Sychr's catfish

Corydoras sychri

FreshwaterFish

Care at a glance

Temperature: 75–81°F (24–27°C)
pH: 6.0–7.5
Adult size: 1.7 in (4.3 cm)
Minimum tank: 16 gal (60 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Schooling
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Very rare
Origin: Peru
Family: Callichthyidae

Overview

Sychr's catfish is a small, peaceful shoaler that should be kept in a group of at least six to stay confident. It forages over the sandy bottom with its barbels and suits a calm community of small fish that will not crowd the floor. Feed sinking pellets, frozen daphnia and bloodworm, and crushed wafers, making sure enough reaches the substrate. A group settles well in a warm tank of around 60 liters or larger with soft sand to sift.

In the wild

Corydoras sychri lives in the Rio Nanay in Peru, a soft, warm, tannin stained tributary of the upper Amazon. Recreate that with a soft sand bed, driftwood, dried leaves, and shaded planting, using clean, gently moving water. Keep it warm, between 24 and 27 C, with a pH from about 6.0 to 7.5, and change water regularly to keep this small cory healthy.

Good to know

This small armored catfish of the family Callichthyidae reaches only about 4.3 cm and is a long snouted, finely spotted species with a dark eye mask. Two rows of bony plates armor each flank. Reliable aquarium spawning is not well documented, though cories of this type lay sticky eggs the female carries briefly between her pelvic fins before attaching them to firm surfaces.

Did you know

Sychr's catfish shares the tea colored Rio Nanay in Peru with a cluster of near identical cories. It is a long snouted fish easily muddled with the round snouted fairy cory, Corydoras atropersonatus, which swims in the very same river.