Above: In this picture is a nice young premium quality Venezuelan Orange Spot Corydoras Catfish, swimming in one of our aquariums, when one of us snapped this picture.

Comments: These are wonderful dwarf catfish that you rarely see in live fish stores or in online fish stores.

Premium Fish like these catfish are more energetic, more hardy, and more colorful than fish from other sources.

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Origin: The ancestors of Corydoras Catfish lived in the Amazon Rainforests in South America.

Corys are dwarf catfish and are wonderful pet fish that are now found living in aquariums all over the world.

There are many species with a variety of patterns.

Maximum Size: In aquariums, most Cory Cats can grow to be about 2.5" long, including their tails, sometimes larger, but these are dwarf catfish, so they don't get too big.

Behaviors: They like to swim across the bottom using the barbels around their mouths to find tidbits of food.

Then they'll stop to relax for a while, but every once in a while they swim quickly up to the surface of the water for a gulp of air.

Cory Catfish are not aggresssive to other fish.

Compatibility: Some recommended tank mates include, small Tetras like Neon Tetras, small Rasboras, Plecostomus Catfish, Honey Gouramis, and other small fish.

Click here to read more about compatible groups of pet fish.

Temperature: Corydoras can live pretty well from about 70 to 80 degrees F., but they're probably most comfortable from about 75 to 78 degrees F.

Click here to learn about aquarium temperature, aquarium thermometers, and aquarium heaters.

Feeding: Premium Fish Food Flakes.

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Water Conditions: Corydoras seem to be tolerant of a wide range of water conditions.

Probably a pH of about 7 with moderate hardness is best. Most water in the US has a higher pH and is harder but seems to be OK, so it's probably best NOT to adjust the pH or the hardness of the water.

Here in our facilities the water is hard and the pH is usually about 7.8.

We ship them in this water.

Aquarium Size: It's probably best to house these fish in at least a 15-gallon tank, but more is better.

Keep at most one Cory per gallon, when they are small, and 2 or 3-gallons per Cory, when they are full grown.

Decor: Corydoras do not need gravel, and a layer of gravel more than 1/4" thick will usually fill with bits of uneaten food that will contaminate the water.

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Live plants are beautiful, improve the water quality, and are enjoyed by Corydoras. Water Sprite and Java Ferns are very good plants for Corydoras.

Non-toxic driftwood is also very good. Click here for more about aquarium plants.

Aquarium Filter: Bio-Wheel Filters are highly recommended.

A Penguin 100B Filter in an aquarium with 15 to 20-gallons of water is ideal, and a Penguin 200B Filter is the right size for a 20 to 30-gallon aquarium. Click here to learn more about aquarium filters.

The addition of Lava Rocks will keep nitrates in the ideal range. Click here to learn more about using Lava Rocks in aquariums.

Life Span: Cory Cats can live for a few years, maybe several years with excellent care.

Gender: As they mature, the females will fill with eggs and get plumper. But it's usually not easy to see.

Breeding: Some Corydoras are rather easy to breed others are very difficult.

Cooler water will often trigger spawning, and the females scatter sticky eggs on the glass and plants.

The eggs hatch in a few days, and some may grow up in an aquarium, if there are not too many hungry small fish that try to eat them.

Popularity: For a long-long time Corys have been very popular aquarium fish.

Names: Corydoras is the name of the genus, which contains many species. This is a Corydoras, but the exact species name is unknow to us.

Variations: There are many species of Corydoras Catfish, and each species has a unique pattern.

Click here for a lot more information about keeping and caring for Corydoras, including a picture gallery.

We hope you've enjoyed reading these comments.