Sterba's Corydoras Care Guide - Aquarium Setup, Diet & Breeding

Sterba's corydoras is a striking armoured catfish with a dark charcoal body covered in pale, irregular spots and reticulated markings. Its orange-gold pectoral fins provide a distinctive flash of colour, while the pale underside and three pairs of barbels give it the classic corydoras appearance.

This is a peaceful, sociable bottom-dweller that spends much of its time sifting through the substrate with its sensitive barbels. It is active during the day as well as at dusk, and groups often forage together before rising suddenly to the surface to gulp air.

In the wild, these corydoras inhabit clear to lightly tea-stained streams, flooded forest edges and quiet river margins. Their armoured plates offer protection, while the barbels help them locate small food items among sand, leaf litter and sediment.

Sterba's corydoras is one of the larger and more robust members of the genus, and its attractive pattern has made it a long-standing favourite in freshwater aquariums. Despite its sturdy appearance, it remains gentle and relies on the security of its own kind rather than aggression.

Sterba's corydoras comes from the upper Rio Guaporé basin in Brazil and Bolivia, within the Madeira River system of South America. It inhabits relatively shallow, slow-moving waters and flooded margins with sandy or fine-gravel bottoms.

A group should have an aquarium of at least 75 litres, with a footprint of roughly 90 by 30 cm or larger so there is ample floor space for foraging. Use soft sand or smooth, fine gravel to protect the delicate barbels, together with driftwood, rounded stones, hardy plants and shaded retreats. Gentle to moderate water movement, open areas and clean, well-oxygenated water replicate its stream habitat, while leaf litter can provide additional cover and a natural appearance.

Up to about 6.5 cm (2.6 inches) in total length; males are usually smaller and slimmer, reaching around 5.5–6 cm (2.2–2.4 inches), while females are generally broader and may approach the upper size.

Offer a varied omnivorous diet of good-quality sinking catfish pellets or tablets, supplemented with frozen or live foods such as bloodworm, daphnia, brine shrimp and blackworm. It also naturally consumes small invertebrates and organic material while foraging. Feed sinking foods after the other fish have settled, ensuring that every member of the group receives a share rather than relying on leftover food.

Sterba's corydoras is well suited to peaceful community aquariums with small tetras, rasboras, danios, peaceful barbs, livebearers and other non-aggressive South American fish. It can also be kept with gentle dwarf cichlids and other calm bottom-dwellers when there is enough space and shelter. Avoid large or predatory fish, fin-nippers and boisterous species that may outcompete it for food or injure its barbels.

Sterba's corydoras are egg scatterers that can be encouraged to spawn with excellent conditioning, plentiful live or frozen foods and a partial water change with slightly cooler, clean water. A female carries a few eggs between her pelvic fins while a male fertilises them, after which the eggs are attached to plant leaves, aquarium glass or other smooth surfaces. The adults should be removed or the eggs protected, as both may eat the spawn. Eggs usually hatch in around three to five days, and the fry can be raised on fine powdered foods and newly hatched brine shrimp.

Females are typically larger-bodied and noticeably rounder, especially when carrying eggs. Males are usually shorter, slimmer and more streamlined, with a slightly more pointed body profile when viewed from above.