PlanetCatfish.com

Hi,
I'm going to set a new tank with altum angels, but I want to make a biotope set with the corys one can find in Rio Inirida or Rio Orinoco.
I can filter Corydoras list by tributaries, but one thing is strange for me. For instance, Corydoras delphax probably co-occurs naturally with Pterophyllum altum, but the database says the temperature should be 21.0-24.0°C. Do you have any idea, where the database's water temperature is taken from? (having in mind, altum angels swim in 28°C, or even more)
My question is:
1. is the database temp. range reliable, and
2. what Corydoras species should I consider as co-occuring naturally with altum angels, which can survive in 28°C.
Thanks,
Mateusz

Hi Mateusz,

Biotope matches can be difficult, because although animals may live near each other (e.g., in the same drainage), they may be selecting different microhabitats, which can profoundly affect temperature. Also, one problem with corys is that so many look alike and may be identified as one and the same species, when in fact they are subtly different and are unrelated species from different places.

According to a few research papers I consulted, several cory species live in the Orinoco and Inirinda areas, and a few could be good candidates. First, these two species are found in many papers, and their type localities are nearby, so they seem like reasonable choices:

• Corydoras(ln8sc4) delphax
• Corydoras(ln9) concolor

These species also appeared on the diversity inventories, but I don't trust their identifications for the reasons I discuss elsewhere here:

• Corydoras(ln9) melanistius
• Corydoras(ln7) aeneus
• Corydoras(ln9) punctatus

The problem with this list is that aeneus, punctatus and melanistius are all from different areas, and are all possibly either mixes of many species (certainly aeneus is) or depending on where they were collected they may have been adapted to vastly different temperature regimes. So I wouldn't trust aeneus, punctatus, or melanistius as IDs.

, and are known for their ability to do well in high temps, so they are typical ideas, but they are not biotope fish. The former two get close, being from the Negro, but sterbai is nowhere nearby , as far as I know.

If you want to try delphax or concolor (I like them both), I suppose it's worth a go, especially if you don't plan to breed them. But if I were you, I'd be watching their health for any signs that they are not staying healthy at the higher temps.

Good luck,
Eric

Most of my recent focus has been with Discus. Most forum participants in the discus world add a variety of corys (most favor sterbae) as they do well in the same parameters as altums do. In fact, my sterbaes and Haraldschultzi breed so often in my 86 degree discus tank I give them away

What corys might work depends upon the source of your Altums. If you are buying recently imported fish from the wild, you will need to have a lower pH and TDS. If you are buying tank bred fish (harder to find), make sure you confirm the needed pH and TDS levels for them. Simon Forkel out of Germany breeds heck out of Altums. You can see this here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTAbuTY ... T-zGgKdPKg

I have kept altums for years and old age has gotten to them. I know of a good breeder in the states who is working with the Rio Atabapo Altums, but he has bred Altums from other rivers. I know him from the Wild Angel site. He has asked me for help with his zebra plecos in years past. When I saw tank raised Altums offered on AquaBid I contacted him to see if they were his fish.

He suggested I could buy the current fish but that the ones coming down the pike would be nicer though 50% more expensive. I think I will buy some.

When I got my original fish years back I brought them into tank with a pH of 4.1 and TDS in the low 30 ppm range. I spent 6 months working them up to 6.0 and 60s ppm TDS. I keep them in a stained water tank wit a few rummy nose tetras and there used to be 1 or 2 L450 plecos still there, but I have not seen it in some time.

Thank you, Eric, for your valuable input. I appreciate it much. Maybe delphax could be a good direction. Did you mean delphax was hard to breed?

Captainandy, C. sterbai is a great fish, very robust in my opnion, popular choice and - indeed - discus and altums they need similar water parameters. But I'm trying to find more complicated solutions as a biotope tank, as you can see.

TwoTankAmin, I'm going to buy altums from Simon Forkel you mentioned, F1 preferably, since it is in drive-by-car range from Poland. They should be less soft and acidic water dependent. And, strangely, I would have quite a hangover disturbing so fragile wild fish resources. It's not easier with corys, since some of them come from the import only, as I know. I was devastated recently by discovering sizes of clearcuts (2 th. hectares at once, one by another) in Brasil. Here, we can cut max. 4 hectares and are obliged to replant it. In Brasil - I don't know. I just can imagine, what disturbances in water environment it causes. Check satellite view in Google Maps.

Thank you all for your input.

@Mataj

I am very jealous. Every time I watch the vid I linked it brings a tear to my eye as the fish are so dang pretty it just makes one cry. I would love to get some of Simon's fish. They are so much easier to take care of than wild imports and so much more beautiful as well.

And I got the species of pleco wrong above. They were no L450 they were H. contradens. I had kept and bred both and this old brain sometimes gets things mixed up

Guys,
I found something:
https://www.jbl.de/pl/wyprawabadawcza-2 ... country=us
The landscape is thrilling. I think, I'm going there even tomorrow.
Could you identify, please, the pleco and the cory shown on the picture close to stingray photo?
Thank you,
Mateusz

The pleco is , probably L168. The cory is .

Cheers, Eric

@Eric,
and the dotted pleco close to stingray?
Mateusz

Looks like .