Venezuelan corys

[Fish Fanatic34]

I currently have 3 Venezuelan corys and am looking at getting more to improve there happiness and I have read the mixing species is not ideal but I am wondering if I mix Black Venezuelan Corys with normal Venezuelan corys if they will shoal and make them happier.

 

[Ichthys]

Venezuelan Corys are C. venezuelanus. The “Black Venezuelans” are actually a form of C. schultzii that was developed in Germany in the 90s. So they’d be better than not adding any, but true Venezuelans would be better.

There is a dark natural form of C. venezuelanus but it hasn’t entered the hobby.

On C. schultzii all the fins are reddish and darken with age. On C. venezuelanus the caudal, anal and ventral fins are grey.

 

[GaryE]

@Ichthys has revealed the problem. There are quite a few different species sold as Venezuelan Corys. It's a country with great Corys and a lot of diversity, and I have seen a lot of tanks with that label and different fish in them.

Step one is to identify which Cory you already have, with its scientific name and not its marketing name. From there, I think people can be more helpful.

 

[Fish Fanatic34]

@Ichthys has revealed the problem. There are quite a few different species sold as Venezuelan Corys. It's a country with great Corys and a lot of diversity, and I have seen a lot of tanks with that label and different fish in them.

Step one is to identify which Cory you already have, with its scientific name and not its marketing name. From there, I think people can be more helpful.

Thanks for the info but I decided that it would be best to not mix and went with the same shops “Venezuelans” they have all are shoaling together and seem to be ok with one being a bit stressed and glass surfing but it have been less then 12 hours since I have got them and I hope it will die down.

 

[GaryE]

They'll settle down, and it was a good strategy to use the same shop. I still wonder what you have...

 

[Fish Fanatic34]

They'll settle down, and it was a good strategy to use the same shop. I still wonder what you have...

The shop classified them as C.Venezuela I will attach a photo though so you are able to look. The only reason I believe that they are is that there orange colours is a lot more orangey then bronze Cory’s. Even if they are not Venezuelans I still think they are such a cool and colourful fish.

 

[GaryE]

very nice fish there.

 

[Ichthys]

You know, they really need to be kept on sand….

 

[Fish Fanatic34]

You know, they really need to be kept on sand….

I have a section of the tank that is sand its just not in this photo.

 

[Ichthys]

Hehe. It has sand and it’s sat on a rock. Maybe both is better for some species…

 

[Byron]

For information this is Ian's comments on the "Black" Cory.

Many people believe that the Black Cory is native to Venezuela and it is not. Even
members of the trade make the mistake and perpetuate the misinformation.
The story of the "Black" Cory started in the early 1990's with Hartmut Eberhardt in
Weimar, Germany where lived. He was breeding the C. aeneus form we now know as
C. schultzei and was producing thousands. However amongst these many offspring
small numbers of black fry were emerging, Hartmut kept and raised these to maturity,
and then through controlled breeding the strain was successfully fixed. Some of these
"Black" young were sold to a commercial breeder in the Czech Republic, where they
were subsequently reproduced in their thousands, and it was in 1996 that they were
first introduced into the UK and soon became very popular.

Now the point at which the confusion very may have started, was a discussion in the
PlanetCatfish forums regarding the "Black Cory” and origin, it was mentioned that there
was a dark form of another C. aeneus type we now know as C. venezuelanus that came
from the Northern Guarico State of Venezuela and it is possible that this discussion
triggered the confusion. The dark form of C. venezeulanus have never commercially
entered the hobby.

If you are having trouble distinguishing one from the other, here is a simple guide.
Young C. schultzii "Black" tend to have all reddish fins which darken with maturity.
C. venezuelanus look very similar the young C. schultzei "Black". However both the
normal C. venezuelanus we see in the hobby, and the dark form have reddish dorsal
and adipose fins, but the caudal, anal and ventral fins are grey.
There is a short article by Shane Linder, who collected both forms of C. venezuelanus,
in the Species groups section under Aeneus group - Corydoras cf venezuelanus
"Northern Guarico State."

Ian Fuller
CorydorasWorld