Improving C.schultzei(Black)

[Valb68]

http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/ ... 1376700886 Saw this on AquaBid yesterday. Wild caught? Thoughts?

[rmc]

I bought my fish from that guy! Lol. After getting them in I am 99% sure they are C. schultzei "Black" They look just like the ones I got from Matt Schauer that are descendants of Coryologist's stock. - Which we know came from C. schultzei "Black" via Europe. The seller was unable to provide me with any proof that they were "wild caught" or even imported. That being said, they are really nice fish, he's a really nice guy and a good Aquabid seller.

As an update to this thread though, I have not gotten any more eggs from my original group of C. schultzei "Black" which is kind of disappointing. On the plus side I was able to obtain one very nice C.schultzei (standard coloration) female so far. So if I can get some proven breeders from the C. schultzei "Black" group I plan to go ahead with my outcrossing idea.

Cheers,

Rob

[Valb68]

Was he able to tell you WHO he got the fish from? So he's actually selling fish as a wild caught species when we all know they were a tank bred black form of C. schultzei........ Just my opinion on this. I personally would never purchase anything from a seller that knowingly sells misrepresented fish and even if he didn't know THEN.........he would certainly know after you contacted him about documentation of origin, yet he's still selling them as originally labelled. Just not good business, word spreads. Is business so bad that they have to make up fish to get buyers?? All of this leads to such confusion in the hobby, especially to newcomers.

[rmc]

I never did get any information on their origin from the seller. I think there are a lot of people out there "just trying to make a buck" though. I agree that it would help us all if sellers would be completely up front and honest about what they know and don't know about their fish, but I think that sometimes, like LFS's they just buy something with a label and then stick that label up for sale without finding out if it is really true. I know I was duped several times by LFS's in my area. Several stores were marking big Brochis splendens as "Brochis britskii" I bought some only to find out that they are not what I thought! When I asked why they did that they told me that was the name on their list from the wholesaler, so that was what they put on the tank. It happens a lot. I look at it now as it is my job to try to ID the fish before I buy. In this case, I wasn't too upset because the price was fair, and I really like C.schultzei "Black" so having another group to work with was Okay with me.

[Templeflower]

Hi all,

I just wanted to pop in, since I have been avidly following this thread, and as it turns out- yes, I am the winning bidder of the auction so recently discussed.

I'm not a newbie, as I have been keeping cories and other fishy friends for well over 15 years. For this particular auction- I don't really mind too much if the stock isn't wild caught as advertised. I just wanted to try my hand at black cories. I am going to try to get some fry from them, which let's be honest, will probably be easier if these are tank raised, vs wild! If I am successful, and have fry to give/sell at my local club, I will be representing them as Corydoras sp. Black. Honestly without speaking to an importer directly, you just have no way of knowing if those fish really came from South America, or are in all actuality (and with a high probability) descendants of the original German strain. Unless, of course you are lucky enough to have a true expert be able to come and identify them in person!

At the price I got them for (discounting shipping, the sterbai at my LFS are more expensive! lol) I'm pretty happy.

Rob, I can't wait to hear more on your breeding experiment, and best of luck to you sir! I will be keeping my eyes glued to the forum for updates!

[Coryman]

I have looked at the images that were posted on aquabid and those fish are C. sp schultzei "Black" they are descendants of the fish first raised in Germany. Definitely not wild fish.

Ian

[Templeflower]

Thank you very much Mr. Fuller, your ID is greatly appreciated. I am very satisfied to say they are home and settling in quite nicely.