Freshwater Fish
Paleatus Cory.
The peppered cory — a hardy, peaceful bottom-dweller mottled in green-black over silver. Beginner-easy and community-safe; keep a group over soft substrate in a 20-gallon-plus tank and they'll forage happily together.
In-store purchase only. Live fish, coral, and invertebrates are sold at our Erie store only. They cannot be bought online, and we do not ship live animals under any circumstances.
Live fish are priced per supplier batch — prices may vary. Call to confirm current pricing.
- Condition
- new
- Fulfillment
- Local pickup — Erie, PA
Live animals are sold in store only — we do not ship fish, coral, or invertebrates. Every animal is acclimated and health-checked in-house before it reaches the sales floor. This is a species we carry — it's most likely in the tanks around delivery days, but live stock changes daily. Please call (814) 456-9445 to confirm availability before you drive in.
Care at a glance
What to know before you take one home.
- Care level
- Beginner
- Temperament
- Peaceful
- Community
- Community safe
- Adult size
- 3"
- Min tank size
- 20 gallons
- Diet
- Omnivore
- Scientific name
- Corydoras paleatus
Good tank mates
The peppered cory is peaceful and community-safe, a classic bottom-dweller for a calm community. It pairs well with small peaceful schoolers like tetras, rasboras, and danios up top, plus peaceful livebearers and dwarf gouramis. Keep it in a group of its own kind, and avoid large or aggressive fish and anything that might bully a slow-moving bottom fish.
Good to know
The peppered cory was one of the first corydoras catfish bred in captivity, with recorded captive spawnings going back to the 1800s.
Stock and individual temperament vary — call (814) 456-9445 for pairing advice before you buy.
Good tankmates
Plays well with.
Species we’d keep in the same tank, with why each pairing works. Stock and individual temperament vary — call (814) 456-9445 to confirm before you buy.
New to stocking a tank? Read our guide on which fish live together.
Neon Tetra
Peaceful mid-column schooler with an overlapping temperature range (70–81 °F covers the cool end of C. paleatus preferred range), soft slightly-acidic pH preference aligns well, and it occupies a completely different tank zone than the substrate-dwelling cory.
Harlequin Rasbora
Calm shoaling fish that is comfortable at 72–74 °F (the lower end of its 72–81 °F range), matching C. paleatus cooler preference. Mid-water column, no aggression or fin-nipping history, compatible pH 6.0–7.5.
Cherry Barb
A genuinely peaceful barb — unlike Tiger Barbs it is not a fin-nipper. Compatible at 73–74 °F on the cool end of its range, pH 6.0–7.5. Well-documented as a safe community fish with corydoras in planted freshwater tanks.
- O
Otocinclus
Tiny peaceful algae-eater that clings to glass and plant surfaces rather than open substrate, so there is no spatial overlap with bottom-foraging corys. Shares the same parameter window (72–79 °F, pH 6.0–7.5) and poses zero aggression risk.
Visit the store
660 East 14th Street,
Erie, PA.
Mon–Fri 12–6 · Sat 11–4 · Sun closed. Call ahead on livestock — what's on the floor rotates.