Anyone know what species this is?

[itsjoe]

I brought 3 loaches from my local fish store and have forgotten there species name

I think they might of been YoYo loaches but looking at the images on the site they don't seem to carry the same pattern on them, I have only had them for about 2 weeks and would also like to know how big they are when they are adults.

Thanks for all the help



Sorry for the poor quality.. it was off my phone camera and the loaches swim away when ever i get close

[Emma Turner]

Hi there,

You actually have some Corydoras catfish there, not loaches. You might like to have a look at this link to help identify them:

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/fa ... amily_id=1

Best wishes,
Emma

[itsjoe]

Ohh sorry for posting in the loach forum then but I thought it was a loach.. Anyway thanks for the help! I have had a quick search and found out I have the Cory Sterbai species

[starsplitter7]

I don't think they are sterbais, maybe Three-lined Cories. Cories are wonderufl little fish. They like all types of foods.

[Barracuda518]

Its hard to tell from that picture.

The problem with the stripped and spotted Corydoras is there are so many. The only true way to identify most of them is too know where they were caught.

But, like starsplitter7 said, all cories are awesome

[Diana]

C. sterbai have orange pectoral fins. I cannot see the pectoral fins well enough in that picture.
C. trilineatus is rather distinctly lined. The 'tri' means 3. These are a spotted Cory, and along the center of each side of the fish the spots come together so there are alternating black and white lines running most of the length of the fish.
That picture does not look like tris. The spots do seem to come together into lines, but not quite the same way as I have seen in C. trilineatus.
C. julii is similar to a tri, but the spots do not come together into 3 stripes.

There are quite a few other Cories, many spotted ones.

Look at the patten on the head. Is it spotted like the rest of the fish? Different? Does the fish have a black mask?
Look at the dorsal fin for coloring. Some are spotted like the body, some striped, some have a black or orange blotch.

By comparing all these to the pictures at Planet Catfish you might find the species.

As suggested above, some Cories are just barely different from each other, and knowing the catch location (for wild caught) can help.

Many Cories will breed in aquariums, so a lot of them in stores are captive bred.

[Rusty]

The lines aren't defined enough for them to be Trilineatus or Julii. And it has no spot on its dorsal fin.

They are most likely Sterbai. It is also shown by the spotting on the head, leading to more maze like lines along the body.
Trilineatus has the maze design on its head , as does Julii, and both these species sport a black spot on their dorsal fin.

Edit just to note, corydoras can be shy and relatively unhappy unless in a group of 6 or more, if possible, try and fetch 3 more Sterbai, whilst cory's will mix and shoal with other species of cory, they prefer to be with their own breed.

[starsplitter7]

I think of corry groups like this: Same species are like family, mixed species are like friends. I have about 40 Cories. THey all hang out together. There are about 8 species. I try not to keep any with less than 5 of a specific species. The more the merrier. Just like Rusty said, they need a group of the same species.

[Rusty]

I think of corry groups like this: Same species are like family, mixed species are like friends. I have about 40 Cories. THey all hang out together. There are about 8 species. I try not to keep any with less than 5 of a specific species. The more the merrier. Just like Rusty said, they need a group of the same species.

My tri-lines and peppered cory's shoal together quite often, but funnily enough they never wanted to be around the Panda corys.
I always thought that was odd.

[starsplitter7]

My Pandas hang out with Bandits and Skunks (have to look up the real name -- look similar to Skunk Cories). I find the pandas to be a little less hearty.

[itsjoe]

Well thanks for all the help.. I think I'm going to go back to where i got them and hopefully find out for sure what species they are and even pick up a couple more seeing Rusty says they like a group of around 6. The guy said they needed to be in a minimum group of 3 at the time but mores better i guess and they wont get picked on as much by the bigger fish in the tank.

[starsplitter7]

What are the bigger fish in the tank? Are they picking on the cories? If they are, the cories will die. Cories are extremely peaceful, sweet fish. Cories need to be in a tank with really peaceful fish.

[itsjoe]

Bristlenose Catfish X1 (Roughly 4/5")
3 spotted gourami X1 (Roughly 3")
Black/Silver Angelfish X1 (Fully Grown)
Albino Bristlenose X2 (Still young 1" big each)

The Anglefish does get a little bit angry sometimes but usually just chases the gourami around for a few seconds.. Havnt seen any harm to either of the fish since I got them which is rougthly around 6 months ago. Only comes in contact with the Corys when theres a algea wafer next to them

Water qualitys great, full of floating plants (dull ones but keep the water good).. No ammonia and Nitrite but the nitrate is usually around 5ppm or less but i belive thats a safe level.

Im approaching the Inch per gallon rule i believe when all the fish are fully grown (running 20gal setup) so I might have to buy another setup and have a properly planted one which look awsome but cost alot

[starsplitter7]

Those guys shouldn't bother your cories. Keep an eye on them to make sure that there's no major problems. Cories are lovely fish.

Do not pay too much attention to the 1" per gallon rule. THat's pretty much a hoax. For example, you couldn't keep a 6" Oscar in a 20 gallon. Too big of a fish and too much waste. However 20 Neons probably wouldn't be a problem, even with a small group of cories. Less body space and much less waste. I would say you are definitely ready to start looking for a 55 gallon or bigger. Don't get ride of the 20, you can use that one too. I have 9 tanks because I am learning.