Ordering fish

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MentalUproar

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Feb 20, 2007
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Anastasia Romanov
I’m getting back into aquariums. One fish I know I want in my tank is the sterbai Cory. I haven’t seen anything but the albino Corys near me so it looks like I’ll have to order. Who do you recommend to order sterbai Corys from?
 

fishorama

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Jun 28, 2006
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I would ask at your local shops to see if they can order sterbai for you. I've seen them even at petco/smart chains in the last few years, Not always, but worth asking about. It may depend on how many you want too, they may have to get 12 or something.

I would order from Wet Spot (expensive shipping! I drove mine home on vacation), maybe Aquabid but I have little experience getting mail order fish. Live Aquaria has some pretty bad to ok (ish) reviews lately. I used to live near That Fish Place with mixed fish quality but that was a very long time ago. Do they even still sell fish by mail anymore?

There are some other places I've never heard of more than a couple times here on AC & maybe another board or 2. I may have the names wrong, Aquahuna, Angels Plus, ?something guppies?

Sterbai are not so unusual that if you have a local-ish club someone might breed them. Ask on their board. There are likely going to be spring meets/auctions coming up soon, might be worth a drive for a fun day out...

Depending on where you live March might still be a bit chilly for shipping fish even with heat packs bad things might happen. Where I live we worry more about heat, so keep that in mind. Where fish are from & where they're going & the form of shipping you'll pay for...might be more than a tank full of gas if you live near a big city...Call ahead to some stores & maybe have a fun road trip with a new restaurant too?

In a general way, where do you live? There are many clubs & shops.

Oh, & just so you know there are albino sterbai now too. They have orange pectoral spines to differentiate them from other albinos. I don't know if those are acceptable to you, I tend to prefer "natural" fish.
 
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MentalUproar

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Feb 20, 2007
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I’m in Ohio. I’m kind of planning ahead for next month since I only have a single betta in there. But I’m also not sure a single betta is going to seed a 65 gallon tank in a month. Whenever I decide to order it’s not right this second.
 
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fishorama

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Oh, Ohio, I'm going to blast you off to my AC friend dudley (dee). Dee are you paying attention? Dee knows several clubs in Ohio....all over the place...they will help you...can you be more specific? I will alert Dee you would like some help.
 

MentalUproar

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Feb 20, 2007
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Anastasia Romanov
I’m in Akron. There used to be a nice aquarium store called two turtles but the shut down years ago.
 

fishorama

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OH, Akron, I hope Dee is OK with Akron. I think so. Dee has several clubs near there or many OH places...

Dee, you're up! I've tried to throw you under my midwestern OH bus...as a former MI person, a long long time ago. Midwesternerners together unite. yeah!
 
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Sterbai are one of the corys which have the tendency to sell poison during shipping. So if you are going to have them sent to you it is important to choose a seller/breeder who knows how to ship them. I am not a big cory seller but years back I have about 65 large ones to sell. Fortunately, I know the method for doing this and lost none.

The process is referred to as the kick-the-bucket. It involves getting the corys to exude the toxin which can cause self poisoning before one bags them. One puts the corys to be shipped into a bucket of clean water and then you give it a couple of swift kicks to 'freak" them out which gets them to release what they do. After about 10 minutes you change the water in the bucket and repeat. I normally do it 3 times bagging the fish after the 3rd go.

One of the mods on Planetcatfish who is a Ph.D. researcher recently with a co-researchers finally identified what the sterbai and a few other corys are doing/ In the wild this is a defense mechanism. The toxin is intended to put off an attacker and give the fish a chance to escape. The toxin quickly dissipates in the wild. However, in a shipping bag is just becomes and remains very nasty and the fish either die in transit or soon after.

Have a look here- they made a poster- https://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=314524&hilit=self+poisoning#p314524
I cannot easily find the full paper. If you want to read that I would have to ask Eric for the link. However, one of the students who worked on the project used it for their thesis for theirs Masters degree and Eric was the thesis advisor. The paper deals specifically with sterbai and their defense mechanisms.
A Proteomic Analysis of Corydoras Sterbai Secretions and Tissues
https://search.proquest.com/openvie...9940d/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
 

dudley

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Thanks for the heads up F fishorama ! I'm not very familiar with Akron area fish stores but will try and look up some from local club newsletters sometime today.

MentalUproar MentalUproar , while there is no guarantee that there will be sterbai cories at the auction, the Greater Akron Aquarium Society is holding there Spring Auction on April 16, 2023 and they have a variety of tropical fish and always seem to have a lot of cory species.

Zoogari Pets is located in Norton
Agnoquatics is located in Broadview Heights
Something Fishy is located in Cleveland
Aquatica is located in Valley City

I understand some are not located in your area but they are well worth the trip or call and see if they have them available.
 
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fishorama

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2tank, I'd forgotten about the "cory poison" thing some have in their spines. That's a very good reminder. I know my husband got "spined" once & it was more than just the stab wound. I don't recall the cory species, not Sterbai back then. But at that time we didn't know they can release it into the water too & even poison themselves, not just other species. I do now remember the "kick the bucket" method. I'll have to look around planetcatfish for a refresher on what species have it. But maybe some corys have different "non-lethal" levels but enough to make a preditor think again, like a nasty taste? I'm sure there's room for more research...

Thanks for your Ohio help, Dee. I remembered we'd just talked about an OH club spring auction in the last week or 2. I hope you don't mind getting called out, I'll try not to do it too often :)
 
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dudley

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I first heard of the cory 'kick the bucket' method before bagging them when Ted Judy was still doing his fish room videos. I found it an interesting tidbit to keep in mind at fish clubs and auctions.

The method came in handy when I help at local club auctions especially for 1st time members as I usually helped to rebag fish that were struggling either due to poor bagging methods or in one relevant case where the member wasn't aware of the 'kick the bucket' method and I explained how to do it and was able to save the cories he had bagged that were in severe distress and you couldn't even see them in the bag due to how cloudy it was.
 
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