Which Cory Catfish like cooler waters???

[Magnum Man]

I wouldn't mind a few Corys in the tank I'm resetting up... planning on Temps somewhere in the low 70's... any Cory's prefer temps in those ranges???

tried looking on the www. & my searching isn't as good this morning...

 

[GaryE]

Most would be good with that. I'd suggest reverse engineering your search. See what's available from your sources, then check species by species. Seriously Fish is good and doesn't require a membership. Corydoras World is better, but I think you need a (well worth it) membership.
There are so many Cory species in and out of the hobby, with over 150 described and lots of undescribed ones that an answer would be a big project. You tend to look for quality sellers, and they often have a lot more on offer than the small number in pet stores.

 

[Magnum Man]

I generally see Pigmy & peppered ( Corydoras paleatus ) recommended... the tank will have a heater set modestly, so no huge temperature fluctuations... most species seem to list 72 degrees and up... but looking for what would take an everyday temperature, of 72 - to mid 70's room temps, in air conditioner season.. would like something that contrasts well, against my white sand in that tank...

 

[Colin_T]

Most Cories prefer cooler water vs hot water. Cooler is 16-26C, hot is above 26C.

 

[GaryE]

The Cory info in the hobby is full of relics. I had a book when I was a kid that asserted there were paleatus, aeneus, melanistius and julii, and no other Corys. We've learned a bit since then.
What we haven't done is updated. paleatus was said to be the cool water one, and while that's true (tropical cool) so are most of them. We just keep repeating the same old story, over and over, and not taking in the new info on basic aquarium sites. They all just copy from each other and rarely research.
It's like "false julii". The real julii is rare and expensive, but because someone made a mistake identifying imported fish sometime in the 1940s, we still talk about the fish with the wrong name and info rather than just naming it as what it is.
My daughter breeds pandas at 21c. I picked up three "Corydoras" species this week, and I expect that when they reach breeding age, they'll work at 22c/72f.
"Corydoras" in in quotations because they've been reclassified. I actually got a Brochis and two Hoplisomas, but that will take time for all of us to absorb. We'll probably still be calling them Corydoras in 2134, if they aren't extinct.

 

[Magnum Man]

I was going through what is available from some of the sellers, & seller, lists temps of 78 - 82 for almost all of them... I did notice Pigmy's went down to 77 degrees... so I think there is a lot of bad info to sift through out there... as popular as Cory's are, & as many of them as there are... a lot to look at...I'd like a shoal of 5-6 of what ever works out... so those "high dollar" fish are out... would like something colorful, or contrasts well with the white sand... unfortunately all the "lazers" are most often just listed as Cory Sp., so it's hard to get any specific info, so I've been looking at fish with complete names...

 

[Magnum Man]

right now I'm looking at Long Fin Bronze Cory aeneus...

but I just started looking, and may go for 8-10 of them, so definitely no high dollar Cory's

 

[GaryE]

Your best bet would be to give us some names. I can look up details easily.

A fish I didn't buy this week, but thought about, is Gastrodermus napoensis - a dark coloured Cory that's easy to keep. They range from 72 to 80f, but when I researched them 20 years ago, I saw 76-80. But 20 years ago, they were really hard to find to learn about, and I think there was some guesswork working.

 

[GaryE]

It's now Osteogaster aenea, and has a temperature range of 62f to 78f, even if it's one with hideous fin deformities.

 

[Magnum Man]

Gastrodermus napoensis, I see Wet Spot has those listed, but not in stock

 

[Magnum Man]

I like the Osteogaster eques... but the ones I find in stock are over $70.00 each, which makes a good shoal of them too expensinve...

and I like the reticulatus, & I see them in stock from a seller I buy from, at a more normal price

 

[anewbie]

Personally in a nice cool aquarium i would go for panda cory - not domestic of course - but wild caught. Of course the minute we talk about long fins - we aren't really talking about natural fishes but slectivly abuse - er farm bred - fishes for a particular trait; though having said that there are some natural occurring long fin cory (the species escape me but i remember an importer bringing them in from columbia or brazil).
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One of my favorite cory - i have a bunch in a dedicated aquarium since they are my favorite - is hastatus cory. You can never have too many hastatus. They make excellent companions to green neon tetra - sadly my 15 neon tetra found a leaf to hide under so i don't see them anymore - cept when i move the leaf... which they hate.

 

[anewbie]

I like the Osteogaster eques... but the ones I find in stock are over $70.00 each, which makes a good shoal of them too expensinve

You can get wild caught cory eques (I have 8) for less than $70 - i think i paid $20 a shot. Unfortunately the seller shutdown a month ago because he went back to school. However if you look around you can find them in the $20-$35 range and tank raised ones for less.
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I just checked wetspot and they have wc eques cory for $40; but when in stock they sell tank raised ones for $25.

 

[Magnum Man]

What ever I get, will have to share the tank, with the adult Tin Foils, & a medium sized Kisser Gourami... the goal is to get those out of my tank, that has become a Hillstream "ark" they have never messed with even the smallest of Hillstreams, so, I think the Cory's will be fine, as long as the group size is large enough... I have 9 between 2 species in my mid sized Cichlid tank, & they just don't seem to care about invisible boundaries' the other fish may set up...

I do like the looks of the hastatus, but it just seems I should be looking at non pigmy / dwarf Cory's just because of the size of the other fish

 

[GaryE]

The natural long finned Corys have spines to support the fins. Domestic sports have no genetic shut off switch on fin growth, so it just grows and grows with no support, and tends to curl on itself in time. With fish that can live as long as Corys, I think that'll start getting ugly as they age.
My understanding is the mutation is in the off/on switches for growth, and if they don't shut at the right time, the fish get really popular.

The napoensis I passed on were 6 for $49 CAD, wild caught according to the seller.

But I wouldn't make that combination. Corys are hard to eat as their spines lodge in the predator's throat. I could see some dead fish in that tank as a result. Plus, most importantly, the Corys would be hard pressed to survive such company.