These arrived as Aspidoras carvalhoi, but as far as I can tell nobody's seen a definitive carvalhoi this side of the twenty-first century, and the fish marketed as such are merely a regional variant of A. raimundi.
I had read that they're easy and prolific breeders, which I can now confirm. I got ten, one came down with a swimbladder issue that it did not recover from, and the other taught me that Aspidoras are better at jumping off the tank than their Corydoras (and ex-Corydoras) cousins are. The remaining eight, kept in a 54L (~14g, although the water level is a bit lower to prevent further jumpers) tank, started laying eggs pretty much right away.
The first and second batches were fungused and I suspect consumed by the two Hoplisoma gossei that were in the tank with them (another prospective breeding project), so this youngster is about all that hatched of them. I will see how the upcoming eggs fare in a "colony" breeding system, and switch to actually using my fry box if I find that too few eggs make it into wigglerhood (the box you see currently acts as a container for filter material).
For now, my main worry is the height of the tank. Aspidoras, like other cories, must apparently breathe air even as fry, so if the current water height (30 cm) is too high for them to surface, they might drown. In addition, I have far too many shrimp and shrimplets here, which can't really pick off the eggs but certainly do compete with the larvae for edible detritus.
In any case, these are nice and rewarding fish. Hopefully I will be able to succeed in hatching bigger groups. I will update with growth logs as this batch develops.
I had read that they're easy and prolific breeders, which I can now confirm. I got ten, one came down with a swimbladder issue that it did not recover from, and the other taught me that Aspidoras are better at jumping off the tank than their Corydoras (and ex-Corydoras) cousins are. The remaining eight, kept in a 54L (~14g, although the water level is a bit lower to prevent further jumpers) tank, started laying eggs pretty much right away.
The first and second batches were fungused and I suspect consumed by the two Hoplisoma gossei that were in the tank with them (another prospective breeding project), so this youngster is about all that hatched of them. I will see how the upcoming eggs fare in a "colony" breeding system, and switch to actually using my fry box if I find that too few eggs make it into wigglerhood (the box you see currently acts as a container for filter material).
For now, my main worry is the height of the tank. Aspidoras, like other cories, must apparently breathe air even as fry, so if the current water height (30 cm) is too high for them to surface, they might drown. In addition, I have far too many shrimp and shrimplets here, which can't really pick off the eggs but certainly do compete with the larvae for edible detritus.
In any case, these are nice and rewarding fish. Hopefully I will be able to succeed in hatching bigger groups. I will update with growth logs as this batch develops.
