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hi, i'm getting a juwel rekord 60, and i'd like to breed a species of cory in it. it's been suggested that i get sterbai, panda, wiezamani, green lasers or gold lasers. which do you think would be best suited to my tank, and which could i breed relatively easily? i'd have to keep the adults and the fry in the same tank, but i could put the fry into tubs until they are big enough to go with the adults.

also, how much could i buy a group of each species for? and would a group of 6 be the right amount to breed from?

cheers

What temperature do you plant to keep the tank at? That will determine if some of the listed species are more or less suitable for your tank. C. weitzmani are nice - prices vary dramatically - Aqualife near Preston has then for 5.99 each, at a decent size. I heard that Richard B saw C. weitzmani at £24 in a shop near where he lives - even if they are massive, that's 4 times more...

C. sterbai are available in captive bred ones in most shops, about £6-8, depending on size and which shop.

C. panda are available in most shops - not very expensive usually either, £4 or so. Likes cooler temperatures...

Green and gold lazers were selling for £3-4 a bag at the CSG auction (as did C. sterbai), but I haven''t seen them very frequently in shops, and don't know what price to expect them to be in shops - I'd guess around £8 or so.

Technically the least number you need to breed is 2. However, it's often recommended to have at least 3 - 1 female and 2 males. Having a higher number is sometimes better for the number of eggs laid, but can also cause egg-predation by those who do not currently lay eggs. If you can't sex the fish in the shop, it helps to buy some extra fish to improve the chances of getting a group.

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Mats

Laser corys seem really popular at the moment & might well be a good choice in order to have a market for the offspring. Weitzmani are apparently not difficult & seem more expensive in most retailers. They are certainly good value at aqualife but apart from buying from breeders as i have done, they do cost more.

If you want to breed to sell then the key is identify something that there is a steady market for (pretty/good looking), is not difficult to breed, is available to you to get broodstock etc & this will dictate some of the tank parameters.

If you have experience perhaps S.Barbatus?

hi, thanks for your replies. i've spoken to a guy who owns a fish shop near me, and he said that a good one to try would be C. melini. i've had a look at them on the internet and they look lovely. are they very easy to breed, and about how much would i buy them for, and how much could i sell the fry for at 1"?

he said that the more unusual ones would probably sell better. can you think of any good ones?

cheers

I think you need to consider why you are choosing fish for your setup. If you believe that you are going to make money from buying a group of corys and breeding them, then I'd like to point out that your unlikely to succeed in this. Better to keep fish that you like to keep, and if they breed and you get fry that you can sell, then that's a bonus.

If you know how much the 1" fish is in the shop, you can usually calculate how much the shop pays for the fish from the wholesaler by dividing by three. When you come to the shop to sell fish, you can't expect the price that the wholesaler gets, because the shop can choose when and how many fish they get from the wholesaler, where when a hobbyist brings fish in, it's not always what the shop would want to buy at that point, nor necessarily the number they would like. If you get 20-25% of the shop selling pricen then you are lucky. So £1 for a £4-5 fish.

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Mats

hi, i know what you mean that i probably won't make money, but the parents pay for the electricity lol. i love keeping fish of any kind, but especially catfish. and i'd like to make a bit of the money back, so my parents don't think it's just a waste of money. i'll be breeding shrimp and growing mosses in the tank as well, and i'm thinking that the moss will probably be the most successful for making money. for the fish it's between corys and bn's, i really like both of them. i'd like to try C. melini, but i don't seem to be able to find any anywhere. does anybody know of anywhere around hull that sell them? or anybody who breeds them?

cheers

I saw C. melini at Pier Aquatics the other day. But I guess the best thing is to look at what you have locally and then choose something you can actually get.

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Mats

how much were they? are there any breeders that are either around me or could post? if not i'll have a look at online fish shops. do you know of any good ones? i would pick ones that i see around here, but there isn't much range. it's between bronze, peppered, panda and sterbai, with the occasional trilineatus.

Can't remember the price - nothing memorable, so neither "dirt cheap" nor "expensive" - I guess around £5 each.

The most common (e.g. C. trilineatus C. panda, C. paleatus and C. aeneus) run around £3-4. The next level in price is around £5-8 each - and I'd say C. melini is around that range. Then we get to the more rare things that aren't found in shops often at all, at £10+ - wild caught C. sterbai (XL) I've seen for £17 each, and very rare fish can be almost any price. The last weekend I saw Corydoras "bonita" at £36.99 at Aqualife near Preston, and I've seen Corydoras pulcher and C. sp CW51 at £85 each. But those are extremeley rare fish. All prices are shop retail "as labeled on the tank" - it's always worth asking if they give a discount for buying a group - most shops give a little bit off if you buy several of the same fish.

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Mats

As to good shops that ship, I believe Pier Aquatics do ship - and it's definitely a good shop in my opinion. Good prices, good amount of stock.

Wildwoods is a bit pricier, but definitely carry a lot of good fish in their shop - some really unusual fish.

Wholesale Tropicals in London also ship fish, and have good selections.

Other than that, I'm not sure.

I looked at where Beverley is, and I expect it's the place north of Hull. You should have a larger fish-shop somewhere around that area - perhaps a Maidenhead Aquatics?

Edit: There is a MA shop at
Peter Barratts Garden Centre, Hull Rd
Woodmansey
Beverley
East Yorkshire HU17 0RS


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Mats

thanks for the shops that post. yes beverley is just north of hull. we do have a MA, but they don't stock many cory species. i'll ask them if they could get any in for me.

cheers

I did a search for "Aquatics shops near Hull" and came up with this:
http://andysworld.org.uk/2009/06/08/tro ... s-in-hull/

Also, Practicalfishkeeping.co.uk has a "shop recommendations" on their web-page. Obviously, finding a good catfish-friendly shop can be a bit difficult.

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Mats