Pygmy corys

fishyinpa

So this fish store in Canton has Pygmy Corys. Adorable lil things. So I am wondering if I can have any more corydoras in my tank lol?? Its a 12 gallon Eclipse with 6 adults and possibly 3-4 babies,who knows if they will survive.

Rohland

Pygmy cories are really small. I have heard that they are more like "fish", and will swim all over the tank. However they will always settle on the bottom. I also read that they prefer to be in bigger shoals. Like actually 6 minimum. Not like the regular size cories where 3 of the same species will do.

fishyinpa

hmmm...I dunno...I dont have room to q-tine two different kinds of fishies. This fish store has the pencil fish I have been wanting as well..So I have to choose which I want sadly.

Byron

You can quarantine new fish together. Check the store tanks and don't buy either if there are problems in the tank.

As for the pygmy's, Corydoras pygmaeus, they are fascinating little cory's. I have a shoal of six in my 90g, bought all they had when I found them. As Rohland said, they do tend to swim around a bit more than other species, though not as much as Corydoras hastatus, another of the 3 "dwarf' species. Photo of each attached for info; C. pygmaeus top left, C. hastatus top right, C. habrosus lower photo.

By the way, I have found that stores sometimes get the dwarf species mixed up; I've seen "Crydoras hastatus" several times in different stores, but they are actually C. pygmaeus, and sometimes C. habrosus, but all three are identical in their requirements. Moreso than their larger cousins, the Dwarf Cory's will endlessly browse every plant leaf or piece of wood in the tank looking for tidbits of food. And from time to time they will attempt to join in a group of characins as one of the shoal, or just playfully chase another fish (non-cory) for no particular reason. Quite active species.

Byron.

Attached Images

	corydoras_pygmaeus.jpg (47.8 KB, 49 views)
	Corydoras hastatus.jpg (12.4 KB, 50 views)
	Corydoras habrosus.jpg (16.9 KB, 49 views)

Fishin Pole

i also have a shoal (9 to be exact) of the corydorus hastatus and as Byron stated they are very active little fish and they definitely like to shoal together, in fact i wouls say out of all the fish in my tetra tank, they seem to all hang together all the time.......if you see one you will see all the other within a few inches of each other......for behaviour it seems to me, that they are more of a mid-level fish than what you would expect from a cory species and are always on the move......not darting around, but constantly swimming from one plant to the next looking for tidbits of food.....great little fish to have in a tank with other small fish.....to me it seems if they have to large of tankmates, they would become snacks.........choose tankmates wisley if you do decide to go with them.....you wont be dissappointed if you do.......

fishyinpa

thanks guys. They didnt have many in the tank.I think only 3 or 4. They were either the first one or the last,I dont recall. Would 3 or 4 be okay with my bigger corys?

aunt kymmie

You're lucky to have found some. I've been waiting, looking for some locally over 9 months!

fishyinpa

Oh,wow. I may just grab them then lol.

dramaqueen

I like the ones in the middle pic.

aunt kymmie

Fishyinpa- which species of pygmy does your LFS have?
I want some so badly I may have to break down and get some on aquabid. I really didn't want to purchase fish that were going to have to do an overnight air trip...stress!
My LFS got in a batch in over nine months ago, about 600, and they all expired a day later.
So, of course my LFS has decided not to place an order for them anytime soon.