10 Gallon Tank Species stocking - pygmy/dwarf cories.

HI guys,

I've heard mixed opinions on this so I'd like to make a post now that I'm considering it, myself - to see how everyone feels on the matter.

I have a 10 gallon I would like to stock in a month or so (after adding dirt or sand, plants and cycling).
I was going to do a 20L, but the space I have is about 19 x 34, so a 12 x 30 tank is going to take up basically the whole thing.

The two things I'm debating are:

10 pack of pygmy cories, species only tank.

OR

10 pack of dwarf cories, single centerpiece betta.

Is 10 too much for a ten gallon, and would adding the betta cause issue with the bio-load? I know they're a fairly light load fish, and with the dwarf cories he'd have the whole tank to himself because they stay mostly on the bottom.

I've heard mixed things about whether a ten gallon would be too small or not, considering these are the tiny variations of the species and cap at 1" at most. I've also heard they work in nano tanks, so information has been mixed at best.

The other question is if a Walstad dirted would work for this situation? I don't see why it wouldn't, but I don't want to make the mistake of starting out and finding out later that I'm wrong. I know they prefer soft sand for burrowing, so I was going to cap with a mix of eco-complete and black sand.

POTENTIAL BETTA AGGRESSION ASIDE - I know the risks of that, already - I'm curious how others feel about this set up. Regarding the space and environment specifically for the cory species.

Thoughts?

 

10 pygmies in an all planted tank would be fine. They are tiny. Walstead could work as long as the sand cap is thick. Pygmies are pretty sensitive so make sure the tank is well cycled. Lots of plants will help keep water healthy.

 

I can only give you my experience with pygmies. I have 7 in my 10G, with some other fish, but it's heavily planted and well established. These guys are cool little spazzies that will not necessarily school but will always stay in close proximity of each other. Mine come out for food all the time. However, most of the time they are hiding, or laying on my plants leaves. My only concern for you would be not seeing them enough. Other than that, they are amazing little fish. Plus they do tend to swim more in the middle section of the tank than at the bottom. They can also be slightly timid...I mean, they are insanely small.

 

Thanks for the tips!

The reason I would do the pygmies as a species only tank while risking the dwarfs with a betta is because of everything you said. I know they're very shy, and mid level swimmers, so I don't want to risk them "threatening" the bettas space by being in it.

As they would have the whole tank to themselves, I hope it would help with their timid nature, as it they would only be competing with plants for tank space.

 

I had mine in with ember tetras and red cherry shrimp.

 

Pygmys do better with a small dither fish in the tank as they can be very shy & I wouldn't put them with a betta for reasons that have already been said
In a 10 gallon I'd go for habrosus & heavily plant, they do stay mainly on the bottom but will swim up & look for food on plants & rest on the leaves.
It would depend on the bettas temperament if he'd leave them alone, they can be fine together for a while then the Betta could decide he no longer wants them in his tank, imo Bettas are really best kept by themselves.
I wouldn't have any cory in a tank that's cycling as they're more sensitive to ammonia & nitrites being bottom dwellers

 

As stated in my original post,I'd rather comments not discuss potential betta aggression. I appreciate the concern, but I'm already well aware of the risks, and it often turns into debates that I would really rather stay out of my threads. I've had bettas all of my life, lone bettas, community bettas, and bettas that have had to be separated from a community tank after bullying occurred. In 2/3 of the cases, in my experience, the betta has been the one picked on.

The questions I asked were if 10 (or 10+ a single betta) would be safe bio-load wise in a ten gallon aquarium, and whether cories would be comfortable in a dirted tank.

I also explicitly stated that I'll be cycling the tank before purchasing the fish.

My plan is to have 10 of one species in the ten gallon, as a species only tank, and 10 of the other species in my 40 gallon with the black neons I already have. I'm mostly just currently debating which species to go in which tank... and whether I should plan for a dirted tank, or just use sand alone.

 

If by pygmies you mean sparkling gourami then I have 4 in my 7 gallon tank which is heavily planted. They're happy, always out playing and I even had them laying eggs in the week! I think they would be very happy

 

10 pygmy or dwarf would be fine in a 10 gallon as far as bioload & corys would be definitely be comfortable in a dirted tank

 

If by pygmies you mean sparkling gourami then I have 4 in my 7 gallon tank which is heavily planted. They're happy, always out playing and I even had them laying eggs in the week! I think they would be very happy

Not the same fish.

 

If by pygmies you mean sparkling gourami

This thread is about stocking cories not gouramis

 

This thread is about stocking cories not gouramis

sorry my bad I was looking in my sparklers tank! But I do have 4 cories in my 7 gallon tank and they love it! I just wrote the wrong fish haha

 

sorry my bad I was looking in my sparklers tank! But I do have 4 cories in my 7 gallon tank and they love it! I just wrote the wrong fish haha

They are cute! I am leaning towards a species only tank, currently. I haven't started a tank from scratch in over a year, first I need to pull it out and empty it since I'm using it for storage at the moment. Going to take this one real slow, using plants and TSS to cycle.