Pygmy Corys?

Is it hard caring for Pygmy Corys? I’m still deciding if I should get them for a 10 gallon tank (they would be with a couple shrimp, 2 nerite snails, and my betta). I don’t know if I should get them or not. Any advice?

 

Not very hard to care for but they must be in a school of 6+ . They are a schooling fish .

Imo 6 Cory's and a Betta is a lot for a 10gal

 

Fairly easy. Just keep a group

 

As long as you get at least 8 it will be fine.

 

Easy to keep and tiny. I’ve got 10 in a 15 with shrimp.

 

I bought salt and pepper cories--not exactly the same as pygmies, but pretty much the same size. I realized once I got them home that they were so small my berried amano females would probably eat them, so I put them in my 10 gallon with guppies and endlers. I bought 6. The first day or two they were fine. After that, I lost 4 of them to an unknown cause--about every 24 hours one would die. I have 2 remaining that have been doing well for a couple of weeks now, though every morning part of me expects to find them dead. My tank is established, has lots of hiding places, doesn't contain predators, and I fed them appropriate food. They didn't show any signs of sickness until a few hours before death. They would suddenly become unbalanced and almost paralyzed. Unless I can figure out what went wrong, I won't be buying any more--far too high fatality rate for me.

For the brief time I had 6 of them, I did not notice any indication of schooling behavior. All of them just went off and did their own thing. Here's my thought on that, though: I had originally bought them for my 20g, which has some open space in the middle and places to hide/plants around the sides and back. Had they been in that tank, they *may* have schooled in the open space. The 10 gallon I had to put them in doesn't have any open space to speak of.

In other words, my personal experience has been that they are difficult to keep, although I realize many others have found them easy.

 

The pygmies are tiny no bigger than a half inch. If you had peppered corys that big they were babies. That’s why they died to early to move. How big are the last 2 now?

 

The pygmies are tiny no bigger than a half inch. If you had peppered corys that big they were babies. That’s why they died to early to move. How big are the last 2 now?

They are not peppered cories (corydoras paleatus); they are salt & pepper cories (corydoras habrosus). Aquatic Arts says their average purchase size is 1/2 inch and full-grown 1.4 inch (that's a very specific measurement, haha) and lists their sizes as the same as pygmies, though the lfs I went to said to expect them to grown just a teeny bit smaller than pygmies. (I didn't purchase mine from Aquatic Arts but from the lfs.) They were about 1/2 inch when I got them--about the size of my pinky nail--and are about 3/4 inch now.

 

I would be cautious with pygmy cories and bettas, as they are small enough to look like food to a betta, and bettas are carnivores. You may want to use a sponge filter, or put nylon stocking material over the filter intake.
Pygny cories bo best in larger schools, 6 is not enough, you have room in a ten gallon for 9 or more. Pygmy, not dwarf or regular cories,

 

I have habrosus corys. my betta has never bothered them after day 1 when he figured out that they outrun him. been 7 months

 

I had 15 of these guys and they just kept dying randomly until I was left with none. IDK what was with them, as the tank had been set up for at least a year when I added them in. I found them to be fragile.

 

Not very hard to care for but they must be in a school of 6+ . They are a schooling fish .

Imo 6 Cory's and a Betta is a lot for a 10 gallon

I was planning to get 8, but I don’t want to overstock. Do you think they would do better in a 15 gallon? (1 betta, 8 pygmy corys, 2 nerite snails, and a couple of shrimp)

I would be cautious with pygmy cories and bettas, as they are small enough to look like food to a betta, and bettas are carnivores. You may want to use a sponge filter, or put nylon stocking material over the filter intake.
Pygny cories bo best in larger schools, 6 is not enough, you have room in a ten gallon for 9 or more. Pygmy, not dwarf or regular cories,

If I notice my betta bothering too them too much then I’ll definitely take him out of the tank. I was planning on getting 8 of them. I’ll also get a sponge filter.

 

Yes 15 is better than a 10. It’s what I have. 10 pygmies about a hundred cherry shrimp,mts snails and I think 4 nerite snails. Oh and 2 baby bosemanI rainbows. .

I use a marineland 30 hob filter with a sponge on the intake.

 

Yes, a larger tank would be better, so you can have a larger school. I would not recommend less then 9 pygmy cories. They max out at less then one inch. in a 15 gallon, you could get at least 12.

 

Yes 15 is better than a 10. It’s what I have. 10 pygmies about a hundred cherry shrimp,mts snails and I think 4 nerite snails. Oh and 2 baby bosemanI rainbows. .

I just measured the dimensions of a 15 gallon and I don’t think it will currently work for me sadly. I’m currently redecorating my room, so I could put it somewhere different. But just in case a 15 gallon won’t work, would you have any suggestions of what I could keep in a 10 gallon with my betta?

 

I keep 10 corydoras pygmaeus in my 10 gallon nano.

I keep them:
3 sparkling gourami
8 kubotaI rasboras
10 pygmy cories

I started with 7, they hid so much so I upped it to 10. Theyre so small. Adorably tiny and when I asked how many you could fit on planet catfish I was told between 10-15 for a 10 gallon tank. Keeping them in a 10, I find this to be true.

Very hardy, 7 came from a lfs fresh out of quarantine because tank had ich a month before I bought them and not a single one died or became sick in my care. The 3 more I bought came from online and shipped very well.


So IMO, if your betta is fine with other tankmates, corydoras hastatus would work good.

1 betta
10 hastatus cories

That's a workable stock list for a 10 gallon (not a tall 10 gallon though)

 

It’s up to the betta. Some work out fine others eat whatever fits in there mouth. Live plants and places for the Cory’s to hide will also help.

 

I keep 10 corydoras pygmaeus in my 10 gallon nano.

I keep them:
3 sparkling gourami
8 kubotaI rasboras
10 pygmy cories

I started with 7, they hid so much so I upped it to 10. Theyre so small. Adorably tiny and when I asked how many you could fit on planet catfish I was told between 10-15 for a 10 gallon tank. Keeping them in a 10, I find this to be true.

Very hardy, 7 came from a lfs fresh out of quarantine because tank had ich a month before I bought them and not a single one died or became sick in my care. The 3 more I bought came from online and shipped very well.


So IMO, if your betta is fine with other tankmates, corydoras hastatus would work good.

1 betta
10 hastatus cories

That's a workable stock list for a 10 gallon (not a tall 10 gallon though)

I’ll see if I could get a 15 gallon because I also want to keep shrimp and nerite snails with them. If the 15 gallon doesn’t work out, then I guess I’ll just have my betta and 10 corys

 

I bought 6. The first day or two they were fine. After that, I lost 4 of them to an unknown cause--about every 24 hours one would die.

I had the same with my Otto's I now have 4 out of 6 left but they do have a low immune stystem which doesn't help.

 

I’ve read that Pygmy cories are harder to breed in tank. Maybe most of the ones available for purchase are wild, so harder to acclimate to tank life and that’s why certain people’s survival rates aren’t so good