Do all albino corys school as long as they are the same color

I started out with just one albino cory from petsmart I think I thought he might need a friend of the same kind so I bought 1 more albino on ebay then one Day went to petco and bought two more albinos .then recently bought 5 more albino corys on eBay. My questions are how likely are all them the same species or will they all school up because they are the same color anyways?

Corys of any color or species all get along but they can tell if they're different species (even when we can't, lol). There are a few species that commonly have albino strains. Paleatus, sterbai, & bronze are the kinds I know but albino isn't too hard to breed for so there may be others now. Sterbai albinos keep their orangish pectoral spines so are easy to tell. There are subtle differences between bronze & paleatus albinos but I don't recall them. Maybe body shape or adult size. I bet CassCats knows!

As mentioned, sterbai keep the yellow pectoral fin spines, but also a faint iridescent spotting where the white spots traditionally would be on a sterbai. They're a rounder, more taller bodied fish than the other two.


Aenea is the most common, they tend to be fairly uniform white, with a slight shimmery stripe down the center and blunt fins


Paleatum have pointed fins, especially if male. Photo'd below are both a male and female. They also have a pink spot at the base of the dorsal fin. You can also make out the iridescent broken blotches along the body in good lighting as well. They're a more pointed fish, have a longer snout than both sterbai and aenea. They have lankier body proportions than aenea.



There are some others nowadays, but they're rare to come across. Aenea and paleatum are the two most encountered, with sterbai being occasionally sold. Panda also has a leucistic form, white with dark eyes. This isn't truly albino though.

Do yall think all these are the same species?

Do all albino corys school as long as they are the same color​

The answer is "no" but they can school together. So, this means that they can school together but often also swim apart from another. At least, that's my experience with these cories. Even if they're a mixed group of cory strains, they act the same as my remark I've mentioned. From my own experience is is that Corydoras pygmaeus will school more often.

16gallontanker said:

Do yall think all these are the same species?

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Need a longer video with more close ups, especially on the smaller ones. I'm confident the largest three are anea, but at least one of the smallest is a paleatum, the small one on the left of the group that then swims right moved just enough right at the end for me to get a good look at the head and fin shape, and confirm paleatum.

It's best if you can get clear photos and video of each fish so we can confirm for sure, and @CassCats , as you can tell from her photos, is brilliant at this! because paleatum prefer a cooler temperature than many of us keep our tanks at, while anea can tolerate a greater temperature range.

They won't do any harm together in the same tank, will hang out together... but if say, only one of the group is paleatum and the rest anea, might affect which temperature you keep the tank at (and would need to know the range for the rest of the tank stock to make sure it's comfy for all of them), and the paleatum would do better with more of it's same species as company too. Mixing species in the same tank isn't usually a problem, but they really do best with at least 5-6 of their own species, even if the whole group is much larger.

ETA: Not saying that you do only have one paleatum, BTW, I couldn't see some of the others well enough to get an ID on them, the one paleatum I could ID was just one of the small ones. I couldn't see the others well enough to tell.

I personally think a lot of schooling fish, will school with other schooling fish if they feel the need… sometimes if they look similar, but that isn’t necessary… talking Cory’s, I have 7 albinos, I believe they are all aeneus, but 2 of them were mature, when we added 5 new babies… the babies have grown now, and the 7 are pretty tight, and school often… I also have 2 black Cory’s that were mature, but separated, they started hanging together once in this tank, and while each are completely tolerant of each other, and are often together, they split at various times…

My South American tetras, I typically buy 6 at a time… 3 different groups of Rummy Noses, all school together, but also the Raccoon, and Pristella’s, which kind of look similar, often school…

And I have a “Noah's arc” ( 2 or 3 of each variety) tank, that are African Tetras with 6 or 7 different varieties, and for the most part, they all school together

I find, that if a fish feels the need to school, it’ll school with most other fish, that have the same need, if there are not enough of their own species to school with…

You'll have to do the identifications. @CassCats has given you a fantastic guide to work with. You can get close enough and have the time to look at each one - no video will let us do that.

The 3 albino Cory group fish in the hobby all have slightly different needs in the aquarium, but can live together.

Don't get fooled by your human senses. We use our eyes, and so do they, but they can also detect their own species with chemical/smell skills we don't have. Their eyes probably also see things we don't. They know very well who they are shoaling with. And remember, shoaling works when all the individuals in a shoal look the same. A group of different looking fish provides no camouflage and won't confuse any predators.

So as to define… @GaryE ’s … fish are typically “real” fish, wild types, without watered down instincts, like line bred, or sibling bred tank raised fish… the hobby has really 2 types of fish, well, actually 3 if you start talking about man made fish, but to raise real wild type fish takes much more research and devotion, than raising tank bred fish that have been in captivity for generations, like albino Cory’s, or the “Franken” fish like glo fish, parrot fish or electric blue Acaras ( that I’ll still bet are aliens )

Thank you all for the information and I keep my tank usually around 78 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit so it's on the warmer side and the five small albino corys I got online are from the same breeder and he said they are aneaus.

Magnum Man said:

So as to define… @GaryE ’s … fish are typically “real” fish, wild types, without watered down instincts, like line bred, or sibling bred tank raised fish… the hobby has really 2 types of fish, well, actually 3 if you start talking about man made fish, but to raise real wild type fish takes much more research and devotion, than raising tank bred fish that have been in captivity for generations, like albino Cory’s, or the “Franken” fish like glo fish, parrot fish or electric blue Acaras ( that I’ll still bet are aliens )

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I don't think there's any instinct difference between wilds and tank bred. These species can be so old we can't get our heads around it, and even if they aren't, those instincts developed early in their evolution. I doubt very much they would fall away that quickly. Even the oldest fish lines in the hobby only go back 150 years. That's yesterday for nature. Albino Corys are about 60 years on the market, though albinism is natural as a mutation and shows up again and again.

You will wanna lower that temperature, it is far too hot to keep any corydoras species for long. They will be heat stressed and die easily.

Lower to around 75-76F unless you've got fish that need higher (GBR, etc), then your only option is to move to another more compatible tank.

Aenea can handle 60-78F, but middle of this range is best for their longterm health.

Thanks for the info I'll turn down my heater to 76 when I get home .I had no idea that was too hot and stressful to them

These two look suspiciously paleatum-ish. Longer pointed fins and slimmer build.


The rest look aenea.

Given those look paleatum, you will want to go even colder. Paleatum like it cold, so try for 75.

What other fish are in the tank?

CassCats said:

These two look suspiciously paleatum-ish. Longer pointed fins and slimmer build.
View attachment 349244

The rest look aenea.

Given those look paleatum, you will want to go even colder. Paleatum like it cold, so try for 75.

What other fish are in the tank?

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That one closer to the glass with the curved dorsal is the one I also thought was paleatum, so nice to see it confirmed, ty