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I asked the LFS guy this same question last week and got what I believe was a pretty poor answer.

Question: What kinds of cories are the hardiest?? He stated that they are all about the same. Now I am a newbie yet even I know that some cories such as Panda's are not as hardy as others.

So I would like to pose that question the gurus here. What would be the top 3 hardiest cories??

BTW in hardy.... I mean has the most longevity, tolerance of whater conditions, and the most adpative to its surroundings.

I am looking to get some more groups of cories to suppliment my current 6 network cories.

Thanks

SH

I'll stick my neck out and say C. aeneus. C.paleatus. C. julii. I've allways found them hardy.

You mean <i>C. trilineatus</i>, don't you? <i>Corydoras julii</i> are as rare as hen's teeth...yadda yadda yadda (goes into spiel about the difference between <i>C. trilineatus</i> and <i>C. julii</i>...see earlier posts in this forum).

Yeah as i get up off the floor.

Hmm... I'll go for C. aeneus, C. paleatus and C. sterbai.

Hi!

Well the most commonly bred species are for sure some of the hardiest!
Corydoras aeneus
Corydoras paleatus
Corydoras sterbai, "schwartzi" , trilineatus,
Cheers
Yann

i agree that corydoras sterbai is one of the hardiest.
i bought one a few weeks back, then it started to develop pop and cloudy eye.
now the fellow has recovered fully and is happily swimming in his new home...

When you talk about hardiest Cory's there are two groups to think about!

1) The comercially bred species.
2) Wild caught species

In group one the top four would be C. aeneus; C. aeneus albino; C. paleatus and C. sterbai.

In group two it is not so easy because of the differences in biotype the species have come from and what they are going into. C. aeneus I would still put in top spot with C. trilineatus; (Not C. julii) C. ambiacus and C. agassizii would be high on the list. These species are based on my mains water conditions (ph 7.6, GH 8 - 12; KH 3; Temp range 70 - 76 F)

It would be easier to match species to your water conditions rather than generalise. for instance freinds of mine live in a part of Scotland where the hardness is is so low its hardly readable and the pH is around 6. They breed Cory's I find hard to keep alive.

Ian

Ahh see that is why I come here... for the excellent and sage advice. Good point about the water conditions. I currently have C. trilineatus, and will get some C. aeneus. I will check out some of the others based on their water tolerances.


Thanks again everyone!!


SH

I'm pleased to hear about the toughness of sterbais as they are next on my list for a new tank.
I keep non heated tanks in a "sub-tropical" climate but with cold nights, so my fish have to cope with day and seasonal temp variations not seen in the usual run of aquaria. (Lots of you guys would cringe).
C. aeneus,paleatus,schwartz and ambiacus have all been long term successes. I would love to add C. arcuatus as I have had one for years but every time I get more something befalls them, which is rather expensive and sad as they are my favourite.
The aeneus and paleatus both attempt to spawn but are in community tanks. Someone I know in southern Victoria has seen C. paleatus spawning in outdoor ponds at very low temperatures (I forget the figure but it was astounding). This is tough.
Asking which ones are tough is probably a bit like asking which ones are ok for lower temperatures, except the answer then is mostly none!
Jan