Poll - When do your Corydoras Eat?

[nabokovfan87]

Random thought, but I just wanted to take a poll of sorts.

When do your Corydoras eat? Secondly, when are they most active in terms of breeding?

A. Morning, after lights on they eat, usually always active.

B. Generally difficult to tell, not very active.

C. They eat whenever, breed at night.

D. They eat usually after lights get dim, activity as well after late meals.

E. Difficult to answer, almost always eat and always active.

I would also ask to please state what corydoras you keep or have experience with for the above question.  My hope is that details like this can help someone to target feed, breed more successfully, and maybe we can distinguish some patterns.  I currently have two types of corydoras, experience with a few, but some do act very differently. (More details on this when I can find the article to link below)

https://www.tfhmagazine.com/articles/freshwater/success-with-a-holy-grail-corydoras-weitzmani

Thank you!

Edited November 21, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Guppysnail]

edit to add all get breakfast at sunup before tank lights go on and dinner at dusk/ an hour before all lights off at night. 
 

My Panda, melini and Aspidora 

Always eating, always active. Spawning begins at “dusk” (room lights and tank lights off with only the smallest emergent lights on dim) I see eggs being laid before those lights are completely off. 
Mine are least active at sunrise until breakfast hits the tank then…game on. 
 

Pygmy

eating and foraging non stop

most active sunrise and sunset (natural or artificial)

Spawning dusk and Dawn twice just after lights out mid afternoon 

least active…when I want to take a picture 

Albino (previous project) 

Eat/forage always, spawn whenever the urge hit unaffected by light  

always active  I seldom seen them chilling out  it concerned me when they did because they were always active  

 

Edited November 21, 2022 by Guppysnail

[TOtrees]

good questions!

Recently I have/had had sterbai, panda, and habrosus. I've had them in small groups, and in big mixed herds.

They seem most active at night, but also whenever the fish room is quiet. Eg if I visit the fish room at night, they're all over the place, very active, and tend not to scatter from the flashlight. But during the day, if I go in the room and they are out, they scatter to the back. If I stay still for a long time, they get back to being active in the day. But if I'm puttering, they stay out of sight. 

As a result, I tend to feed the sinking foods for the cories as I'm on my way out the fish room door. It increased the chances they'll come out and eat it right away. I prefer to feed bigger meals at night, near lights out time (eg if I'm going to dump in a ton of bloodworms or brine shrimp). 

However, ironically, they seem to spawn mostly during the late afternoon. On days when they spawn, I usually see a few eggs on the glass by mid-afternoon, and I take that as a signal to stay away for a few hours, and by dinner time most of what they will lay has been laid. I rarely see eggs placed overnight.

[Theplatymaster]

my aeneus are fed in the morning, when the lights turn on which is also when they breed

Edited November 21, 2022 by Theplatymaster

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/21/2022 at 10:25 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Random thought, but I just wanted to take a poll of sorts.

When do your Corydoras eat? Secondly, when are they most active in terms of breeding?

A. Morning, after lights on they eat, usually always active.

B. Generally difficult to tell, not very active.

C. They eat whenever, breed at night.

D. They eat usually after lights get dim, activity as well after late meals.

E. Difficult to answer, almost always eat and always active.

I would also ask to please state what corydoras you keep or have experience with for the above question.  My hope is that details like this can help someone to target feed, breed more successfully, and maybe we can distinguish some patterns.  I currently have two types of corydoras, experience with a few, but some do act very differently. (More details on this when I can find the article to link below)

Thank you!

Eat leftovers throughout the day, hasn't been unknown for them to swim up to the surface to go for some leftover flake (there's always a bit or two!) and I'm away most of the day, so I don't spend nearly enough time watching the tank during the week!

[The Arthritic Aquarist]

Currently have Bronze Corydoras, both the regular and albino versions.  Generally, they are always quite active. They get fed a varied diet but tend to get frisky the morning following a water change and having been fed frozen bloodworms the previous evening.  Raising some little ones at the moment.

[MattyM]

E. My 6 pandas seem to be active and scavenging all the time, but more so after feeding. I also chuck some sinking waffers/pellets in there after the lights go out or soon before they go out just to be sure they are getting enough, and it's always gone in the morning (granted I have snails too). Haven't had any breeding action but they are young, and I haven't had them very long. They are everyone's fav though. 

[Comradovich]

When I first read your thread: "Oh cool, let me tell you about my pygmies!"

Then I read the first comment. "Okay, EXACTLY LIKE @Guppysnail. Right down to the inactive when I'm trying to take a photo."

LOL. Think that might be just the usual SOP for Pygmy Corys.

[nabokovfan87]

For me:

False Julii Corydoras:  Generally treated as a "community fish" and they would get food during the morning.  Tank was right next to the kitchen window and they had a pretty bare tank.  Breeding was moreso related to how cold the temp was (often cold in that house, especially next to the window) moreso than anything else.  I don't want anyone to take my experience with these guys as detailed because I really didn't understand much when I set this tank up.  It had some plants, some plastic decor and stuff, but it wasn't set up for breeding, just for fish to be fish and give the family something to enjoy during meals.

Panda Corydoras:  Generally they will "always eat" but they do enjoy eating before the lights go on and after the lights are off.  Breeding is almost always in the afternoon, despite anything else, and they just sort of do their thing more often than other corydoras when the tank conditions benefit their behavior.  They like to play in flow, they enjoy bubbles and airstones, that gets them doing up downs and can sometimes encourage breeding too.  Repashy after dark (as mentioned below) and the afternoon hours when the room gets cooler, that is typically when I see them go after it.

Black "Schultzei" Corydoras: They generally will just sit there when the lights are on.  This might be similar behavior to what others mention where your second generation of fry will do a lot better in your parameters compared to the original fish.  Conditioning, that sort of thing.  They did, often refuse to eat and especially the biggest of the group (ironically) she wouldn't want to be seen and often try to camoflauge.  I did treat for parasites and behavior is a lot better now.  They will all usually come out to eat once I drop in food.  It's a refreshing change from the original few years of having them and trying to understand their behaviors.  It was a very similar experience to this article:

https://www.tfhmagazine.com/articles/freshwater/success-with-a-holy-grail-corydoras-weitzmani
 

Quote

For the first few months the fish were not very active, but at the end of December they showed more energy and began swimming up and down the aquarium walls. They were especially active every afternoon. This continued for more than a month with no further spawning behavior. At times it looked as if they would spawn any minute, but nothing. I was frustrated and tried all the tricks—water changes, lowering the temperature, raising the temperature, feeding more live foods, artificial rain—all to no avail.

As for my own experience for when they spawn I do have a few videos and stuff.  Generally, especially for the larger female she will try to do things when it's very quiet. Early morning, especially late night is when she goes to do up downs.  Having eggs or not, that's typically when I see her most active.

On 11/21/2022 at 9:01 AM, Comradovich said:

When I first read your thread: "Oh cool, let me tell you about my pygmies!"

Then I read the first comment. "Okay, EXACTLY LIKE @Guppysnail. Right down to the inactive when I'm trying to take a photo."

LOL. Think that might be just the usual SOP for Pygmy Corys.

😂

I totally have fish that do this and then the opposite of that is the ones like pandas that will just straight up line up on the glass and look at you like, "please sir, can I have another?"

I tend to always have a chair or stool around the tank. Try sitting for 10+ minutes and sit so your shoulders are 3 feet back or so.  Once you do this a lot more, they should start to at least feel comfortable around you.  My black corydoras took a very long time to trust me and move around.  Having new fry and new members, more in the crowd is also the second way that they tend to perk up and act a bit more crazy for the camera.

On 11/21/2022 at 8:53 AM, MattyM said:

I also chuck some sinking waffers/pellets in there after the lights go out or soon before they go out just to be sure they are getting enough, and it's always gone in the morning (granted I have snails too).

This always seems to be a favorite of mine too.  When I was really pushing feeding to trigger spawns I would wait about 30-60 minutes after lights out and sneak in and toss in food.  Usually repashy and that's one of my favorite ways to feed it out. Just like you said, it's always gone.  They went NUTS the first time I fed bottom scratcher.

On 11/21/2022 at 6:08 AM, TOtrees said:

As a result, I tend to feed the sinking foods for the cories as I'm on my way out the fish room door. It increased the chances they'll come out and eat it right away. I prefer to feed bigger meals at night, near lights out time (eg if I'm going to dump in a ton of bloodworms or brine shrimp). 

Just wanted to share the "tip" above, especially if you have repashy around. 🙂

Edited November 21, 2022 by nabokovfan87
Added details at the top of the post!

[Minanora]

For me it depends on the Cory. My three stripe cories breed all day long, eat anytime they smell food.

My peppered cories breed in the morning and evening, eat in the morning 

Pandas are breeding at dusk into the night and wait for food in the morning. They have a breakfast club. But they will wait for food like it's morning time if I feed them their lesser favorites in the morning.

This is them if I don't feed them spawn and grow rapashy for breakfast.

[Rita]

My pandas and habrosus get fluval bug bites pleco formula 5 days out of the week. they also get supplemental blood worms, brine shrimp and daphnia every week. My pandas show breeding behavior all the time... especially after water changes and in the afternoon/ evening. I haven't seen any eggs yet so I'm somewhat convinced I have 4 males. My habrosus haven't been doing a lot but their tank is in turmoil right now and I'm just trying to keep them comfortable as they ride out high nitrites and daily 50% water changes so they probably aren't the best barometer. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/21/2022 at 10:09 PM, Rita said:

I haven't seen any eggs yet so I'm somewhat convinced I have 4 males.

If you want any help with ID just take a video and try to show them all off or photos. Sometimes they can be finicky. Usually females are slightly longer, bigger body shape.

On 11/21/2022 at 10:09 PM, Rita said:

My habrosus haven't been doing a lot but their tank is in turmoil right now and I'm just trying to keep them comfortable as they ride out high nitrites and daily 50% water changes so they probably aren't the best barometer. 

Best of luck with recovery. If need be add some aquarium salt, extra air.

[Rita]

On 11/21/2022 at 10:15 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

If you want any help with ID just take a video and try to show them all off or photos. Sometimes they can be finicky. Usually females are slightly longer, bigger body shape.

Thanks! I must admit I'm not quite sure the best/easiest way to upload videos to this forum... but here's some pictures in the meantime!

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/21/2022 at 10:45 PM, Rita said:

Thanks! I must admit I'm not quite sure the best/easiest way to upload videos to this forum... but here's some pictures in the meantime!

I just use YouTube 🙂

I think you have 2 males and 2 females. Either way, you definitely will have more soon!

On the underside anal fin you can see the edge has a curved edge. That's a female. She's also slightly bigger than the others.

In this photo, I think the front and back one are females, based on coloration and size the middle one is a male.

Just saw the one on the right. Definitely another male!

Very thin and narrow body shape.

Edited November 22, 2022 by nabokovfan87