Guapore cory

Corydoras guapore

FreshwaterFish

Care at a glance

Temperature: 72–82°F (22–28°C)
pH: 6.0–7.5
Adult size: 2 in (5 cm)
Minimum tank: 16 gal (60 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Schooling
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Easy
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Bolivia, Brazil
Family: Callichthyidae

Overview

The Guapore cory is a peaceful, hardy shoaler that needs a group of at least six to behave naturally. Unlike most cories, it does not stay glued to the floor: it feeds along the bottom but spends a lot of time hovering and swimming up in the water column, so it enjoys open space as well as a sandy foraging area. Keep it with small, calm community fish. Feed sinking pellets, frozen bloodworm and daphnia, and wafers, making sure enough reaches the substrate. A lively group is comfortable in a tank of around 60 liters or larger.

In the wild

Corydoras guapore is native to the Rio Guapore basin along the Bolivia and Brazil border, in warm, soft, clear flowing water over sand. Provide a soft sand bed, driftwood, and shaded planting, with clean, well oxygenated water and gentle current. It suits a warm range of about 22 to 28 C and a pH from 6.0 to 7.5. Give it open water as well as floor space.

Good to know

This armored catfish of the family Callichthyidae reaches about 5 cm and takes its name from the Rio Guapore, its home river. It is unusual in its subfamily for behaving as a midwater species rather than a strict bottom dweller. Regular aquarium spawning is not widely recorded, though the group lays sticky eggs the female holds briefly between her pelvic fins before attaching them.

Did you know

Most cories are committed bottom huggers, but the Guapore cory breaks the mold: it naturally forms loose aggregations that hover and swim well up in open water, and it was even formally redescribed as a midwater member of the group.