Corydoras Elegans

The elegans cory earns its name honestly, with a fine dark stripe running through the eye and a subtly speckled body that reads as understated rather than flashy. It's a slightly more slender build than the classic 'chunky' corys, and in the wild it's typically found foraging in dense leaf litter piles, which is exactly the kind of microhabitat a bare-bottom tank fails to replicate — give it some texture to work with.

Care level: Easy · Temperament: Peaceful, shoaling · Max size: ~2" · Min tank: 20 gal · Diet: Omnivore, sinking pellets + occasional live/frozen