what is this??? a Cory reclassified, or something else???

[Magnum Man]

Scleromystax barbatus The Wet Spot Tropical Fish |

Scleromystax barbatus The Wet Spot Tropical Fish |

www.wetspottropicalfish.com

 

[CassCats]

It is a "corydoras", but in the Scleromystax genus. Needs cold water, they grow big, and males can be aggressive towards each other.

 

[Innesfan]

Yes, it's the new nomenclature since the big revision of Corydoras.

 

[GaryE]

I have kept and bred that fish, and it isn't one to order blind. They are special.

First, cool water is a necessity. Their oxygen needs are high, and they ship badly. They are famous as a DOA fish. If they survive the bag, you have a large territorial Cory-ish cat (they haven't been Corydoras for quite some time, since well before the recent revision. Their difference sticks out). They will destroy other Corys kept with them, and males need space or they will fight.

Mine were happiest at around 20-21c, and suffered visibly in summer. I had them in a tank with 3 filters running - a 4 foot tank for half a dozen of them. That became a couple of dozen in time, but they were not crowdable. There was murder most foul at play.

I would put them in my top ten all time fish. I would get them again in a heartbeat, if I saw them available. But I would never put them in a community tank and I would set up a very specific habitat for them. I Iost them because after I moved here, I had a hot summer where I hadn't learned the tricks I needed to cool the fishroom. If I had known then what I know now, they would still be a central fish in my set up, in my coolest tank.

 

[Magnum Man]

just to be clear, I was not considering them, I just hadn't seen them before, even though they have an interesting look, and I didn't see the word Cory used anywhere, so was assuming it was a normal Cory reclassified... but thanks to our knowledgeable members, I now know it isn't a "normal" Cory either