C. Ambiacus

[Timberwolf]

After mis-identifying this fish twice, I now understand her to be corydoras ambiacus. I have not been able to find anything worthwhile about her, beyond every generalized cory info on the Cat-eLog page. There are 7 other keepers of c. ambiacus listed here and several other members who have forgotten more about corys than I'll likely ever know. I am new to keeping these guys and have been amazed by what wonderful, entertaining little fish they are.

Some of the things I have observed are:

She is fairly shy and VERY camera-shy.

She has definite preferences for individuals and is more likely to hide when I approach the tank than when my wife does.

She seems mostly indiferent to my other corys (5 albino c. aeneas), seeming to prefer the company of my 2 Pitbull Plecos (LDA-25).

My water is fairly hard and generally stays quite warm (78F), even without the use of a heater. I do 25% to 50% water changes at least once a week to control nitrates, which are my biggest water quality issue.

My questions are simple:

Is my water in a good range for this fish and would she do better if she had some more of her own kind to school with? Is the best diet for c. ambiacus the same as for the c. aeneas?

This picture is the best one we've managed to take yet. It actually shows the greenish cast around her gill covers!

[MatsP]

Your fish looks like it's in good condition, which is definitely a good start.

High pH/Hardness/conductivity [1] is not the IDEAL conditions for these fish, but I would say that "fixing" the water to correct that is a very expensive and timeconsuming project that will most likely only marginally improve the conditions for your fish.

Giving your fish a few friends would have a good effect, but it's of course a matter of finding them - probably not impossible, but may not be easy either.

[1] in GENERAL that all amounts to the same thing, because the common minerals to have in water are affecting both pH and conducitivity - so hard water is also alkaline (high pH), but it is entirely possible to have technically soft water that is high pH, or high conductivity with no measurable hardness and acidic (=low) pH level.

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Mats

[Timberwolf]

Thanks, Mats.

As I said in my earlier post about this fish (when I finally gave up on so stubbornly sticking to being wrong), I believe that a better picture of her would most likely confirm Ian's estimation of what she is. Was I right?

The pH and hardness issues will gradually be resolved with water changes, since Dan at Petland has offered to let me draw from his RO/DI system. I figure 5 gallons at a time, twice a week will eventually make the water what I want it to be (hopefully ideal for the majority of my gang).

Current diet is TetraColor flakes twice a day, dried bloodworms once a day, algea wafers and fresh cuke slices a couple of times a week (more often for the algea). Is there anything I should be adding, or not doing?

[MatsP]

I'm by no means an expert, but I believe the ID to be correct (as I said elsewhere). I'm sure Ian is just being cautious, and the new picture is much better, but doesn't show any surprises compared to what I'd expect.

RO water is fine, just make sure you mix SOME tap-water to make sure that you maintain pH at sane levels (I know, my tank had pH 4.0 some time back, and I only really discovered because I got a new pH meter and decided to test it out - I wasn't even going to use the meter for my big tank, it was for breeding projects and such!)

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Mats

[Timberwolf]

Thanks for the heads-up about pH issues with the RO water! I would have lovingly killed my tank , because I wouldn't have given that a thought. How much of a buffer are live plants? Probably a silly question, since I'm sure the big tank that surprised you with its acidity was probably planted far better than anything I have (or am likely to in the near future). I do know that the air system I use helps with both DO and pH (or does it?), since my plants are net consumers of O2 when the lights are off. My c. ambiacus loves to play in the bubbles, as well.

As I said before, c. ambiacus (or C-143) or not, I still have the coolest $2.00 fish in the PC community, I think. She was given to me for a $2.00 donation to Petco Animal Charities, which I am happy to give to anyway. Other than Harvaard and his hatchling, Uno, I'd be surprised if there was anyone who was happier with one of their cats. I have always loved my aquaria, but I have been amazed at how fascinating and entertaining catfish are.

[MatsP]

Well, water chemistry and pH balance is a relatively complicated subject, so I'll just cover the basics.

The key to pH balance is KH (Carbonate Hardness), and as part of that, the bicarbonate level in the water. You can get a KH test kit from any good LFS, which allows you to use a drip to determine how much KH you have. If we use the German scale (dKH, degrees KH), you should aim to have at least 2 dKH.

Plants will have little or no effect at all.

My tank has a fair number of plants, but it's not a heavily planted or a high-tech planted tank.

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Mats