora breeds and I was wondering what the water parameters for Peppered Corydoras were. I don’t trust simple Google so I thought I’d ask y’all!

[TeeJay]

Well I'm no expert but I have a group of 6 right now. Have had them for about 2 months so far. There in there own 10 gal setup. As far as my parameters I have very hard water at about 12-15 degrees but on the opposite end I have 0 kh out of the tap. So I keep mine on gravel with a bit of crushed coral mixed in with a bag of crushed coral in my hob filter. So that keeps my kh at about a 5 steady.

My pH says right around 6.9-7.2. they are doing great so far with a fair amount of live plants. I'm actually trying to get them to breed so I can have a couple more groups to keep on my other tanks. So far they are doing very well and always see happy. I know this is not a cookie cutter answer. But you will at least know what kind of water I have and that mine are doing very well. 

 

[NanotankBank]

Yes so my water is as follows:

pH: ~7.5

Temp: Steady 80°

Its softer water but I don’t have the exact measurement at the moment. It’s a 29 gal fully planted. I was gonna go for albinos to contrast against my black substrate, but I like the peppered look more and was curious to see how they would handle in my situation 

[nabokovfan87]

Pretty much the same as pandas. From what I've seen.

I keep my pandas, when humanly possible, with good aeration, cooler temps, PH is around 6.8 for me and swings from 6.3-7.1 or so.

Edited August 11, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[NanotankBank]

On 8/10/2022 at 7:13 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Pretty much the same as pandas. From what I've seen.

I keep my pandas, when humanly possible, with good aeration, cooler temps, PH is around 6.8 for me and swings from 6.3-7.1 or so.

In your opinion, would my parameters (pH 7.5 and temp 80°) work?

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/10/2022 at 5:26 PM, pjust9 said:

In your opinion, would my parameters (pH 7.5 and temp 80°) work?

You would stress them.  They don't enjoy tanks that warm, 78 is about the max they do decently at and being that hot day to day is just going to shorten lifespan.  Julii cory's do better warmer.

PH. you're right on the edge. So if you were to keep them I'd recommend adding some wood, some organics to the water to try to lower the PH as much as you can or keep it as low as possible, consistently.

[NanotankBank]

On 8/10/2022 at 10:25 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

You would stress them.  They don't enjoy tanks that warm, 78 is about the max they do decently at and being that hot day to day is just going to shorten lifespan.  Julii cory's do better warmer.

PH. you're right on the edge. So if you were to keep them I'd recommend adding some wood, some organics to the water to try to lower the PH as much as you can or keep it as low as possible, consistently.

So Julii Cory’s then, would Albinos work? They’re cheaper in my area and would work well with my black substrate

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/10/2022 at 8:33 PM, pjust9 said:

So Julii Cory’s then, would Albinos work? They’re cheaper in my area and would work well with my black substrate

They might have them listed as something else.  Julii cory is commonly a mislabeled "false julii" cory.  What I mean is the actual "false julii" which is the corydoras trilineatus.  Either one has the same care, but usually always mixed up and confused.

This is for the Albino Cory:

Quote

RECOMMENDED TANK PARAMETERS:

• Temperature:  70° - 81° F (21° - 27° C)
• pH:  5.5 - 7.5.  Softer water is preferred, but this fish is somewhat flexible as long as sudden changes are avoided.
• KH:  0 - 15 dKH
• Minimum tank size:  15 gallons for a school of 6

For just about everything, 78 is about the max, 80 is too hot.  PH is going to be a similar story. They just don't like the 7.5+ range, but 7.5 is often listed as the limit.  When a range is listed, I try to shoot for the middle of it.



 

[NanotankBank]

On 8/10/2022 at 11:04 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

They might have them listed as something else.  Julii cory is commonly a mislabeled "false julii" cory.  What I mean is the actual "false julii" which is the corydoras trilineatus.  Either one has the same care, but usually always mixed up and confused.

This is for the Albino Cory:

For just about everything, 78 is about the max, 80 is too hot.  PH is going to be a similar story. They just don't like the 7.5+ range, but 7.5 is often listed as the limit.  When a range is listed, I try to shoot for the middle of it.



 

Interesting. Is they any bottom dwelling fish that you’d recommend then? What about Kuhli Loaches?

also, my LFS has true Julii catfish, would you say they work?

Edited August 11, 2022 by pjust9

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/10/2022 at 9:12 PM, pjust9 said:

Interesting. Is they any bottom dwelling fish that you’d recommend then? What about Kuhli Loaches?

also, my LFS has true Julii catfish, would you say they work?

If the tank is not at 80. They should do ok.  It all depends if you add wood, if PH goes down (not up), etc.  We've had recent issues of hobbyists where they had PH take out a few too many corydoras, so I really don't recommend them on the edge like that.  Mine have been in the 7.3-7.4 range and done "ok" but definitely weren't happy.

Loaches in general are going to be cooler water as well.  They tend to like high oxygenation, cooler temps.  Similar to corydoras, white clouts, barbs, rasboras, etc.

Honestly, the best "bottom dweller" you can probably add is going to be a bolivian ram.  Second to that it's likely some varieties of bristlenose plecos.

For bolivian rams, PH might be right on the edge again.

Edited August 11, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Tommy Vercetti]

My Pepper Corydoras are breeding in PH 7.4 and hard water 19 degrees GH (Las Vegas, NV, tap water). Water temperature is 76 degrees Fahrenheit. With weekly 50% water change on Sundays. They almost always lay eggs on Monday and/or Tuesday.

Edited August 11, 2022 by Tommy Vercetti

[NanotankBank]

On 8/11/2022 at 12:04 PM, Tommy Vercetti said:

My Pepper Corydoras are breeding in PH 7.4 and hard water 19 degrees GH (Las Vegas, NV, tap water). Water temperature is 76 degrees Fahrenheit. With weekly 50% water change on Sundays. They almost always lay eggs on Monday and/or Tuesday.

I got my pH down to 7.0-7.2 and my temp is a steady 79-80°. I Think I’ll just test and see what happens 

[nabokovfan87]

Yeah. Adding wood, that'll help stability and stuff too with them.

It's the equivalent of crushed coral for KH in terms of PH for me (obviously down, not up)

Looking forward to seeing what you end up with! I hope they do well.