Trouble finding C. Davidsandsi

These are my two little buddies who were identified as Davidsandsi by my local fish shop. I've had them for over 5 years now since I first started the hobby! They had a full school of almost 12 others that unfortunately took losses when I made the rookie mistake of doing a complete substrate change in the first year.

These two have been trucking along together ever since and I've been unable to find anywhere to replenish their numbers. The local store said they were wild caught and no matter how many times I called in hoping for a new batch they were never in stock again.

Does anyone have a recommendation of how/where I can find some Davidsandsi to make them a full school again? They are very happy little guys that stick together like glue, but I know it's much better for them to have at least 5 or more in number. Any help is appreciated!

Corydoras davidsandsi was described by Black in 1987. I was fortunate to find them in an incredible local aquarium store in the mid 1990's when they were still not really known in the hobby, and I had a group of five (in with around 30-40 cories of a few different species). They are gone now, and I don't think anyone here has had them since then.

They bear a striking resemblance to C. melini, first two photos below are this species, third is C. davidsandsi for comparison.

A group is obviously best, but fortunately with cories they can be combined from different species, and the more the merrier. I did this in my 115g Amazon riverscape, with some 70 cories representative of 12 species. Some were just two or three, found alone in this or that store. They all chum around together, though admittedly there is some interaction among individuals of a species when I had five or six or seven of that species. Spawning occurred regularly, and I let nature takes its course, but rescued a few fry now and then from the canister filter.

I was going to ask Ian Fuller if this species is available somewhere, but he is based in the UK and would likely not know about Texas fish stores. Iwill ask on his FB site CorydorasWorld as members in the USA might know.

Byron said:

Corydoras davidsandsi was described by Black in 1987. I was fortunate to find them in an incredible local aquarium store in the mid 1990's when they were still not really known in the hobby, and I had a group of five (in with around 30-40 cories of a few different species). They are gone now, and I don't think anyone here has had them since then.

They bear a striking resemblance to C. melini, first two photos below are this species, third is C. davidsandsi for comparison.

A group is obviously best, but fortunately with cories they can be combined from different species, and the more the merrier. I did this in my 115g Amazon riverscape, with some 70 cories representative of 12 species. Some were just two or three, found alone in this or that store. They all chum around together, though admittedly there is some interaction among individuals of a species when I had five or six or seven of that species. Spawning occurred regularly, and I let nature takes its course, but rescued a few fry now and then from the canister filter.

I was going to ask Ian Fuller if this species is available somewhere, but he is based in the UK and would likely not know about Texas fish stores. Iwill ask on his FB site CorydorasWorld as members in the USA might know.

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Thanks so much for your response and the information! I'm very much a casual hobbyist as I can really only fit a 20 gallon in my apartment. Davidsandsi were my first ever fish when I started alongside a single creamsicle lyretail. I learned a lot with them, including that Cory's have sensitive barbels that can get easily damaged. It was in my naivete that I did a complete substrate change in the hopes it would stop the Cory's from getting infected barrels from the rough substrate.

Due to the 20-gallon size limitation, I have been hesitant to fill in their numbers with a different species as the other species would also be incomplete and I wasn't sure if that was healthy to have two incomplete schools together. I tried to fill in the gaps with gold laser corydoras but they were tremendously temperamental and would often pass with no obvious cause despite my water parameters. Over the past year I've finally achieved equilibrium with all thriving fish and consistent water parameters. I have 2 gold lasers and the 2 davidsandsi, but the gold lasers are insanely shy and never seem to interact with the davidsandsi whatsoever. I have room for a few more based on my regular readings and was hoping to maybe fill in the davidsandsi again.

I really appreciate your insight and assistance!

You are welcome. Cories are a passion with me.

Is this a standard 20g high, or a 20g long? The former is 24 inches (60 cm) length and the latter is 30 inches (75 cm) length. The 20g long is preferable, but don't worry if it is a standard 20g. I still recommend 10-12 cories. They are not "active swimmers" like danios and some other fish, so space while it is important is not overly so. A group of 10-20 will unquestionably be healthier, less stressed, and thus have less impact on the biological system. Give them lots of surfaces, like chunks of wood on the substrate, standing wood representing tree trunks, and plants including surface plants to provide some shade which will furth settle them. And feed them Bug Bites, it is unquestionably the best prepared food for cories and most upper fish. In the habitats cories eat insect larvae, insects and crustaceans, pretty much in that order. Frozen daphnia is good, and frozen shrimp, as treats perhaps. When I poured the thawed frozen daphnia in my cory tank, the activity was phenomenal. Bug Bites had the same effect.

Byron said:

You are welcome. Cories are a passion with me.

Is this a standard 20g high, or a 20g long? The former is 24 inches (60 cm) length and the latter is 30 inches (75 cm) length. The 20g long is preferable, but don't worry if it is a standard 20g. I still recommend 10-12 cories. They are not "active swimmers" like danios and some other fish, so space while it is important is not overly so. A group of 10-20 will unquestionably be healthier, less stressed, and thus have less impact on the biological system. Give them lots of surfaces, like chunks of wood on the substrate, standing wood representing tree trunks, and plants including surface plants to provide some shade which will furth settle them. And feed them Bug Bites, it is unquestionably the best prepared food for cories and most upper fish. In the habitats cories eat insect larvae, insects and crustaceans, pretty much in that order. Frozen daphnia is good, and frozen shrimp, as treats perhaps. When I poured the thawed frozen daphnia in my cory tank, the activity was phenomenal. Bug Bites had the same effect.

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It's a standard 20 I believe. I have been hoping to upgrade to just a little bigger during a sale as I can probably squeeze it in there, but I'm nervous as I've finally achieved equilibrium and haven't had an issue in over a year. But I know it would be better for them in the long run.

Here's what I've got going on this afternoon! I feed a smattering of Vibra Bites, Bottom Feeder Tablets (everyone in the tank LOVES these), Micro bites, frozen baby brine shrimp, and frozen blood worms. It's a little different every day.

My betta gets the bug bites too in his own 10g, but I never considered dropping them into the 20.

Usually, I have lots of large lily pads they love but the red lily isn't doing so well this week. The logs I got are great and the cories all love to huddle under them. The gold lasers especially like to live under the big one on the left and the very last picture you can see the head of one of them right next to the banana plant. They have always been super shy and easy to startle even when they had full numbers of 7. Could never get gold lasers to thrive. Still feel like I'm learning as I go over time.

I like your aquarium, its is a nice aquascape for these fish you have. Definitely increase the cories as I said previously.

On the foods, when they are gone I would change to Fluval Bug Bites for bottom feeders, and Omega One shrimp pellets. Frozen shrimp is OK, frozen bloodworms no more than once a week. Frozen foods are generally not very nutritious, but they are "treats" and fish usually go for them. Hikari foods (dry) I do not like because of what is in them. We have threads on TFF about foods and their ingredients. The two I mention are about the bst for cories, Upper fish will eat the bug bites too. You cold get a flake for the upper fish as well, and New Life Spectrum basic is good.

The sword in the last photo needs help. Seachem's Flourish Tabs are very good, one next to the crown every 3-4 months will make a big difference.

Byron said:

I like your aquarium, its is a nice aquascape for these fish you have. Definitely increase the cories as I said previously.

On the foods, when they are gone I would change to Fluval Bug Bites for bottom feeders, and Omega One shrimp pellets. Frozen shrimp is OK, frozen bloodworms no more than once a week. Frozen foods are generally not very nutritious, but they are "treats" and fish usually go for them. Hikari foods (dry) I do not like because of what is in them. We have threads on TFF about foods and their ingredients. The two I mention are about the bst for cories, Upper fish will eat the bug bites too. You cold get a flake for the upper fish as well, and New Life Spectrum basic is good.

The sword in the last photo needs help. Seachem's Flourish Tabs are very good, one next to the crown every 3-4 months will make a big difference.

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Thanks again! I really appreciate you taking the time. I will definitely do that. Frozen is usually only 1-2 a week, but will definitely keep it to 1 now. I will look up those threads for sure.

I know, right? I do have root tabs that I regularly put down every 3 months, but it wasn't until last week when browsing a subreddit I learned I think I had the roots buried way too deep. I lifted them up out of it recently and reapplied the tabs. Hopefully, it comes back. Also, I monitor the algae weekly but just can't see to keep the black algae from taking over the tops of the sword and anubias which contributes to the issues too. I'm currently working on balancing the light parameters (1pm-5:30pm right now), but also think I need more plants to help combat the algae too. The large red lily leaves were really helping with algae too, but I don't have a way of controlling my light intensity during the timer, just the amount of time it's on.

I also learned recently that floating plants need calmer water and killed off a lot of hornwort by accident. Like I said, definitely still learning, but trying

victoriapfeiffer said:

It's a standard 20 I believe. I have been hoping to upgrade to just a little bigger during a sale as I can probably squeeze it in there, but I'm nervous as I've finally achieved equilibrium and haven't had an issue in over a year. But I know it would be better for them in the long run.

Here's what I've got going on this afternoon! I feed a smattering of Vibra Bites, Bottom Feeder Tablets (everyone in the tank LOVES these), Micro bites, frozen baby brine shrimp, and frozen blood worms. It's a little different every day.

My betta gets the bug bites too in his own 10g, but I never considered dropping them into the 20.
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Usually, I have lots of large lily pads they love but the red lily isn't doing so well this week. The logs I got are great and the cories all love to huddle under them. The gold lasers especially like to live under the big one on the left and the very last picture you can see the head of one of them right next to the banana plant. They have always been super shy and easy to startle even when they had full numbers of 7. Could never get gold lasers to thrive. Still feel like I'm learning as I go over time.
View attachment 320431
View attachment 320432
View attachment 320433

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wow, those are 2 chunky cories! how big were they when you purchased them?
if you want to upgrade to a larger tank, you can move some decorations, plants, mulm, and filter media from the first tank into there first to have the same types of bacteria and such so the tank isn't completely new. This will also speed up your cycle.
i would say cories are sensitive fish, so make sure to have the same sand and also wait longer for the sand to become "aged"

Sgooosh said:

wow, those are 2 chunky cories! how big were they when you purchased them?
if you want to upgrade to a larger tank, you can move some decorations, plants, mulm, and filter media from the first tank into there first to have the same types of bacteria and such so the tank isn't completely new. This will also speed up your cycle.
i would say cories are sensitive fish, so make sure to have the same sand and also wait longer for the sand to become "aged"

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I'd honestly say they were about that same size when I got them. I did read somewhere Davidsandsi are a little bit larger versions of Panda cories. I only feed once a day and sometimes skip a day, so I don't think I'm overfeeding them?

Yeah, my initial big disaster of a newbie mistake 5 years ago was switching my entire substrate from rough black gravel to sand because I was so sad and concerned that the cories kept getting infections on their barbels. That's when I learned how much beneficial bacteria is kept in the substrate because I lost a lot of them to that mistake.

I've seen some larger tanks locally and am waiting for them to go on sale so I can have the right furniture to support such a large size. I know a lot more than I knew then and would definitely start with a slow transfer of items from both my 10g and 20g to help. I'm just still nervous because I've finally got something that's working out okay consistently.

I'm another person who loves those Corys, and I haven't seen davidsandsi for a very long time. It's one of those fish that came in from the wild a few times, and probably only has a few scattered hobbyists breeding it. It doesn't seem to be bred on the fish farms.

@victoriapfeiffer I had a response to my question on CorydorasWorld, I will PM you later, I'm waiting for his follow-up.