Talk:Corydoras

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[edit] Corydoras species

Hello, I noticed that articles for a lot of corydoras species have been created - great work especially user:Neil916.

I just wanted to suggest that the temp data should be taken with a grain of salt - these seem to be typical 'in the aquarium' figures (a bit like a centrally heated house). However in the wild a much wider range of temperatures are encountered - reports of corydoras happily shoaling around in water as cool as 15 degrees (I'll try to find a citation for this). Please don't forget to use the "in the aquarium" sub section as recommended in Wikiproject fishes - for aquarium related data. I imagine similar comments apply to water hardness? Thanks.HappyVR 09:45, 20 June 2006 (UTC) Here for 'hot' and 'cold' corys, http://www.corydorasworld.com/articles/erik_schiller/climatic_aspects_of_keeping_armoured_catfishes Still looking for the article on corydoras in the wild.HappyVR 10:02, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

Actually, all of the temperature data are for their natural habitat directly from Fishbase, and do vary somewhat by species, although most species of Corys also listed a rather generic 6-8 pH and 2-25 dGH hardness. When I created the articles, I added the basic framework just from Fishbase. Then I've been going back and adding information from various other sources that I have, a project which is still in progress. My Burgess reference indicates that some of the higher-altitude species of corys tolerate water as cold as 10° to 12°C, and some of the more tropical species can tolerate water to 32°C. The article on Sailfin corydoras mentions that it is a subtropical species and is found in water ranging from 18°C to 21°C. There may be other subtropical or high altitude species that you are thinking about that don't have articles yet. I only created articles that had at least a smidgen of information in the Burgess reference that I can go back and add.

I haven't gotten to the "in the aquarium" sections very much yet, but it's coming. From what I've seen, the "in the aquarium" temperature range seems to be much broader than their tropical waters, which don't fluctuate that much. Since most of the various species have the same requirements and needs for care, it will likely be just a cut-and-paste operation. Neil916 15:07, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

I was just a bit concerned that the fishbase data had been entered by someone who had typed 25 for every species of cory - however as you have a specialised source that should help to check if the fishbase data is overly generic. The 15degree ref I'm still looking for (it was a report of a field trip - can't remember much more) might just have been on the one cold day after some ocean brought rain - so maybe didn't represent an accurate day to day temp. Sorry to jump in while work was still in progress - good work anyway.HappyVR 17:27, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

Certainly the "generic" FishBase info should be taken out of the individual species' articles if not independently verified by other references; it appears to me that they just copy/pasted. Having kept various species of corys myself, I can only say that I am seriously in doubt whether some of the spp would survive long under such conditions (especially regarding hardness; they are usually far more tolerant as regards temperature). The Aquarien Atlas series, especially the newer volumes, are usually a much superior reference as these have attempted to incorporate field data. Dysmorodrepanis 00:00, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] pH requirement

I notice that in different places, the article says that corys like either neutral to alkaline water, or slightly acid water.

I haven't kept the fishes in several years and don't have an opinion, but this article should take a firm position.

CarlFink 22:10, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

This differs between species, and is to be remarked there. Dysmorodrepanis 00:00, 5 January 2007 (UTC)