Meet The Hardy Green Cory Catfish: All You Need To Know

Green Cory Catfish do a lot for your freshwater environment. They’ll help keep the tank clean, they’re fun to water, and they get along great with many other fish species. Keep reading to learn more about this excellent beginner catfish.

Where Does The Green Cory Catfish Come From?

This beautiful catfish is native to South America. Green Cory Catfish inhabit slow-moving waters around the border of Argentina and Uruguay.

For example, this fish is often found in slow rivers or streams. However, they have been found in faster rivers sometimes.

In addition, they prefer to stay in shallow, muddy water areas.

In the wild, this fish can tolerate stagnant waters. In a home tank, you’ll often see them swim to the top for a gulp of air before swimming back down to the bottom.

Green Cory Catfish Appearance

The Green Cory Catfish goes by a few nicknames, such as the Bronze Cory or the Bronze Corydoras.

These nicknames come from their color, which can be green or bronze. However, this fish can also be albino or black.

Unfortunately, this species is one of many that are sometimes injected with dyes. These dyes enhance the coloring of their scales but cause health issues within the fish.

If you happen to know if the fish have been injected with dyes, don’t buy them. You don’t want to support the seller.

Known as plates or scutes, this fish is covered in overlapping scales.

Also, their fins have a spine, which can lock in place. This is a way for the catfish to protect themselves against predators, making it harder for them to be swallowed.

Green Cory Catfish Care

There’s much to love about the Green Cory Catfish. Proper pet care for this fish species will allow them to live long, happy, healthy lives.

Behavior

This aquarium fish is a schooling species. So, if you’re going to get one, you’ll want to have at least five of them together.

Overall, Green Corys are peaceful and friendly. They won’t do well in a tank filled with aggressive or semi-aggressive fish.

You’ll want to fill your tank with other community fish, such as Tetras, Swordtails, and livebearers.

This fish is often found at the bottom of the tank, scouring for leftover food.

Tank Setup

Every individual fish has its own needs to thrive in its environment. Green Cory Catfish are no exception. The chart below explains what you need to know about a proper aquarium setup for this fish species.

The minimum tank size is about 25 gallons since this fish can grow to be up to 2.5 inches long. In addition, they’re also schooling fish. Green Cory Catfish will do well in at least groups of three. However, six is the ideal number.

If you want to give them extra wiggle room, an aquarium size of about 30 to 40 gallons is a good idea. 

Also, the tank should be well-lit with standard lighting. LED white lights work well. You can have blue lights on at night or leave the tank dark at bedtime.

When it comes to a substrate, fine gravel or sand is ideal. Green Cory Catfish are scavengers. They’ll pick through the flooring to find leftover food and other waste.

It’s important to vacuum the gravel at least once a week to clean up whatever the catfish don’t. Otherwise, your fish could get sick, especially the catfish. A proper filtration system and 10% water changes each week will help.

Finally, water flow should be low to medium. This fish species does well in stagnant water. They also can breathe air, so you may see them darting to the surface for a quick gulp of air before returning to the bottom of the tank. 

Feeding

Since Cory Catfish are bottom dwellers, they’ll take whatever scraps and leftovers they can find. However, that’s not a sustainable diet.

You can provide pellets or flakes for this fish. To help with added nutrients, you can give them sinking algae wafers for them to snack on.

On the other hand, Green Cory Catfish are omnivores and can enjoy live foods. You can provide them with bloodworms, blackworms, daphnia, and baby brine shrimp.

If you give your fish live food, use tongs to place them at the bottom of the tank. Otherwise, other fish may eat the live food first as they sink to the bottom.

Health And Aquarium Care

With proper care, Green Cory Catfish have an average lifespan of about five to ten years. Great care of this fish includes a healthy diet and a clean aquarium.

Since these fish scour the bottom for food, you’ll need to clean it at least once a week to ensure they don’t eat too-old food.

In addition, the dirty substrate can harm and infect your fish’s barbels, which they use to pick at the floor. If their barbels get infected, then they could die.

Siphon the gravel at least once a week during your routine water change. About once a month, you can do a deep clean, changing about 25% of the water.

With all water changes, treat the water, getting rid of harmful metals and chemicals in the tap water.

In addition, test the water to ensure the pH, ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite levels are where they should be. 

Breeding Green Cory Catfish

Females of this species are typically larger than the males. This is because they have rounder abdomens. 

Green Cory Catfish are egglayers. During courtship, the males will pursue the female at an overwhelming pace. When the female is ready to reciprocate, she’ll look for suitable places in the tank to lay her eggs. The female will excessively clean those appropriate areas before pursuing the male.

When they get into a T pose, this releases sperm while the female hold one to ten eggs in her pelvic fins. She’ll then lay the eggs in the spots she cleaned.

This process is called spawning. The fish will continue to spawn for a few days until all the female’s eggs are released. The number of eggs fertilized will be anywhere between 100 and 200. 

Once the spawning process is over, and all the eggs are laid, you’ll want to remove the adults from the tank. Otherwise, they’ll eat the eggs.

You can remove the eggs and place them in a separate breeding tank, but the eggs will be fragile. Wait 24 hours before moving them and carefully place them in the new tank.

The eggs will hatch within four to five days. During this time and the frys’ first few weeks of living, routine water changes will need to be made to keep the tank as clean as possible and boost the growth and health of the fry.

Question Corner: FAQs About The Green Cory Catfish

If you’re looking into adding a few Green Cory Catfish to your aquarium, you can read more about them through the frequently asked questions answered below. 

Where Can You Get A Green Cory Catfish?

Green Cory Catfish are well-known and relatively popular. You’ll be able to find this fish at your local pet store or anywhere that sells live fish.

What’s The Average Cost Of The Green Cory Catfish?

You can expect to spend anywhere between $5 and $100 for a single Green Cory Catfish.

Are Green Cory Catfish Hardy Fish?

Yes, this particular catfish is hardy. They’re resilient in the tank, especially around other community, peaceful fish. 

Are Green Cory Catfish Good For Beginners?

Yes, this fish species is an excellent choice for beginner fish keepers. Not only are they easy to care for, but they’re hardy and will help keep the tank clean.

Are Green Cory Catfish Freshwater Or Saltwater Fish?

Green Cory Catfish are freshwater fish. Unfortunately, they can’t tolerate any amount of salt. So, remove the catfish first if you need to treat your tank with salt.

Should You Add Green Cory Catfish To Your Tank?

If you have a freshwater aquarium with other peaceful schooling fish, then a few Green Cory Catfish will be an excellent addition. They help keep the tank clean, they’re friendly with other fish, and they’re fun to watch.

Rachel

Rachel Poli is a content writer and author, but her real job is being a stay-at-home pet mom. Her zoo currently consists of a dog, a cat, two turtles, and two fish tanks. She’s also an avid pet sitter for a few local families, caring for various animals.

After realizing how little information there is for pet sitters on the internet, Rachel decided to start her own animal website. She strives to educate pet parents and pet sitters about the overall care of our furry friends.