Put the Floor at the Centre of the Feeding Notes
Written notes for a corydoras sitter should begin where the fish live: on the substrate. Explain that corydoras catfish cannot compete for flakes at the surface and rely on food that sinks, then name the exact wafer or pellet you use, how many to drop, and where in the tank to drop them so the group finds them quickly. Give the feeding time that matches the shoal's active period, often as the lights begin to dim, and ask the sitter to watch for a minute to confirm the food reached the floor instead of being carried off by mid-water tank mates. That single observation, written into the routine, prevents the classic holiday outcome of fat surface fish above thin corydoras.
Specify Amounts Like Someone Who Has Never Kept Fish
A corydoras sitter who keeps no fish of their own cannot interpret a pinch or a small amount, so write quantities as counts: this many wafers, broken this way, once a day, and no second round if the group seems hungry, because a foraging shoal always seems hungry. State that food still visible on the gravel the next morning means the previous portion was too large and should be reduced, and leave the small net or siphon for lifting leftovers out. Mention that corydoras also pick at the same soft foods the rest of the tank receives only if those foods sink, so the sitter should not add extra floating food intended for them. Clarity here protects the substrate, which is where this species meets its water quality.
Keep Water Care Modest, Prepared and Described
For water care, ask for a daily glance rather than a project: check the thermometer reads in the usual range, confirm the filter hums and moves the surface, and top up evaporation only with the conditioned water you have prepared and labelled. Tell the sitter not to perform a water change during a short absence unless you ask for one by phone, and never to scrub the gravel or replace filter media, because disturbing the floor of a corydoras tank releases the waste the shoal then has to breathe through. Note where the test kit lives and the one result, ammonia showing any colour change, that should trigger a message to you rather than any home remedy.
Describe a Normal Evening for the Shoal
Give the sitter a picture of ordinary corydoras behaviour so worry lands in the right places. The group rests together in a loose line or cluster during quiet hours, then works the substrate in bursts, barbels sweeping, with occasional quick trips to the surface that are normal for this species. One fish sitting apart all day, barbels looking short or ragged, or several fish breathing fast while resting on the gravel are the findings worth reporting. Include the rough head count of the shoal, since a sitter who knows the group size can say whether everyone appeared at feeding time, which is the most useful daily report a corydoras owner can get from a distance.
Turn the Notes Into the Standing Handover
When you return, ask the sitter what confused them and fold the answer into the document, particularly around how much sinking food the group actually cleared. A corydoras routine refined over two or three trips becomes genuinely precise, and it deserves a permanent home rather than a fresh rewrite each holiday. Keeping the finished notes in your KinsLe Care Pass gives the next trusted sitter clear temporary access to this shoal's feeding counts, water rules and warning signs, written in the order the jobs actually happen at the tank.