"black" corydoras?

[ClearSky57]

OK.... Can someone please give me the skninny on black corys..... are they a dark phase of existing species, or a morph, or are they a distinct variety to themselves. Does anyone breed them, and are any available???? I saw a couple (NFS) in a pet store, but the fellow there couldn't really give me any info on them...
I am intrigued and would love to get some..
thanks
david

[MatsP]

There are a few different more or less "black" corydoras:

Corydoras concolor

is dark grey with slight colour to the fins.

Corydoras schultzei

has a black form.

There are quite possibly some others that are sold as "Black Cory".

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Mats

[ClearSky57]

What's a fair price for them????

[MatsP]

Price for any fish is a difficult matter. Obviously, these are not your "common garden" corys, so they would be a bit more than C. panda, C. aeneus. But they are not extremely rare either - I'm sure I can find at least a couple of shops within an hours drive from here that has them in stock (there are, however, probably about 20 decent fish-shop in an hours drive from where I live - I know that other places are not quite as easy as this). If they are captive bred, I would expect them to be around £7-12 (approx $10-18), and around £10-20 ($15-30) for wild-caught, good size fish, in a shop. Private sale is usually a bit less - how much so depends on the seller and whether the fish is easily found or not. I'd say this price range is about right for both of the species I listed above - which is not a complete list of all "black" corys, by the way.

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Mats

[ClearSky57]

Mats:
Thank you very much..... it does help me with my search... There is only one decent store near me, (within an hour) but realizing retail can sometimes be subjected to what the seller has to pay for them initially, plus the added "rareity" factor (assuming they aren't everywhere on the market) He has them priced a bit high i think, but having dealt with him before in selling and purchasing locally, I think I can trust what he told me as to how much he had to pay for them... (he is asking $24 us ea) but will drop the price a bit if I buy multiples...

[MatsP]

Well, obviously, it's a case of "if you want them enough to pay that price, then that's what you have to pay"... And the trouble with prices are that, as you say, the shop gets them from someone else, and the price they pay has to be multiplied up to cover the shop's costs and make a little bit of profit (at least on average - shop may sell a few things at a loss, and others with bigger profits to compensate). I don't think $24 each is a bargain, but it's not crazy either. If you are in the middle of nowhere, it's also going to affect the shipping costs - and if it's a smaller shop, they obviously can't buy stock in the same volume as a bigger shop, etc, etc.

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Mats

[ClearSky57]

I was given some advise on breeding for black, and I will tell you what they said.. maybe you can impart your opinion here..
It was told that if I purchase one or two of the blacks and breed them to a sterbiae or shultzie, and then cull for best black color, cross them back to black parents to strengthen the black gene, I could theoretically have enough to breed for true blacks in a year or so????

[MatsP]

That would be schulzei, as I'm pretty sure C. sterbai don't turn black.

And yes, you could do that. However, you need to know what the "not black" parents were, or you'd:
1. Produce hybrids.
2. probably not succeed in getting black babies.

So, whilst financially, it's less expensive, there is also several risks involved in doing it this way. Not what I would do.

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Mats

[ClearSky57]

Mats:
Thanks for the input... After much deliberation and input from others, it seems I would be better off, simply biting the bullet and purchasing several of the Darker blacks from this local store..... Now the next thing is hopefully trying to sex them???? if you have any insight on this it would be greatful... I have been able to sex some corys before when there was a group to look at.... but these are varied sizes and ages... do you feel that the longer cast bodies tend to be males? Rounder females?
any extra help here would be greatful...
thanks
david

[MatsP]

If you can get the shop to pick out a few fish to choose from into a poly-box or bucket with a white base, and look at them from above. If they are mature and reasonably well fed, you should see females being bigger and "fuller bodied". I don't know for certain, but looking at the ventral fins (the two fins next just in front of the anus). If they have a sharp corner, it's a male, where females have a rounded "corner".

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Mats

[ClearSky57]

Mats:
I made a deal today with the owner of the store.... apparently, the supplier (a local hobyist, who is a bit weird?? ) took all the fish back this wknd,,, came into the store, and wanted all the fish back (she sold him about 50 fish originally) Didn't like the fact the guy was making money on resales??? so, she took all the fish except for what the guy put in one of his "show tanks" where he told her he wouldn't give them back as he didn't want to disturb the tank...
When I came in today, he gave me the bad news, and knowing I was pretty interested in them and because I do some pretty good dealings with him, he worked out a deal with me..
I took all that he had, (13) and paid him for 8 (8@$18)... I told him I would grow them up a bit and give him back 5 or so after I could sex them correctly, and.....
I told him I would sell him babies for much less than this other girl, so he could sell them more reasonably..... He agreed, so now I have a bakers dozen, and will start feeding them up big time....
He told me that the gal that had been breeding them, was doing so in cooler water temps, and more acidic?????
what are your thoughts here.....
thanks so much for your input to this point..
cheers
david

[racoll]

Can someone please give me the skninny on black corys..... are they a dark phase of existing species, or a morph, or are they a distinct variety to themselves.

Recent discussion on the black varieties of Corydoras can be found here.

[Taratron]

I wish you were closer, I have some male black schultzi that I could stand to get rid of, since I can't find any females!

[ClearSky57]

I would love to see some pics if you have the opportunity to take them....
any new info On them would be great...
thanks
david

[Taratron]

I got a half dozen from Redkahuna on Aquabid some year or so ago. I lost a few and ordered more: at one point I had two males and 1 nice female, who died before spawning. I now have about 4 males in tap water (pH 8.4) with cherry shrimp and plecos. The last time Red had any for sale they went for over $15 each, too much for me. Otherwise I have no real info on them.

[ClearSky57]

finally got a pic worth posting....
this is one of thelarger ones...
female (i think)???/

[MatsP]

Looks female to me.

Seems a bit strange to sell the fish, and then complain that the shop is "making money". I mean, clearly if the shop paid $1.50 each, and then sell them at $24 each, I'd be pretty miffed, but if it's the customary around "purchase price times three" then I'd expect that... But the point about selling to a shop is a "mutual benefit" - the seller gets a bunch of money for a large number of fish in one go, and the shop makes money by selling them for a higher price.

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Mats

[Taratron]

At the risk of jynxing myself, I was wrong: either I have all females or at least 1. I found about 50 eggs the other day, crammed on anubias plant and on the tank wall. All of them had white infertile centers.

[Taratron]

And just today I found about twenty more. O_O I really must have missexed these guys! So who has a male or three to sell me?

[ginagv]

I would LOVE to have some black cories! Don't know of any place in Tucson AZ with any.. They are really pretty.

Gina

[MatsP]

If they are reasonably large, I'd expect a female to lay at least 20-30 eggs per day.

You should be able to sex them by comparing the ventral fins - rounded corner: female, square corner: male.

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Mats

[sheldon]

Hi, my understanding of the "Black" cory is that it is a "form" of the Schultzei cory "developed" in Germany, in the 90,s. But i might be wrong.

[SandCory]

That is a very nice cory! I would love to get some.

[bsmith]

I love those all black cories. I have been trying to get a group for over three years every time I find someone with some they tell me they will contact me when the breed and I never hear anything. I don't hold it against them, it would be tough for me to remember all the people that pm me for plants.

Does anyone sell these regularly?

[Taratron]

Redkahuna on Aquabid has them maybe once a year. Mine just don't seem to breed much, or with fertile eggs.

[bsmith]

Yesterday I think there were some on AB. There was a few days left and they were up to $15 already though. Ouch.

Beautiful fish though.