Setup for Corydoras Eques (species only)

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NoodleCats

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T TwoTankAmin ive got 35 cories in my 55g planted and 21 in my SA blackwater 55g, different species but big groups. The 35 is a hodgepodge of oddball ones with 2 larger groups (trilineatus 13, paleatus 6) and my other tank is split between sterbai and aeneus plus 3 remaining pygmy cories that i figured would be happier among other cories instead of by themselves. But instead they shoal with the black neon tetras lol but at least they're content until I can get more.

I do have to say, I've noticed that cories are happier in higher numbered groups, even if mixed, than in smaller same species groups. My aeneus and sterbai group are a lot more timid and cautious when they want to come out, but the tank with the 35 is nonstop go go go and everyone just chills where they feel like. And unlike many other shoaling species, they aren't aggressive or know the meaning of personal space, so they would much rather have as many cory companions as you can really give them.

The eques were my expensive group, im aiming to breed them (but if it falls through thats fine too! I enjoy them quite a bit on their own), so perhaps will keep a few additional ones if they breed, but theyre in a 20 long as the only fish. Its kinda neat to see how active they are, not only on the bottom level. They go up and down the driftwood, nibble the plants for foods, theyre all over the place. So despite being "only bottom dwellers" its got no lack of action lol. I may keep 2 youngsters for my own, make it a group of 10 in the species only setup.

Speaking of barbels, you should see the barbels on the one eyed cory ive got. Hes been missing an eye since I bought him from the store (I specifically chose him because of it, less than perfect fish isn't a big deal for me) but I swear his barbels grew twice the length to make up for his lack of an eye lol
20200909_231754.jpg

F fishorama I do plan on breeding the eques. Its not a common cory, nor easy or cheap to get here, so there's a good market if I can manage that (is not an easy species to breed, from what I've read or been told). If I can manage it and keep it steady, well they'd help support my hobby more so than breeding others. But right now ive still got my hands full with the emperor tetra fry lol they grow so slow compared to cory fry.

What I like about these guys is their colouring is deceptive. Nice fiery orange but its the green that really gets me. Looks sooty black in some angles but they shimmer emerald green from cheek to tail. Its pretty neat, as even the other iridescent cories aren't to this extent. Its almost like these guys change colour completely depending how they move.
 

NoodleCats

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Removed the full cover of floaters, ive noticed these cories either were really unsure of the floaters and would panic/hesitate going up for air and would either dart around looking for an opening, or give up and not get air.
Or, they'd fly up and launch the duckweed feet out of the tank all up my wall.
So floaters are now restricted to an airline hose corral up top, limited to water lettuce and salvinia.

new filter with a spray bar added, and a new heater thats adjustable now too.

Added some staurogyne repens from a friend as well, a young ozelot sword "red" from another tank, and I think its coming together nicely.
Still waiting for the echinodorus quadricostatus tissue culture to take hold, its finally putting in good roots this week with the new light and lack of strong tannins.

The plants have gotten enough of a hold with their roots and aren't being dug up as much from the cories anymore either.

Flow is very strong on the tank right now with 3 internal filters.


20210212_180449.jpg20210212_174352.jpg20210209_200910.jpg

You'd think the orange would have made them more colourful, but its the emerald green tones to them that really make them stand out above other cories. They shimmer.
 

Wyomingite

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I've always liked the iridescent green on aeneus, but the orange on the eques sets that off even more. The green seems to be more brilliant on the eques as well, when aeneus can be more brassy at times. I'm thinking about taking a split of the inlet to the sink in the fish room and installing an RO unit, so I have a branch that I can get water out of that isn't liquid rock. I hope that will make breeding some SA fish a possibility. I've always wanted to breed some cories, and if I'm going to try to spawn cupid cichlids I'll need RO water anyways. I may target some eques. C. pantanalensis and C. duplicareus are two other species that appeal to me as well.

WYite
 

NoodleCats

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I've always liked the iridescent green on aeneus, but the orange on the eques sets that off even more. The green seems to be more brilliant on the eques as well, when aeneus can be more brassy at times. I'm thinking about taking a split of the inlet to the sink in the fish room and installing an RO unit, so I have a branch that I can get water out of that isn't liquid rock. I hope that will make breeding some SA fish a possibility. I've always wanted to breed some cories, and if I'm going to try to spawn cupid cichlids I'll need RO water anyways. I may target some eques. C. pantanalensis and C. duplicareus are two other species that appeal to me as well.

WYite
Some cories can handle harder water, so those may work with less RO mixed in depending on what your GH currently is...

Corydoras elegans and Corydoras eques can handle up to 268ppm GH


Duplicareus on your list needs very very very soft, no higher than 90ppm GH, so will need quite a high amount of RO
 

Wyomingite

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Some cories can handle harder water, so those may work with less RO mixed in depending on what your GH currently is...

Corydoras elegans and Corydoras eques can handle up to 268ppm GH


Duplicareus on your list needs very very very soft, no higher than 90ppm GH, so will need quite a high amount of RO
The aquifer my well pulls from is constantly replenished by an underground river, so GH usually drops to 400-450 ppm in the spring for a coupla months during the snowmelt from the mountains, and then jumps to 650+/- the rest of the year. So I'm in that proverbial liquid rock zone and even at the low end my water is significantly harder than even the Rift Valley lakes. My water has proven to be great for African cichlids, CA cichlids and livebearers, and I've done well with quite a few Asian fish.

I only keep every day easily available SA fish because of my water quality. I'm expecting to use a lot of RO in a handful of tanks with the specific goal of breeding SA fish. I'll need to get the water down around the 90 ppm mark for the cupids and I'll need to use at least a 55 for that, and I'll probly use a 90 for the larger footprint. At that point, it becomes a matter of what's another 10 or 15 gallons for a couple of small tanks to spawn some cories and maybe some tetras. I go back and forth on whether it's even worth the work or not, lol.

WYite
 

NoodleCats

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The aquifer my well pulls from is constantly replenished by an underground river, so GH usually drops to 400-450 ppm in the spring for a coupla months during the snowmelt from the mountains, and then jumps to 650+/- the rest of the year. So I'm in that proverbial liquid rock zone and even at the low end my water is significantly harder than even the Rift Valley lakes. My water has proven to be great for African cichlids, CA cichlids and livebearers, and I've done well with quite a few Asian fish.

I only keep every day easily available SA fish because of my water quality. I'm expecting to use a lot of RO in a handful of tanks with the specific goal of breeding SA fish. I'll need to get the water down around the 90 ppm mark for the cupids and I'll need to use at least a 55 for that, and I'll probly use a 90 for the larger footprint. At that point, it becomes a matter of what's another 10 or 15 gallons for a couple of small tanks to spawn some cories and maybe some tetras. I go back and forth on whether it's even worth the work or not, lol.

WYite
Oof thats brutal, yeah you will find good use with the RO i think.
 
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NoodleCats

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Wow, pics of your pretty eques look amazing, NC!
Theyre pretty in person :D

Though, theyre not overly happy with me, I dosed them with flubendazole as one of them has been a bit off and flashing along with weird gill twitching, clamped fins, and off colour. So to be safe I dosed a dewormer and of course a day later I'm seeing better improvement in that guy.
Luckily theyre in their own tank, so nothing brought in to my other fish lol
Probably gill flukes based on the weird gill twitching.
 
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Flubendazole is one of my favorite meds. I always have it and Levamisole HCL, another great med, in my medical box. I define a great med as one which is effective yet mild on the fish. This usually means if you misdiagnose the likelyhood that it does harm is small. At worst the fish suffer because the med does not work. I rarely worry about using either of these meds as well as Metronidazole. I have also found that Maracyn Oxy is pretty benign as well.
 
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