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Ok so I was planning on adding a small school of these (around 6) to my tank and my LFS had them so I went down to the store -very anxious for them- and I gaze lovingly at the amazing pattern and cute little faces then I glance over at the price and see 14.99!!! I was like WOW. I ended up not getting any but I just wanted to know if anyone here owns them and if they are worth the fortune!

I have eight of them. They're not really special, the only thing that really sets them apart from other cories is the orange fins. Corydoras haraldschultzi is similar and cheaper, and C. seussi and C. gossei also have orange fins and are quite nice looking. Each of those species can usually be had for less than C. sterbai. The only issue with those three fish is that they are not offered for sale nearly as much.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Thanks for the info Sirbooks!

Well instead I just added to my panda herd lol I came home with nine more!

Gossei and seussi come in for far more than sterbai, not only due to decreasing imports from the region (business is moving more towards toc. and SE Brazil), but also because sterbs are being farm raised on a rather large scale these days, whereas the other two are not---probably because of more strigent requirements towards soft water. Furthermore, the inherent nature of short noses are that theyare easier to keep and thus perferred by the common aquarist, giving gossei probably the highest face value of all the listed cories in this topic.

Sterbai are nice (Mine have been spitting out fry since I got them--at 5.99 per 1.2" fry, it's certainly a killing selling to LFSs), but nothing to write home about. At 14.99, the price is a bit steep and you're better off looking for some cooler, more interesting fishes; maybe some of the longnoses that have been imported on a more regular basis, as well as the exotic brochis that have also seen a boom in availability.

Where are you finding these cheap sterbai? One of the stores around here has them for twenty bucks! On the flip side, there were some gossei or seussi for seven or eight dollars apiece at the catfish convention. First time I ever saw them with my own eyes.

I agree about the Brochis, they're pretty cool and bigger than your average cory cat. Makes them easier to spot in a tank, plus you don't have to buy small specimens and wait for them to grow (as with many cories). I'd be tempted to try and find some for sale, but I just broke down one of my freshwater tanks.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Sterbais are everywhere around the fall season. I can even find them at the run of the mill petco-esque shops around here. Also, keep in mind that the cat. con prices are basically intended for a hobbyist only gig. Some of my aquaintances who went brought their stuff at sub-wholesale prices. Were they to sell to other distributors, prices would go up through the roof.

Also, yeah, recent brochis imports are chock full of multiradiatus. I swear to god, I saw one at my old place of employment that was at LEAST 4". It was incredible. I was tempted to buy it, but I'm at full carrying capacity right now.

Where I live, sterbai is still a £12 fish. At current exchange rates, that makes it a $22 fish in the US.

Most expensive Cory on the block at the moment among the ones that can be obtained without requiring a special order is weitzmani, and here in the UK they're £20 each - make that $38 US per fish for comparison.

The really hideously expensive ones are the long snouted hillstream species. Some of those change hands for £40 a pop here - equivalent to $76 US. Mind you, duplicareus isn't that far behind ... sigh. At the moment duplicareus is a special order species and comes with the usual special order premium - I'd be doing well to pick them up for £25 each, and £30 each is nearer the usual going rate.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Wow. Here, we have duplicareus for about 9 bucks, while adolfois go for 14. Weitzmanis hit 40 dollars a pop here (subsequently, mine were not purchased locally), while even the relatively rare longnoses, such as blochii and semiaquilus are only 20ish, tops.

Topping the charts in SoCal are narcissus and oiapoquensis, beating the bush at almost 30 bucks a pop (not worth it).

Sterbais here are a little more pricey too,
coming in at 9.99 (canadian) each in one LFS,
and 12.99 at another.

The most expensive of all the cory cats here
are probably the pandas and the aggassizi (really ambiacus) which run 14.99-17.99 each, depending
on where you go.


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"The most expensive of all the cory cats here
are probably the pandas and the aggassizi (really ambiacus) which run 14.99-17.99 each, depending
on where you go."

No C. ambiacus is worth that much. Five dollars or the equivalent should be the maximum anyone is allowed to pay for them. There are a billion other species that look like them, and it's not like they're rare. Sorry, I just have no respect for a fish that sneaks into shipments of other species so regularly in a desperate bid to be sold. They're called contaminants for a reason.

"Also, yeah, recent brochis imports are chock full of multiradiatus. I swear to god, I saw one at my old place of employment that was at LEAST 4". It was incredible. I was tempted to buy it, but I'm at full carrying capacity right now."

Same thing here. The store I used to work for had some three inchers for a while, 'cause nobody wanted to pay the money for them. Great fish.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

All the supposed aggassizi corys sold here are always
ambiacus, just like how the "julli" corys are always
trilineatus and they charge about 12 bucks each for them.

The only cory cats here that are less than 7.99 each
are bronze and albino and peppers!
Well what can ya do, not like I can travel off the island any time I want fish, or else Id just pop on the ferry down to seattle and get fish super cheap.


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