Pygmy Cory Catfish

I just saw that Big Al's was having a sale on the pygmy cory catfish, it was like $1.99 for 3 which I think is greatt...unless i'm getting ripped off :/

I was wondering what they eat and if I could put them in my tank with my 3 little fry. The fry are mosquito guppies and they are known to be fairly aggressive to other fish. But they are still small and I was wondering if it was safe to put the catfish in there since the pygmy catfish don't grow too big which is a problem for my big tank that has tetras.

Another thing, would the pygmy cory catfish eat the fry?

 

Here's a link. Not sure about fry. They do eat fish food scrapes and algae.

 

I think they'll be fine. They shouldn't mess with free swimming fry. These two species typically occupy different levels of the tank so they should get along well.

 

Thank you!
And thanks for the link!


But uhmm...one of my fry stays at the bottom until its feeding time plis, I read that normal cories will eat anything that fits in their mouth. Is that true? :/

 

I've never seen any cories of any kind actively hunt free swimming fry.

 

I've never seen any cories of any kind actively hunt free swimming fry.

Yes, I know...but if the fry can fit into the cory's mouth and the fry is swimming near the bottom of the tank, wouldn't the cory eat it?

Because I've seen one of my zebra danio eat a free swimming fry out of nowhere when it was first born and it was horrible...that's why i'm scared of putting in 3 cories. The fry have gotten bigger and from what I can measure, their about 1cm long and I've had them for about 2 months

 

corys are not predators but more of an opportunistic scavenger. If there was a fry laying on the bottom and not moving at all, then they might bite it, but it's not likely to happen in my experience. I use cories for cleanup in some of my fry tanks.

 

corys are not predators but more of an opportunistic scavenger. If there was a fry laying on the bottom and not moving at all, then they might bite it, but it's not likely to happen in my experience. I use cories for cleanup in some of my fry tanks.

Note the bold, if there was ever a chance for the cory to bite my fry, isn't that a bad thing? And by "bite" I can just imagine the cory swallowing the fry whole instead of a "bite."

 

that's what I meant.. I don't think they have teeth lol. My point was that corys are not predators, they are scavengers. The only way I could see one eating another fish is if it were pre-freeswimming fry stage or if it was sickly/dying/dead and not able to move away.

 

Soo...what your telling me thenn, is that its safe to put 3 pygmy cory catfish into the tank with my 1cm mosquito fry?

 

Personally, I don't hesitate to put any cories in my fry tanks. They are near the top of the list when it comes to fry-safe fish. Only one I'd consider slightly safer is bn plecos. That's just my opinion though, maybe wait for a few more before you decide to do anything.

 

Ohh okay, thank you!

Andd uhmm...the tank for my fry has stringy things hanging from the wall and most of the rocks are covered in brown "muck" haha. I was just wondering if that's algae and if the cories would eat it because I HATE algae...ruining my tank!

 

sounds like diatoms. I've never seen my cories eating them, but my otocinclus do. I think my bn plecos do also a little bit but i've never caught them doing it.

 

Ohh, thank you!

You know, your VERY helpful hahaha
So then if I don't have dropping pellets, would the cories go up and try to eat the flake food that I have?

 

I've seen pygmies go for flake food while it was suspended in the water column, but not typically no. Just pinch some of the flakes and hold them underwater for a sec and then some will make it to the bottom.

 

Thank youu! yett again hahaha

 

I need help again!

The catfish won't eat my sinking algae chips that I bought...What do I feed them?

 

Try flakes or pellets, mine aren't very fond of wafers either but they do eat them. They might be getting adjusted also.

 

Hey there...just my :...I have a small school of pygmys in with a group of endlers......my tank is constantly loaded with fry.......my little pygmys never bother anything....theyre AWESOME!!!!!! They do tend to like to hide and go under the rocks I have in the tank......I also have MTS in that same tank...I feed shrimp pellets and algae wafers....

 

HiI Lori!

haha that soundss great with all the fry, but my pygmys won't eat the sinking algae chips I feed them. I cracked the chip in half because it was too big but all they do is swim over it and check it once, then they never touch it again. Is this because the chip is too big? Or because I have algae and unwanted flake food lying everywhere on the ground?

Help! I just got them yesterday and I don't want any dying! Plus, one of them just sits in the corner and doesn't move...sometimes it doesn't move for hours and I have to check to see if its still breathing.

Andd ill post some pictures in about 2 weeks or so because I have to keep my big tank running for awhile since its new [: