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I have recently purchased three fish at my nearby Petsmart, they were labled as the tag Emerald Green Cory Catfish. However, I have been told that there is no such thing as an Emerald Green Cory Catfish, and that they aren't Cory Catfish at all. So I am really confused, and cannot get a good picture of them up close, but I found this while searching Emerald Green Catfish:

Looks like Brochis splendens...thats what they sell here as emerald Cory

Your pet store was wrong. Your fish are Emerald Green Catfish (Brochis splendens). I have never heard of Emerald Green Corydoras. Corydora catfish always have "corydora" as part of their scientific name. Your pet store must not know much about fish.

Petsmart in the US sells them under the name Emerald Green Corydoras and charges twice as much ($5 vs. average of $2.50 or so) for them.

erm Brochis is like the closest thing to a Corydoras you can find. If Im not mistaken it was actually sunk for the time being so Corydoras splendens would be the name.
Honestly I think its hard to identify from Corydoras for a untrained eye. So this is one of the lesser mistakes of the lfs in my eyes.
You cant get Brochis here for 5$...8 euros is the normal price here so I cant beleive the 2,50 avg price thats given in the post before. You must mix them up with C.aeneus.

Silent Doh, if you can get a few more, do so.

even more than Corydoras, Brochis are true shoalers and they get very lively if you keep 7-8 or so, whereas 3 can get very shy and passive.

they do mix perfect with Corydoras btw, and will swim up with them, if they're all of a size.

j4782 wrote:Petsmart in the US sells them under the name Emerald Green Corydoras and charges twice as much ($5 vs. average of $2.50 or so) for them.

I feel jipped...
Unfortunatly I only have a 10 gallon tank and do not have the funding to get a bigger one currently I have in my fish tank:
5 fry (less than 1") :
4 black balloon mollies
1 white balloon molly
3 full grown fish:
3 emerald green catfish

I want to purchase either some neon tetras, cardinal tetras, or mountain minnows, I also need more plants

I want to purchase either some neon tetras, cardinal tetras, or mountain minnows,

You shouldnt add any more fish to this setup...Molly and Neon is one of the biggest nonos as they have completely different requirements.
Also the Brochis are one of the worst selections for this size of tank. A full grown, well fed B.splendens will reach around 10 cm with a very massive body. The minimum tank size for those is at least 200 litres imo.

Sorry, I have no clue about this stuff yet
P.S. I use gallons, not litres

Caol_ila wrote:Honestly I think its hard to identify from Corydoras for a untrained eye. So this is one of the lesser mistakes of the lfs in my eyes.
You cant get Brochis here for 5$...8 euros is the normal price here so I cant beleive the 2,50 avg price thats given in the post before. You must mix them up with C.aeneus.

You're right; I went to a petsmart with both kinds and they were distinctively different there (the b. splendens were much bigger). The one I normally visit does not have both, so they could be mixed together there.

How do we tell the difference? Certain features or behaviors? I might have a b. splendens with 2 c. aeneus or 3 c. aeneus. They look alike to me!

The only "easy" identification is that Brochis have more than 10 rays in the dorsal fin (15-17 on Multiradiatus, 12 or so on B. Splendens), whilst Corydoras species would have around 7 or so.

Once you know what to look for, it's not particularly hard, really...

--
Mats

thanks!

In my opinion, if you have the time to count the ridges on the dorsal fins of your fish, you have an obsession with them. I was also told by Ptsmart that you should have one oto. in a ten gallon aquarium, but later was told that they need the be in groups of six, I do not have the room, (or the algae for that matter) that these fish require to consume, I bought another, but it died about three days after purchasing. What should I do?


(I miss my oto, his name was otto )

Counting dorsal rays, or otherwise identifying correctly what fish you have, can perhaps be called an obsession, but I like to know that I have the fish I THINK I have. Since it's to count rays (you just COUNT them, if you have digital camera you count on a photo, since they don't always have the dorsal fin fully up if they are resting somewhere), as opposed to other ways of differentiating the fish from some other fish that it may be.

But if you just don't care what kind of fish it is that you have in the tank, then that's your business. But I thought you came on here because you didn't know what your fish was, so I presume you do care what it is...

About the Oto's, first of all sorry to hear about the passing away, they are fairly sensitive to water quality, which can be a problem in your tank or in the shop [i.e. it was already beyond rescue when it was fished out of the shops tank]. They are much happier if you keep at least three, preferrably more. They just like it better in a group. Same applies to Brochis/Corydoras.

If you get yourself a test-kit for water quality (Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia and pH), you can check YOUR water. It should have no Ammonia or Nitrite, and Nitrate needs to be below 40 ppm, preferrably less than 25 ppm.

You can find an article about "Feeding plecos" in Shane's world. Herbivore diet should be adaptable to Oto's if you just feed a smaller amount, as well as giving them a small piece of algae-wafer now and again. Obviously doesn't solve the space issue - nothing but a bigger tank will fix that...

--
Mats

What amazes me about these guys is how much they color up once settled into your tank. In the pet shops they often look so drab and dull, but after a few weeks in a settled tank they are truely awesome looking fish, mine seem to like digging in the substrate a bit more (deeper) than my corys. Here in New Zealand they sell for around USD$8 or so and are fairly readilly available.

MatsP wrote:Counting dorsal rays, or otherwise identifying correctly what fish you have, can perhaps be called an obsession, but I like to know that I have the fish I THINK I have. Since it's to count rays (you just COUNT them, if you have digital camera you count on a photo, since they don't always have the dorsal fin fully up if they are resting somewhere), as opposed to other ways of differentiating the fish from some other fish that it may be.

But if you just don't care what kind of fish it is that you have in the tank, then that's your business. But I thought you came on here because you didn't know what your fish was, so I presume you do care what it is...

About the Oto's, first of all sorry to hear about the passing away, they are fairly sensitive to water quality, which can be a problem in your tank or in the shop [i.e. it was already beyond rescue when it was fished out of the shops tank]. They are much happier if you keep at least three, preferrably more. They just like it better in a group. Same applies to Brochis/Corydoras.

If you get yourself a test-kit for water quality (Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia and pH), you can check YOUR water. It should have no Ammonia or Nitrite, and Nitrate needs to be below 40 ppm, preferrably less than 25 ppm.

You can find an article about "Feeding pl*cos" in Shane's world. Herbivore diet should be adaptable to Oto's if you just feed a smaller amount, as well as giving them a small piece of algae-wafer now and again. Obviously doesn't solve the space issue - nothing but a bigger tank will fix that...

--
Mats

I do have a test kit, and everything is perfect (I do have very soft water: Ph:6.9) When I feed my fish, I put in one algae wafer and a small pinch of fish food (Tetracolor flakes) The only thing I can discribe it as is a fish dying for no reason.