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Venezuelan Cory?


CorydorasEthan
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I have seen my two albino cory females breed and spawn with a male what I thought was a bronze cory. Every time, the eggs have not been fertile, while the peppered cory eggs laid at the same time hatch in the same conditions. I have been wondering what the cause of this infertility has been. Then I stumbled upon pictures of a Venezuelan cory, which could possibly be a separate species or a variety of Corydoras aeneus. It looks similar to the "bronze" cory I bought from my LFS.

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I also noticed that this bronze cory that my LFS sold is different than the ones they normally sell. Under the label "green/bronze cory" you can find 1) what looks like emerald brochis, 2) large cories that have a dark bronze color, or 3) this type of cory that I have (sorry I don't have pictures of the other varieties my LFS sells). They all come in at different times. Could someone identify this cory please?

Thanks.

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1 minute ago, pleasantlyplanted_waters said:

It could also be that its there first try or so. In my experience, the older, more experienced, the male cory is, the higher the fertility rate. Give them a few trys. I've had different species struggle for a whole year worth of spawns, then out nowhere over 50 hatched out. 

Thanks for the advice! They have spawned three or four times now, but I have only had the albinos for a year, and the bronze a little less than a year, so maybe they need to grow a little older.

Also, I don't know if this is of any importance, but they always lay their eggs in the same exact spot every time. It is right up high on the glass near the surface. The peppered cories on the other hand (which I have had just as long) lay their eggs in many different spaces, trying to hide them from everyone else that wants to eat the eggs. Does this have any significance?

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Interestingly enough.  I just found some venezuelan corys at my LFS and scoped them up and I've got one that looks the same as yours as well.  The others have much brighter coloration.  I thought I saw in an article about them that females may not have as bright of coloration... Maybe?  

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7 minutes ago, Pleasantly Planted Waters said:

What all are we rocking in the 29? Any pics of the aquarium as a whole?

Right now, I have:

  • School of Guppy/Endler's Livebearer hybrids
  • School of 5 Pygmy Corydoras (Corydoras pygmaeus)
  • Pair of Peppered Corydoras (Corydoras paleatus) and their offspring (4 babies)
  • 2 Female Albino Corydoras (Corydoras aeneus)
  • 1 Male Green/Orange/Bronze/Venezuelan Corydoras
  • 1 Siamese Algae Eater
  • 1 Bristlenose Pleco (female)
  • Pair of Amano Shrimp
  • Several Assassin Snails

I recently removed a pearl gourami that I had due to food aggression, and just now I removed one of the previously two siamese algae eaters due to fighting between the two. I plan on selling my guppy/endlers once they start to breed again.

Filtration:

  • The tank is run by a Marineland BioWheel Penguin 150 (built for a 30 gallon aquarium), but I modified it for increased bioload with plenty of filter floss inside, as well as an pre-filter sponge on the intake tube.
  • In addition, I have an Aquarium Co-Op sponge filter built for a 10 gallon tank, and a large airstone.
  • Plants: I don't know if these count as filtration, but I also have 2 Vallisneria, 1 dwarf hairgrass, 1 Java fern (with numerous new growths cut off and planted elsewhere in the tank), 1 Amazon swordplant, 1 water sprite, 1 dwarf aquarium lily, and 1 cryptocoryne wedtii (I ordered one, but Aquarium Co-Op gave me two in the same plant, and it has already sprouted up at least 2 other plants). Substrate is pool filter sand, but the plants seem to grow very well in it (it had a lot of fish poop in it when I added the plants in). I do not do any fertilizers, root tabs, CO2, or Iron yet.

20210129_195549.jpg.d41a7c08b295d7af8cd4b0573caacd10.jpg

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So from what I understand based on significant research into my Orange Venezuelan Corydoras, I believe they are simply a selectively bred form of Corydoras Aeneus (Bronze and Albino's general species). I'm guessing the eggs aren't infertile, or if they are the cause is not incompatibility of species. Based on how hormones stimulate Corydoras to breed I don't think they would attempt to spawn if they would not be genetically compatible. Would like to hear @Cory opinion but those are my thoughts. Good luck!

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1 hour ago, Augustjd27 said:

So I would say its a Corydoras Aeneus...a beautiful one at that. I regret spending $25 a fish for Venezuelans. They're a little more orange, but not worth it in my opinion.

 

Yes my LFS sold them for around $2.99 each as Green/Bronze Corydoras. I should have bought more in the first place...

Here are the different "Bronze" varieties they sell:

image.jpeg.f2350e8a0b08c1eceb814f318791fcba.jpeg I think this one is the "true" bronze variety.

20201228_144706.jpg.fbe5e436eef8d533505f8ac85b1a07d4.jpg

The "Venezuelan" cory, which they also call bronze or green.

Emerald Green "Cory" Cat (Brochis splendens) a.k.a. Emerald Green Cat |  Tropical Fish Keeping | Cory catfish, Aquarium fish, Catfish 

And then they call this one a green cory too. I believe it is a Brochis spendens.

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2 hours ago, Augustjd27 said:

So from what I understand based on significant research into my Orange Venezuelan Corydoras, I believe they are simply a selectively bred form of Corydoras Aeneus (Bronze and Albino's general species). I'm guessing the eggs aren't infertile, or if they are the cause is not incompatibility of species. Based on how hormones stimulate Corydoras to breed I don't think they would attempt to spawn if they would not be genetically compatible. Would like to hear @Cory opinion but those are my thoughts. Good luck!

Yes that makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the advice!

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That's a fun tank! It wouldn't hurt to get a few more Corydoras if you really like them. It's especially fun matching the species and watching them socialize after they're in your tank. 2 Bronze and 1 Albino would be a good start with little risk to overdoing filtration. Also all of those plants you listed will help with filtration for sure.  I love taking time to slowly build up shoals of corys. I've seen boys of multiple species chase girls of a different variety, But never successfully T up on them. I have read they can cross breed.

This pic, is just to demonstrate how many endlers I have living very happily in this 20H.

I started with 8, Over time they've built up there numbers, and the beneficial bacteria have built up with them. It shouldn't be a problem adding more corys to strengthen the school. Just take your time, add a few here and there, and have lots fun with your  awesome corydoras!  665476315_Endlers2.jpg.4e7f80d583f81a9a24f36999ff5761ae.jpg

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On 1/30/2021 at 7:21 AM, Augustjd27 said:

So from what I understand based on significant research into my Orange Venezuelan Corydoras, I believe they are simply a selectively bred form of Corydoras Aeneus (Bronze and Albino's general species).

The orange Venezuelan cory is its own species, Corydoras venezuelanus. The black venezuelan cory that you hear about is actually a black for of Corydoras schultzei. 

The C. venezuelanus, schultzei, aeneus, eques, rabauti, melanotaenia, and the laser corys are all in the same lineage of corys, which means that they will all interbreed with one another, so you shouldn't keep these species in a mixed tank.

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3 hours ago, Andy's Fish Den said:

The orange Venezuelan cory is its own species, Corydoras venezuelanus. The black venezuelan cory that you hear about is actually a black for of Corydoras schultzei. 

The C. venezuelanus, schultzei, aeneus, eques, rabauti, melanotaenia, and the laser corys are all in the same lineage of corys, which means that they will all interbreed with one another, so you shouldn't keep these species in a mixed tank.

Wow this is really quite interesting (to me at least). I have noticed that all these species look similar and are often confused with each other. That makes a lot of sense why my albinos and venezuelan are breeding. Thanks for the help!

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19 hours ago, CorydorasEthan said:

Wow this is really quite interesting (to me at least). I have noticed that all these species look similar and are often confused with each other. That makes a lot of sense why my albinos and venezuelan are breeding. Thanks for the help!

The corydoras group of catfish are fascinating. I am hoping to be able to go in October to the catfish convention up in Wisconsin, I believe it's the one that @Cory and Jimmy went to a few years ago, and they had a video or two on the co-op YouTube channel about it.

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