Hi there! It's been awhile. I have been busy, recently. I just bought a 24x12x12 indoor glass aquarium. And I bought 2 Oranda goldfish, 3 angelfish, and 2 CORYDORAS!!!
Yes, you read it right. And there's a really good reason why.
When I was a kid, the first ever bottom feeders I had were these "janitors" called corydoras, or cory fish, as commonly called.
According to wikipedia, "Corydoras is a genus of freshwater catfish in the family Callichthyidae and subfamily Corydoradinae. The species usually have more restricted areas of endemism than other callichthyids, but the area of distribution of the entire genus almost equals the area of distribution of the family, except for Panama where Corydoras is not present.[1] Corydoras species are distributed in South America where found east of the Andes to the Atlantic coast, from Trinidad to the Río de la Plata drainage in northern Argentina.[2] Species assigned to Corydoras display a broad diversity of body shapes and coloration.[3] Corydoras are small fish, ranging from 2.5 to 12 cm (1.0 to 4.7 in) in SL.,[2] and are protected from predators by their body armor and by their sharp, typically venomous spines."
There's always this question being raised by my fellow fishkeepers, as to "why not just get a pleco?"
Wikipedia defines it as, "Hypostomus plecostomus, also known as the suckermouth catfish or the common pleco, is a tropical fish belonging to the armored catfish family (Loricariidae), named for the armor-like longitudinal rows of scutes that cover the upper parts of the head and body (the lower surface of head and abdomen is naked). Although the name Hypostomus plecostomus is often used to refer to common plecostomus sold in aquarium shops, most are actually members of other genera.[8][1]
Suckermouth catfish are of little or no value as a food fish, although they are at least occasionally consumed over their native range.A demand exists for them, however, in the aquarium trade."
Now, why didn't I get the "Pleco" janitor fish? Well, one reason is it's size. the Cories that I have, only grow to about 2.5 to 3 inches in length. While plecos grow up to 12 inches, even bigger! 2nd reason is, cories move around more, which I like to see in my aquarium. While plecos stays in one place, only moving when they are looking for food. 3rd, is how it looks. The cories are prettier than the plecos (write a comment if you think so, otherwise). And 4th, they actually CLEAN UP, hence the term "janitor fish".
Please note, that this is actually just my honest opinion.
There are actually other bottom feeders, or algae eaters which are more attractive than the corydoras, one of them being the "rainbow shark".
Now you'd ask me, "why didn't you go for the rainbow shark?" Well, I have 2 answers; 1 being "availability", and 2 being "pricey".
Yes, In my area, plecos are the most common and cheapest bottom dwellers, and can even be caught for free in rivers. Rainbow sharks, although common in pet shops, are a little bit pricey. Corydoras, on the other hand, fall around the middle range when it comes to price.
As a person whose fishkeeping hobby just made a comeback, I prefer to have fishes which I already had before. That way, I would know how to take care of it. That is why, on my previous post, I talked about the mollies, guppies, platies, and swordtails. However, there is on new type of fish in my new aquarium, and that's the angelfish. Which was actually my daughter's request. I still have a few things to learn about this magnificent fish, which I will be talking about in my next blog.
Have a nice day, and Happy Fish Keeping!
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