# Did petsmart misrepresent their fish?



## Bushkill (Feb 15, 2012)

You're expecting too much from a place like Petsmart. The wholesale food chain they have with Seagrest is a little less than perfect when it comes to accurate species identification.


----------



## jcmv4792 (Jul 15, 2015)

Bushkill said:


> You're expecting too much from a place like Petsmart. The wholesale food chain they have with Seagrest is a little less than perfect when it comes to accurate species identification.


I'm not expecting too much, I'm just wondering if they were being mislabeled, and what types of corydoras they could possibly be.

Having kept reptiles for some time, I know places like petco and petsmart(and other stores that don't specialize) can often mislabel their animals and have their info wrong. 

I'm not really after Julii Cory cats in particular, but it would be nice if the cories I have now were infact all the same species. If it turns out that the two posted above are different I may end up returning the ones I bought today.


----------



## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

I don't think your little guys will mind the species difference, they're very similar.


----------



## HDBenson (Jan 26, 2015)

They're C. trilineatus.. "False Julis" PetCo has them labeled as Julis as well. I've never seen true Julis at any of either location. Honestly, I've never seen a true Juli -always, false Julis labeled as true Julis, even at my LFSs.


----------



## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

The first pic is definitely Corydoras Trilineatus (False Julii Cory). Corydoras Trilineatus have reticulated dots/line rather than perfect round spots that true Corydoras Julii. There are C. Trilineatus that have almost perfect round dots, so you do have to look very carefully especially around the face to get a exact ID. It is possible the other 2 specimens you got are one species or the other, but C. Trilineatus tends to be more common.

The second pic is neither C. Trilineatus NOR C. Julii. The second pic Cory doesn't have any black lateral line at all and C. Julii has many more dots and a different orientation of them. But with it's patterning there are TONS of Corydoras that have very similar markings so it can be tough to positively ID that Cory. Plus it looks like the fish might have a black, tooth shape, eye patch like many species have, but looks faded. Just so you know, the fish in the picture has a messed up caudal fin (tail fin).

Don't try to argue too much (if they want to argue that the fish is indeed C. Julii or C. Trilineatus) with them when you return the second 2. It can be even more irritating to argue with people who think they are correct just because they work there even if they don't have enough knowledge in particular fish to be certain. Lots of think they know it all fish people at chainstores, some even at LFSs.


----------



## jcmv4792 (Jul 15, 2015)

Betta132 said:


> I don't think your little guys will mind the species difference, they're very similar.





WaterLife said:


> The first pic is definitely Corydoras Trilineatus (False Julii Cory). Corydoras Trilineatus have reticulated dots/line rather than perfect round spots that true Corydoras Julii. There are C. Trilineatus that have almost perfect round dots, so you do have to look very carefully especially around the face to get a exact ID. It is possible the other 2 specimens you got are one species or the other, but C. Trilineatus tends to be more common.
> 
> The second pic is neither C. Trilineatus NOR C. Julii. The second pic Cory doesn't have any black lateral line at all and C. Julii has many more dots and a different orientation of them. But with it's patterning there are TONS of Corydoras that have very similar markings so it can be tough to positively ID that Cory. Plus it looks like the fish might have a black, tooth shape, eye patch like many species have, but looks faded.


Thanks. So most cories of different species will school with eachother as if they were the same species?




> Just so you know, the fish in the picture has a messed up caudal fin (tail fin).


That is mentioned in the OP. I don't know why I did not notice it at the store. I guess I will have to take a harder look from now on.


----------



## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

I have quite a bit of experience with different Corydoras species. I started off as one of those people who bought several species of Corydoras to get them to school together. They can school together, and they will hang out with other Cory species, but they really do know which is their very own species (especially during mating times, I've found only closely related species will hybridize, while other not closely related Corys are not interested, YES I do not rehome ANY hybrid corys). With that said, if you do want them to show more schooling behavior, I would suggest getting all of the same exact species. Different species of Corys do hang out together, but they tend to be happier and more active with their own kind.


----------



## jcmv4792 (Jul 15, 2015)

WaterLife said:


> I have quite a bit of experience with different Corydoras species. I started off as one of those people who bought several species of Corydoras to get them to school together. They can school together, and they will hang out with other Cory species, but they really do know which is their very own species (especially during mating times, I've found only closely related species will hybridize, while other not closely related Corys are not interested, YES I do not rehome ANY hybrid corys). With that said, if you do want them to show more schooling behavior, I would suggest getting all of the same exact species. Different species of Corys do hang out together, but they tend to be happier and more active with their own kind.


In that case I will probably return the two that I bought today. I was originally trying to keep just one species of cory in my tank.

Would you say there is any notable difference in schooling/social behavior between cories bought from the same "batch" or store, and cories bought from different places? 

For example:
- 3 false julii cories from petsmart + 3 false julii cories from another lfs
or
- 6 julii cories bought from the same place at the same time


----------



## dpod (Sep 16, 2014)

I'd go with buying all of them at once. Given the likelihood that they could be similar species, as WaterLife pointed out, I think you'd have better luck getting a good school that's all one species if you've already seen them all together. In the end, it probably doesn't matter too much which species you get unless you're dead set on having julii cories or false juliis or whatever. Plus, you can compare the markings right there in the store.


----------



## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

No real noticeable behavior differences if you bought same species from different stores. Except of course of the obvious short amount of time for them to get aquainted with each other. At first the two groups might not mesh together right away (they could school together until they dont feel threatened to their new tank/mates, but wont socialize as much right off the bat, but this really only lasts a short time until they warm up to/get to know each other).

I actually prefer to get different groups from different areas just in case they breed so the generations get stronger and there is less chance of inbreeding within the original parents.

Doesnt really matter though, either way is perfectly fine.

I personally buy from LFS because they tend to be healthier and have less chance of diseases.


----------



## jcmv4792 (Jul 15, 2015)

Could the second fish actually be a false julii, but with a different patterning? This article says there is lots of variation, and some spotted specimens of false juliis

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/corydoras-julii/


----------



## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

I strongly don't believe the second pic is of a Corydoras Trilineatus (false Julii) NOR Corydoras Julii (true Julii). The fish in pic 2 doesn't posses the black lateral line either species has. It does have uniform dots across it's lateral line, but it is different, more spaced dots and not a conjoined line (even though the fish doesn't like it's in the best shape and appears faded a bit). Not to mention the fish does have far too few spots and the spots are uniform, while on the two species both have "random" spots all over their body.

There are a lot of different shaped dots/reticulated lines on C. Trilineatus (as well as overall body coloration) varying from specimen to specimen and some can look very close to C. Julii, but they are still distinguishable.


----------



## jcmv4792 (Jul 15, 2015)

WaterLife said:


> I strongly don't believe the second pic is of a Corydoras Trilineatus (false Julii) NOR Corydoras Julii (true Julii). The fish in pic 2 doesn't posses the black lateral line either species has. It does have uniform dots across it's lateral line, but it is different, more spaced dots and not a conjoined line (even though the fish doesn't like it's in the best shape and appears faded a bit). Not to mention the fish does have far too few spots and the spots are uniform, while on the two species both have "random" spots all over their body.
> 
> There are a lot of different shaped dots/reticulated lines on C. Trilineatus (as well as overall body coloration) varying from specimen to specimen and some can look very close to C. Julii, but they are still distinguishable.


What species of corydoras would you say that one resembles the most? I've looked around some sites selling cories, and I can't really find one that looks similar. I will post a photo of the other cory I bought along with the one shown in the second picture.


----------



## Bandit1200 (Dec 11, 2010)

My experiences with mixed species schooling matches that of Waterlife's. They tend to school by species mostly. That being said, the smaller species schools would a lot of times school together with the other species schools for a while making a "school of schools" as it were. After a seeming random amount of time, the "super-school" would break back into it's component schools. I found it very entertaining to watch as well as the ordinary schooling they did. As long as you have enough of each species for them to form a decent sized school of their own you should have no problems mixing them together.


----------



## HDBenson (Jan 26, 2015)

The second Cori could be from the C. agazii complex.


----------



## jasa73 (Jun 3, 2007)

My take on buying fish from any of the major pet chain stores is "buyer beware". Beware the actual species and beware the health.


----------



## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

To get the same species the next time around, print out the picture of the C. trilineatus and take that into the store with you. 
Take the time to look at each fish in every tank until you find a match. 

I also agree that the second fish is not a tri or juli-
Nose shape is different, spot pattern is different, ratio of spots:white is different. 
I suspect this is one of the smaller cories, but since many are wild caught, and do shoal together in the wild you might have any of a wide range of species. 
If they were wild caught, then knowing what other fish they came in with might help with ID. 

They look like a nice fish, cute little guys. Perhaps a good reason to set up a second tank, and get more of them! 

Good place for catfish questions:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/


----------



## J0ker Fish (Mar 1, 2019)

*Corydoras trilineatus*

What you call "false corydoras" are corydoras trilineatus. As you can see from the name, they are real corydoras. Please very careful about potentially disparaging a company. I've had a much better experience form Pet Smart than any of the small pet stores in my area.


----------



## AguaScape (Oct 28, 2018)

J0ker Fish said:


> What you call "false corydoras" are corydoras trilineatus. As you can see from the name, they are real corydoras. Please very careful about potentially disparaging a company. I've had a much better experience form Pet Smart than any of the small pet stores in my area.


I do not believe anyone said "false corydoras". They said "false julii" corydoras. It the common name used to differentiate between two similar corys. Re: chain stores, I have gotten great fish from them. I also have infected my tank with ich from same chain. As much my fault for being impatient with quarantine.


----------



## hyp3rcrav3_7748 (3 d ago)

Betta132 said:


> I don't think your little guys will mind the species difference, they're very similar.


 It matters if you want to breed. It matters because Julii cost more.


----------



## Fake_Buce777 (May 21, 2021)

jcmv4792 said:


> I bought 3 "Julii" cory cats a week ago from petsmart...but looking around it seems I actually have false julii cory cats.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Not to sound like a critic here, but the substrate in your tank is unsuitable for corys. It looks like volcanic grave, which has sharp, abrasive edges. Corydora need sand, or finer, smooth gravel. Otherwise their barbels will erode and eventually the fish perish. It is also more difficult to vacuum the stuff, compared to sand and a large fraction all the waste which ends up at the bottom makes its way deeper, rendering conditions less sanitary for them. Keep in mind that most come from rivers and in a river, one is not in the same water for long.


----------



## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

hyp3rcrav3_7748 said:


> It matters if you want to breed. It matters because Julii cost more.


This is a thread from 2019.



Fake_Buce777 said:


> Not to sound like a critic here, but the substrate in your tank is unsuitable for corys. It looks like volcanic grave, which has sharp, abrasive edges. Corydora need sand, or finer, smooth gravel. Otherwise their barbels will erode and eventually the fish perish.


The substrate they were using was fine. It's a myth that Corydoras _need_ sand or that sharp edges of substrate destroy their barbels. A grain of sand itself is also waaay sharper than any piece of crushed lava rock. The reason barbels get destroyed is primarily from poor water conditions and poor tank husbandry. 

I've kept myriad Corydoras species on crushed lava rock, lava cinders, other sharp substrates for decades. But you don't have to take my word for it - just fire up your googler or use the search function here.



Fake_Buce777 said:


> It is also more difficult to vacuum the stuff


Most people with planted tanks don't vacuum substrate. It's generally not necessary.


----------



## itsdirk (Dec 16, 2021)

2015 actually. 

Necro….


----------



## Fake_Buce777 (May 21, 2021)

somewhatshocked said:


> This is a thread from 2019.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Im confused; is not vacuuming the substrate poor tank maintenance? A rounded grain of sand looks like a mini version of a well rounded river rock, by the way.


----------



## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Fake_Buce777 said:


> Im confused; is not vacuuming the substrate poor tank maintenance? A rounded grain of sand looks like a mini version of a well rounded river rock, by the way.


I'd consider vacuuming substrate poor planted tank maintenance. If it's necessary, something is going wrong in the tank. Fine to remove stuff from the surface of the substrate, however, without disturbing the substrate itself.

Grains of sand used in freshwater aren't rounded. They're sharp little pieces - tiny pieces but sharp. Small grains of substrate, however, make it easier for smaller Corydoras species to move substrate around.

Update: Aaaand you're temporarily suspended for being a complete ass via private message. I know it sucks to have someone politely correct you but that's something you need to learn to deal with instead of taking it out on others.


----------

