The Green gold catfish (Corydoras melanotaenia) is a Colombia native. This catfish is chiefly found in Rio Manacacias, a tributary of the Rio Meta, but have been spotted in other parts of Colombia as well. The preferred water temperature is 23 – 25°C, the pH 6.5 and the dH range 2 – 25. The Green gold catfish can grow up to 6 cm.
Pairing
As with most other Corydoras species, it is probably easier to achieve Corydoras melanotaenia spawning if you keep a group containing several males instead of just one male. You can get a group of juveniles and let them grow up together; this way they will do their own pairing.
Breeding Corydoras melanotaenia
A well planted aquarium is recommended. You can for instance use Java fern and Java moss. Corydoras melanotaenia can be quite anxious, so including a lot of good hiding places is important if you want to breed Corydoras melanotaenia.
Triggering spawning
Just like in many other Corydora species, environmental changer can trigger spawning in Corydoras melanotaenia. You can for instance keep your fish at 23°C to begin with, then increase the temperature to 25°C and keep it like that for two weeks. The next step is to do a 40% water change using water colder than 18ºC. Changes in pH-value can also trigger spawning, and it is therefore a good idea to use water with a pH-value over 8.0 for the water change. If you normally keep the water at pH 6.5, the pH-value should be increased to a least 6.9.
Food is another important aspect to take into account when you try to trigger Corydoras melanotaenia spawning. Feed your fish a varied diet that contains several plenty of meaty food, e.g. grindal worms and white worms. Ideally supplement this with flake food or catfish tablets to make sure that your fish receive all necessary vitamins and minerals.
A Corydoras melanotaenia in good condition, including specimens that are getting ready to breed, will display a more pronounced coloration.
Spawning
Corydoras melanotaenia can use various substrates as spawning sites, including plant leaves, spawning mops and aquarium glass. Sometimes the eggs will be places near the surface, sometimes rather close to the bottom. The eggs have an ivory color and are no larger than 1.5 mm.
Egg and fry rearing
Corydoras melanotaenia parents can eat their own offspring, and using a separate fry rearing aquarium is therefore recommended if you want a high survival rate. If not, you can leave the eggs with the parents and make sure that there are plenty of hiding spots in the aquarium.
Adding methylene blue to the rearing aquarium can reduce the risk of fungi attacks. Equipping the rearing aquarium with an airstone is also good idea.
Egg and fry development
When the eggs are first laid, they will be of an ivory color. During the second day, fertilized eggs will change into a tan color. Removing unfertilized eggs is really important, since they function as breeding grounds for fungi and bacteria. The first eggs will normally begin to hatch on the third or fourth day. When the yolk sacs have been consumed, you can start feeding your
Corydoras melanotaenia fry microworms. When the fry is roughly one week of age, they can be introduced to newly hatched brine shrimp. At two weeks of age,
Corydoras melanotaenia fry look like tiny copies of their parents but without the adult fin coloration. Frequent water changes are imperative when breeding
Corydoras melanotaenia. Live food and dead eggs and/or fry tend to pollute the water a lot.
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