I love these little creatures, and recommend them to any one who has an aquarium. Not only are they cute, but also they possess a character all to themselves. Each species presents an unusual flair for winning your heart and they are great for stirring up debris in your tank. I began keeping Cory Cats when I purchased my first pair 4 years ago as I stumbled through this hobby. Little did I know what a profound effect they could have on me.

The first two Cories I purchased did so well and somehow managed to survive my many blunders, as I began my journey into this hobby. As they grew, I found 4 more and this completed my group of Corydoras Aeneus. They were housed in a 10-gallon set-up with an undergravel filter, cheap hang on power filter and a couple of Mollies plus 10 Bloodfin Tetras.

One April, in the late evening I did a large water change, fed them and turned off the lights. The next morning I left early to make my rounds at the local flea market. Upon returning, I discovered white transparent eggs on the glass and my few Amazon Sword plants. I screamed at my husband - yes screamed - to come and look at what I saw. He just stared at me as if I was losing my mind as I pointed to the eggs. I quickly removed the all the fish, turned off the power filter and rushed to the nearest LFS, 30 miles away, for another tank and shrimp eggs. My computer had led me into the realm of fishkeeping and information on egglayers, but did nothing to prepare me for this excitement.

I followed the direction for hatching the baby Brine Shrimp and spent the rest of the time with my nose pressed to the tank, hoping to see a glimpse of a wiggle. Twenty-four hours passed and no sign of any fry. Some of the eggs had turned snow white but many had looked if something had broken free. I would later learn that the male had not fertilized the white eggs, and the eggs had fungus. After a couple of days as I was staring into the tank, I saw something dart across the gravel. It was too small for me to see what it was. Within a week, I saw several wiggles across the tank and after putting in a small amount of live brine shrimp there were many more.

One morning as I was watching the Cory fry I spotted something. It was hanging on the glass of the tank about half way up. What could these be, surely not Cory fry. They were to be on the bottom of the tank, not sticking to the glass midway. If these were fry they had to be from the Bloodfin Tetras, they were way too small to be Mollie fry. They just had to be Tetra fry, but how was this possible. I grabbed my magnifying glass and all that was visible was 2 eyes and a body that resembled a sliver of glass. As I continue to probe the tank, I saw more fry hanging on the glass. I decided to feed the fry a powdered egg layer food I had purchased when I went to the LFS.

Within a couple of weeks I counted 15 Bloodfin Tetra fry swimming on top of the tank and several Cory fry on the bottom. The Tetras must have spawned the same time the Cories had. I pondered on the Tetra fry, how would these tiny things survive my inexperience at fishkeeping?

I searched the Net for info on caring for Tetra fry and found several good articles. I followed the advice of several top Tetra and Cory breeders and soon my fry were growing. One evening I saw a Cory fry swimming up the undergravel filer tube. I panicked, how was I going to get him out and how did he get there and why was he so much bigger than the other fry. I decided to move them into a plain bare bottom 10-gallon tank I had with just a sponge filter. I slowly began the task of catching the small Cories in a net, praying that I would not harm them. Soon, I had around a 65 Cory fry. After settling the Cories in their new home, I sat pondering how was I going to remove the Tetra fry. I decided to use a small clear cup I used for feeding live brine shrimp. This worked wonderfully. Soon I had 11 Bloodfin Tetra fry added to the Cory tank. Now! How was I going to get that larger Cory fry?

I decided I would have to drain the water from the old tank all but a couple of inches. Then somehow remove the undergravel plate without harming the larger Cory fry. I began to lift up the plate slowly, hoping the remaining gravel would not fall on the Cory and kill or hurt it. I managed to get the plate out and could not believe all the debris I found. Soon I saw the larger Cory and 2 more. How long had they been there? Certainly from their size they were not of the new Cories. I managed to catch them all and place them with their parents. Just as I was about to pour out the water I saw another fry, only this one had something wrong with it. It could not swim well. I managed to get it in my clear cup and then I saw what had happened. It had spent its life under the filter, crowded and unable to grow properly, resulting in a bent body.

Since that day, I have never used an undergravel filter or recommended it to any one. My fry continued to grow and many were given to friends. The Bloodfin Tetras grew and I managed to raise 11. I lost the original parent's years later to a nitrite spike in one of my many tanks. I do have 1 left from them. This story doesn't end here: it goes on as I pursue my dream of having many species of these delightful Catfish.