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I'm sure these aren't the only areas of confusion in the family Corydoradinae, but I have a couple Identification questions that maybe someone can set me straight on.

The first is - what is the difference between "orange laser" and "gold laser"? They are both CW010 right? So is considered just a slight color variation? or just people calling the same fish by 2 different names?

The second is - is there any reliable way to tell the difference between Corydoras axelrodi and CW021? I have some F1 C. axelrodi that all came from the same Columbian imported parents, but I have often wondered if they are actually cw021's since they have 2 lateral stripes.

Does anyone else have "Cory confusion"? maybe we can all help each other out here.

c Axelrodi & cw021 come from different rivers i think.

I'm not sure if orange laser is a different common name for cw010, or cw023 or cw014 - most likely the former

Hi Rob,
Hope all is well in your fishroom, how are the Corydoras sp. Black doing?

Here is a thread from this discussion where Ian gives a great identification lesson on the Gold Laser/Orange Stripe Corydoras. http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... =6&t=37130

Here is the Thread for the Argument for axelrodi vs Cw21.
http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... =6&t=29247

Hope these help,
Kindest Regards,
Don

I was under the impression that the Cw014 / Cw023 issue was settled and that they are both the same fish - known in the trade as Corydoras "red laser."
What I'm asking is strictly about cw010. To my eyes it does appear that some have more of an orange colored stripe while others I've seen (and owned) have a more definite gold or yellow hue to their "laser". I'm just wondering if anyone has more knowledge on the subject -like they come from different places, etc. Is there a reason some are called "orange" and others "gold" or is it just simply that they look different?

@don Just saw this! Thanks for the links - fantastic! Things in the fish room are going well! No further eggs from my Corydoras sp. Black yet, but I'll be picking up my first standard C. schultzei with a group of C. eques (woohoo!) in the next few weeks. I'm in the process of trying to rearrange tanks to promote better breeding - isolating species, putting 2 or 3 males with one female, etc. So far it seems to be working - I got a big spawn from C. pygmaeus, my first from that fish, and my C. napoensis are "flirting" so I'm hopeful. How are things by you?

Rob, Interesting you mention C. Eques, both Valb68 (my friend from Spokane, Wa)
& I went together and bought a group of 10 C. eques from Mark Chen, (Discus Origins)
we are super excited about these fish they & look Fantastic!
Mark took good care of us, I can recommend him on Aqua-bid

My C. sp. Black refused to spawn until I started using soft water with a lower pH.
I had tried everything up to that point, they flirted etc, but, never any eggs.
So for me the soft water did the trick with several nice spawns and about 80+% hatch rates.

Nice to talk to you again,
Don

Too late for the C. eques recommendation - Matt Schauer (NBM aquatics) and I did the exact same thing! lol. Matt received them and sent me pictures they do look fantastic, hopefully between the 4 of us at least 1 will get them to spawn!

I use a 50/50 RODI/Tap mix right now and it is a still a little "hard" I'll try some softer water. How did you "soften" your water for the C. sp. Blacks? if you don't mind my asking. I've used Indian almond leaves and oak leaves in the past, but I'm always afraid of making the PH crash with other methods. Nice to talk to you again too! I think we've hijacked this thread!

Rob

Just a thank you to everyone who responded. I now know that the fish I have are definitely C. axelrodi, and not CW021. I think a lot of what I'm seeing online and even at LFS's near me marked as "Orange laser" corys are just mislabled "gold laser" CW010's. I own some CW023's right now and have them over a dark brown substrate, so I can see how they could be considered "orange", but the bulk of what I was referring to were not those fish. Sorry if I caused any confusion - just wanted some history on the "laser" forms.

rmc wrote:Just a thank you to everyone who responded. I now know that the fish I have are definitely C. axelrodi, and not CW021. I think a lot of what I'm seeing online and even at LFS's near me marked as "Orange laser" corys are just mislabled "gold laser" CW010's. I own some CW023's right now and have them over a dark brown substrate, so I can see how they could be considered "orange", but the bulk of what I was referring to were not those fish. Sorry if I caused any confusion - just wanted some history on the "laser" forms.

I've seen CW010 marked as orange laser, even by experienced breeders. To my eye, they look gold.

CW010 is distinctly different from CW014/CW023, the have a different body shape and the strips are also different.

With the "Lasers" Cw009 & CW010 the stripe is pretty much a constant width along the length of the body, with CW014/CW023 the stripe actually starts as a prominent shoulder blotch and gradually fades as it progresses towards the caudal peduncle. The following images show this clearly. The confusion actually comes from the trade and people not bothering to do a little research.

Ian


CW010 image courtesy Ian Fuller & Corydorasworld.com


CW009 image courtesy Ian Fuller & Corydorasworld.com


CW023 image courtesy Ian Fuller & Corydorasworld.com


CW014 image courtesy Ian Fuller & Corydorasworld.com

C. axelrodi and CW021are also easily separated. In C. axeldodi the black stripes converge towards the caudal peduncle and in CW021 they are parallel to each other, again pictures added to show the difference.


C. axelrodi image courtesy Ian Fuller & Corydorasworld.com


CW021 image courtesy Ian Fuller & Corydorasworld.com

Thank you Ian! Perfectly clear, now if I can just get them to spawn! It appears both my C. axelrodi and CW014/23's are still a little too young but I'm hoping to see some eggs before the end of next spring.