Cory Schwartz query

[stuarth]

Any one got any info on the Cory Schwartz cat?

I hear they've got sharp barbs?

So I'm hesitant about adding a couple to a tank since my local shop
keeper informed me about this aspect of them.

[[email protected]]

Here ya go: http://www.thefishwiki.com/Corydoras_schwartzi

Lots of good information on them there.

[stuarth]

Excellent.
Thanks for the quick reply.
This helped me a lot. So its a defence mechanism is it? Cool.

Though I'm a bit concerned about the toxin stuff it mentions on the
site!
A bit like Puffers then?

However after looking at the site, I like the other Corys I found
there.

For example:
http://www.thefishwiki.com/Bronze_Cory
http://www.thefishwiki.com/Peppered_Cory

These seem to look so cute!

Anyone wish to recommend which kind I should get? I've got a 200L
freshwater tank thats 6 months old. With a few large Angelfish.


P.S.
Thanks again for the web site link. Lots of useful stuff.

[Mister Gardener]

On 26 Apr 2006 11:57:42 -0700, "stuarth" > wrote:

>Any one got any info on the Cory Schwartz cat?
>
>I hear they've got sharp barbs?
>
>So I'm hesitant about adding a couple to a tank since my local shop
>keeper informed me about this aspect of them.

Most catfish have some, I guess you can call them, sharp fins. It's
one of their defense mechanisms. They are not noted to be dangerous or
more challenging than other Corydoras. I don't understand what your
fish guy was trying to tell you. Check out Schwartzi's at
Planet Catfish here:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/callicht/corydora/293_F.PHP

And by the way, Be Nice To Fish Store Employees Week ended yesterday.
I see no reason to extend this observance for another week.

-- Mister Gardener
-- Pull the WEED to email me

[Mister Gardener]

On 26 Apr 2006 12:07:40 -0700, wrote:

>Here ya go: http://www.thefishwiki.com/Corydoras_schwartzi
>
>Lots of good information on them there.

Not sure I agree with this page. They seem more interested in telling
the reader about sharp barbs and poisons than about the absolutely
peaceful, gentle, and playful nature of this species. I also disagree
with the feed only at night - Feed right along with your other fish
during the day time, and if they are in a community tank, an algae
disc or a couple of sinking pellets might be a nice "after lights out"
treat.

And please, never put just one or two corys in a tank. They are so
much more active and playful when they have a few other of their kind
around, they don't even have to be the same kind of corys, they school
together and play nice with other corys regardless of size, color,
race, religion, national origin, sexual preference, physical ability,
etc. A single cory in a tank may spend most of its day in a shady
spot, out of the way, waiting for someone to come out and play. This
may lead the fishkeeper to think they are more night active. Believe
me, given some friends, all of my cories are very active all day, and
rest quietly at night.

-- Mister Gardener
-- Pull the WEED to email me

[Altum]

stuarth wrote:
> Excellent.
> Thanks for the quick reply.
> This helped me a lot. So its a defence mechanism is it? Cool.
>
> Though I'm a bit concerned about the toxin stuff it mentions on the
> site!
> A bit like Puffers then?

For the most part, Cories with brightly colored spines have the toxin.
It's warning coloration. FWIW, I've handled a lot of cories and never
been stung.

> However after looking at the site, I like the other Corys I found
> there.
>
> For example:
> http://www.thefishwiki.com/Bronze_Cory
> http://www.thefishwiki.com/Peppered_Cory
>
> These seem to look so cute!
>
> Anyone wish to recommend which kind I should get? I've got a 200L
> freshwater tank thats 6 months old. With a few large Angelfish.

They're a bit sensitive, but panda cories are my favorite. C. adolfoi
is a close second. I also like the very hardy, cheap, and attractive C.
trilineatus and C. julii.

--
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Did you read the FAQ? http://faq.thekrib.com

[Mister Gardener]

On 26 Apr 2006 12:19:51 -0700, "stuarth" > wrote:

>Excellent.
>Thanks for the quick reply.
>This helped me a lot. So its a defence mechanism is it? Cool.
>
>Though I'm a bit concerned about the toxin stuff it mentions on the
>site!
>A bit like Puffers then?
>
>However after looking at the site, I like the other Corys I found
>there.
>
>For example:
>http://www.thefishwiki.com/Bronze_Cory
>http://www.thefishwiki.com/Peppered_Cory
>
>These seem to look so cute!
>
>Anyone wish to recommend which kind I should get? I've got a 200L
>freshwater tank thats 6 months old. With a few large Angelfish.

In my 55 (going to be) Angel tank I presently have 6 or 7 corys of
different ages. I keep a 15 gal with a dozen corys and just a few tiny
rasboras to keep the mid and top interesting. Once you discover the
fun of a school, corys can become addicting.

Corys do prefer some shade from plants or rocks, but if you have
angels I guess you already have plenty of areas where the light
doesn't get all the way to the bottom. One corner of my cory tank
catches direct sunlight for about an hour each morning, and that's
where you'll find them all, playing in the sun. I use water sprite and
stem plants in my cory tank, there is always some plant material that
breaks away from the substrate and becomes a floater.

-- Mister Gardener
-- Pull the WEED to email me

[Frank]

Mister Gardener wrote,
>One corner of my cory tank
>catches direct sunlight for about an hour each morning......

And no algae bloom (green water) yet? ............... Frank

[Altum]

Frank wrote:
> Mister Gardener wrote,
>> One corner of my cory tank
>> catches direct sunlight for about an hour each morning......
>
> And no algae bloom (green water) yet? ............... Frank

I have a tank in direct morning sun that doesn't have green water or
much algae at all. It's all in the fertilizer. ;-)

--
Put the word aquaria in the subject to email me.
Did you read the FAQ? http://faq.thekrib.com

[Mister Gardener]

On 26 Apr 2006 23:07:13 -0700, "Frank" >
wrote:

>Mister Gardener wrote,
>>One corner of my cory tank
>>catches direct sunlight for about an hour each morning......
>
>And no algae bloom (green water) yet? ............... Frank

Nope. Been set up since February. Some diatoms early in the cycling,
today just a light coating of green algae on the glass, limited to
that area. A razor blade every few weeks removes that algae. Water is
clear. It's a small area, where the sun hits, happens to be the corner
where I used playground sand for substrate, perhaps 6 x 6 inches, and
the motion of bare tree branches outdoors cause the sunlight to sort
of dance on the substrate. It's a scenario I never could have dreamed
up myself, and as the sun moves higher in the sky and the trees leaf
out, it will probably be gone until next winter.

-- Mister Gardener
-- Pull the WEED to email me

[Mister Gardener]

On Thu, 27 Apr 2006 09:06:55 GMT, Altum >
wrote:

>Frank wrote:
>> Mister Gardener wrote,
>>> One corner of my cory tank
>>> catches direct sunlight for about an hour each morning......
>>
>> And no algae bloom (green water) yet? ............... Frank
>
>I have a tank in direct morning sun that doesn't have green water or
>much algae at all. It's all in the fertilizer. ;-)

This tank contains no special substrate, just gravel and sand, and it
doesn't get fertilized, except by the fish. I keep the plants simple,
mostly water sprite, planted in the substrate and floating, along with
some mayaca, if I spelled that right, which I keep having to trim back
and replant.

-- Mister Gardener
-- Pull the WEED to email me

[[email protected]]

Change the page then :) Thats the point of a Wiki.

[Frank]

Mister Gardener and Altum,

Must be my water - comes out of the tap with nitrAtes between 10 and
20ppm depending on the time of year. Any direct sunlite at all = green
water. Funny though, lights are on a timer and at peak light, I'm
putting 4 watts per gal. in the tank (4 hours). Late afternoon sunlite
would hit the tank if the drapes were open - every once in a great
while one of us will forget and leave them open - by the next morning
we have the start of an algae bloom. Hmmm - mabe it's just that little
bit of extra light that does it (?)
................... Frank

[Mister Gardener]

On 27 Apr 2006 08:07:43 -0700, "Frank" >
wrote:

>Mister Gardener and Altum,
>
>Must be my water - comes out of the tap with nitrAtes between 10 and
>20ppm depending on the time of year. Any direct sunlite at all = green
>water. Funny though, lights are on a timer and at peak light, I'm
>putting 4 watts per gal. in the tank (4 hours). Late afternoon sunlite
>would hit the tank if the drapes were open - every once in a great
>while one of us will forget and leave them open - by the next morning
>we have the start of an algae bloom. Hmmm - mabe it's just that little
>bit of extra light that does it (?)
>.................. Frank
4 watts per gallon is a lot of light, though I don't know the science
well enough to comment on the effect if it's only on for 4 hours a
day. Plants need nutrients, light, and CO2. Too little of one, and the
others are left over to feed the algae. Too much of one, and it feeds
the algae. Are your non-algae plants getting enough nutrients, usually
added from a bottle, and CO2, with Flourish Excel or a CO2 bubbler?
And finally, do you have enough plants to take up all the nutrients,
CO2, etc - grabbing them before the algae gets them?

That's where my experience ends and Altum's takes over, so I now pass
this thread on to Altum.

-- Mister Gardener
-- Pull the WEED to email me

[Mister Gardener]

On 27 Apr 2006 07:30:45 -0700, wrote:

>Change the page then :) Thats the point of a Wiki.

(I think this is directed at me, after I commented that I don't fully
agree with Wiki Aquarium's entry on a certain corydoras. Please,
people, include enough of the post you are responding to so that we
don't have to guess what you're talking about.)

I have not paid much attention to Wiki and I haven't any interest in
actively participating. I don't feel I have the expertise to
contradict an existing entry on this particular topic, but I also
question the background of the individual that posted it there. I see
this as a potential clash, and I simply don't have the inclination to
get into whatever political dynamics that make Wiki what it is.
Perhaps I'll explore Wiki Aquarium sometime in the future when I have
time to discover a new web frontier.

-- Mister Gardener
-- Pull the WEED to email me

[Altum]

Frank wrote:
> Mister Gardener and Altum,
>
> Must be my water - comes out of the tap with nitrAtes between 10 and
> 20ppm depending on the time of year. Any direct sunlite at all = green
> water. Funny though, lights are on a timer and at peak light, I'm
> putting 4 watts per gal. in the tank (4 hours). Late afternoon sunlite
> would hit the tank if the drapes were open - every once in a great
> while one of us will forget and leave them open - by the next morning
> we have the start of an algae bloom. Hmmm - mabe it's just that little
> bit of extra light that does it (?)
> .................. Frank

How odd. You wouldn't think that one afternoon of sunlight would make
such a difference. If I were talking to anyone less experienced, I'd
suspect a touch of ammonia in the tank. Nothing like ammonia to get a
green water bloom. I'm sure your tanks are ammonia-free, though.

I noticed that Mr. G and I both have water sprite in our algae free
sunlit tanks. Makes you wonder about allelopathy. Water lettuce has
been demonstrated to inhibit the growth of chlorella (green water) in a
couple of different scientific studies.

I don't have nitrate in my tap water, but I spike nitrates up to about
10ppm after each water change. The water sprite loses its healthy green
color otherwise.

--
Put the word aquaria in the subject to email me.
Did you read the FAQ? http://faq.thekrib.com

[Mister Gardener]

On Thu, 27 Apr 2006 19:01:03 GMT, Altum >
wrote:

>Frank wrote:
>> Mister Gardener and Altum,
>>
>> Must be my water - comes out of the tap with nitrAtes between 10 and
>> 20ppm depending on the time of year. Any direct sunlite at all = green
>> water. Funny though, lights are on a timer and at peak light, I'm
>> putting 4 watts per gal. in the tank (4 hours). Late afternoon sunlite
>> would hit the tank if the drapes were open - every once in a great
>> while one of us will forget and leave them open - by the next morning
>> we have the start of an algae bloom. Hmmm - mabe it's just that little
>> bit of extra light that does it (?)
>> .................. Frank
>
>How odd. You wouldn't think that one afternoon of sunlight would make
>such a difference. If I were talking to anyone less experienced, I'd
>suspect a touch of ammonia in the tank. Nothing like ammonia to get a
>green water bloom. I'm sure your tanks are ammonia-free, though.
>
>I noticed that Mr. G and I both have water sprite in our algae free
>sunlit tanks. Makes you wonder about allelopathy. Water lettuce has
>been demonstrated to inhibit the growth of chlorella (green water) in a
>couple of different scientific studies.
>
>I don't have nitrate in my tap water, but I spike nitrates up to about
>10ppm after each water change. The water sprite loses its healthy green
>color otherwise.

Water sprite and allelopathy - interesting concept. Might make sense.
I simply assumed it was sucking up all the extra nutrients floating
around. And as for losing color, yes, that is happening in that
particular tank. I've never though of feeding water sprite until just
a few days ago when I shot it a squirt of Excel and Flourish.

-- Mister Gardener
-- Pull the WEED to email me

[Gill Passman]

Mister Gardener wrote:
> On Thu, 27 Apr 2006 19:01:03 GMT, Altum >
> wrote:
>
>
>>Frank wrote:
>>
>>>Mister Gardener and Altum,
>>>
>>>Must be my water - comes out of the tap with nitrAtes between 10 and
>>>20ppm depending on the time of year. Any direct sunlite at all = green
>>>water. Funny though, lights are on a timer and at peak light, I'm
>>>putting 4 watts per gal. in the tank (4 hours). Late afternoon sunlite
>>>would hit the tank if the drapes were open - every once in a great
>>>while one of us will forget and leave them open - by the next morning
>>>we have the start of an algae bloom. Hmmm - mabe it's just that little
>>>bit of extra light that does it (?)
>>>.................. Frank
>>
>>How odd. You wouldn't think that one afternoon of sunlight would make
>>such a difference. If I were talking to anyone less experienced, I'd
>>suspect a touch of ammonia in the tank. Nothing like ammonia to get a
>>green water bloom. I'm sure your tanks are ammonia-free, though.
>>
>>I noticed that Mr. G and I both have water sprite in our algae free
>>sunlit tanks. Makes you wonder about allelopathy. Water lettuce has
>>been demonstrated to inhibit the growth of chlorella (green water) in a
>>couple of different scientific studies.
>>
>>I don't have nitrate in my tap water, but I spike nitrates up to about
>>10ppm after each water change. The water sprite loses its healthy green
>>color otherwise.
>
>
> Water sprite and allelopathy - interesting concept. Might make sense.
> I simply assumed it was sucking up all the extra nutrients floating
> around. And as for losing color, yes, that is happening in that
> particular tank. I've never though of feeding water sprite until just
> a few days ago when I shot it a squirt of Excel and Flourish.
>
> -- Mister Gardener
> -- Pull the WEED to email me

I get different types of algae depending on where the tank is and how
heavily planted....I treat all the tanks the same as per water change
routine (although probably having said that do the smaller tanks more
frequently but doesn't impact anything) IME the algae is down to just
two things...the planting and the light....

Gill

[Frank]

Altum & Mister Gardener,
>If I were talking to anyone less experienced.....

I've been around the block a few times with fish, but with plants, I
let Jessie rob the train. My first two planted tanks (90s) were set up
just after I sold out my breeding tanks and breeders, a couple of years
ago. I built the hoods and had the elect. on one of the jobs install
the lighting - planted the hell out of the tanks (atop of UGFs) and
pumped the CO2. Plants cloged the filter plates in no time - some
growing, others dying, whole thing looked like crap in no time. Removed
the UGF plates - redid everything, and in no time, the two tanks looked
like crap again. Took everything out again, called one of the gals from
the fish club that used to take care of the plants at the pet shops.
She does the plant thing in my tanks and I do the fish thing in hers -
tanks really look great now, and I still don't know much when it comes
to plants...
To answer your guestion Altum, 0 ammonia... yes, she does have a small
amount of water sprite floating - removes handfulls all the time... She
don't mind the nitrAte level. .................... Frank

[Mister Gardener]

On 27 Apr 2006 14:42:59 -0700, "Frank" >
wrote:

>Altum & Mister Gardener,
>>If I were talking to anyone less experienced.....
>
>I've been around the block a few times with fish, but with plants, I
>let Jessie rob the train. My first two planted tanks (90s) were set up
>just after I sold out my breeding tanks and breeders, a couple of years
>ago. I built the hoods and had the elect. on one of the jobs install
>the lighting - planted the hell out of the tanks (atop of UGFs) and
>pumped the CO2. Plants cloged the filter plates in no time - some
>growing, others dying, whole thing looked like crap in no time. Removed
>the UGF plates - redid everything, and in no time, the two tanks looked
>like crap again. Took everything out again, called one of the gals from
>the fish club that used to take care of the plants at the pet shops.
>She does the plant thing in my tanks and I do the fish thing in hers -
>tanks really look great now, and I still don't know much when it comes
>to plants...
>To answer your guestion Altum, 0 ammonia... yes, she does have a small
>amount of water sprite floating - removes handfulls all the time... She
>don't mind the nitrAte level. .................... Frank

Sounds like you and the fish club gal need to hang onto each other.
Your body of knowledge in matters piscine is astounding, you shouldn't
have to carry around all that plant expertise at the same time.
Altum's comment on Water Sprite really got me thinking, of the
successful plant growers I know, a common denominator is water sprite.


-- Mister Gardener
-- Pull the WEED to email me