Adolfo’s cory

Care at a glance

Adolfo's cory comes from the upper Rio Negro in Brazil and is one of the most strikingly marked corydoras: a broad orange band across the head and a black-and-white striped back and tail base on an otherwise silvery body. Like most corydoras it is a bottom forager that spends the day working the substrate with its barbels for scraps.

It's a touch fussier than better-known relatives such as the bronze or panda cory: give it soft, acidic water reminiscent of its Rio Negro home, and fine sand rather than gravel, since sharp material damages the sensitive barbels. Keep it in a proper group — only then do you see the social behaviour corydoras are known for — and make sure food actually reaches the bottom, or faster tankmates will beat it to every meal.

Good to know

• Digger — needs fine sand

Related species

• Pygmy coryCorydoras pygmaeus
• Sterbai coryCorydoras sterbai
• Julii coryCorydoras julii
• Panda coryCorydoras panda
• Bronze coryCorydoras aeneus
• Ocellate river stingrayPotamotrygon motoro