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Need advice from Pygmy corydoras owners please


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Hi 😁. I am very experienced with extremely overstocked tanks and experienced with several types of corydora. My last fish order I added a 6 pack of Pygmy cory to my order I want to convert one of my guppy grow out fry tanks into a Pygmy species tank. I only ordered 6 because I wanted to make sure they would do well in my care and water. Little buggers didn’t bat an eye 🥰
2 were lost to shipping leaving me only 4 so they are in with 2 week old guppies and loving it for now. The place I am ordering from does 10 packs only. I’m choosing a delivery day one day after I take guppies to the LFS August 18. I need a minimum of 65$ or they will not ship. I was considering getting 20.  If I get 10 and lose any to shipping I won’t have enough. 20 seems a few to many but I am not sure. I’m not worried about bio load but them feeling crowded as this is my first run with them and I’m not sure how quickly or if they will spawn (lfs takes all my spawn of any fish I can’t keep) but I would like to work into a colony that’s been mostly born in my tank. 
I have all the plants for the redecorate for them. This 10g has raised several generations of guppies to full color and size enough to go to lfs.  It usually has between 30-50 guppy kids. I’m down to my last 20 or so who will leave as I said the day before Pygmy arrival so I can redo the plants. 
so….do I order 10 (+10 CPD I can throw in with my others in the pleco tank)and pray they all make it or 20 to be safe and if all 20 make it will 24 be happy in there? Only other denizens are 2 male mystery snails and a couple bladder snail maybe 4-10. ( I harvest this tank regularly for my lfs that’s why so few) I know they don’t like stress so I want to make sure they are not. They are in groups of hundreds in the wild so it should be ok but since the knowledge on this forum is amazing Many heads are better than one 😁 thanks for your help

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I set up a 10 gallon species only pygmy cory tank last winter and its been a great tank so far.  I think I started with 8 from my LFS and they spawned shortly after to my surprise.  There has to be twenty to thirty in there now and they seem happy to me. They often swim around in a big swarm of cuteness. 

My initial thought was for you to get 20 right of the bat, but then I wondered if that would prevent them from breeding, and you said that you wanted to have a colony mostly breed in you tank.  I know that some species will stop breeding if they feel they are at capacity. In my tank, they bred that first time and haven't breed since, but I also haven't tried to trigger them either.

I would say go with 10, and if only 6 survive you should have a good enough sized group to get a colony started.  If you do go with 20, I wouldn't be worried about being overcrowded, mine love being part of a large group.

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On 8/8/2021 at 9:55 PM, Rob E. said:

I set up a 10 gallon species only pygmy cory tank last winter and its been a great tank so far.  I think I started with 8 from my LFS and they spawned shortly after to my surprise.  There has to be twenty to thirty in there now and they seem happy to me. They often swim around in a big swarm of cuteness. 

My initial thought was for you to get 20 right of the bat, but then I wondered if that would prevent them from breeding, and you said that you wanted to have a colony mostly breed in you tank.  I know that some species will stop breeding if they feel they are at capacity. In my tank, they bred that first time and haven't breed since, but I also haven't tried to trigger them either.

I would say go with 10, and if only 6 survive you should have a good enough sized group to get a colony started.  If you do go with 20, I wouldn't be worried about being overcrowded, mine love being part of a large group.

Thank you. This is what I needed. I was worried too few they would not spawn. I can’t get them around here and placing another expensive order was too much. I will go with 10. I really appreciate you taking the time to help. 😁

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On 8/8/2021 at 9:55 PM, Rob E. said:

I set up a 10 gallon species only pygmy cory tank last winter and its been a great tank so far.  I think I started with 8 from my LFS and they spawned shortly after to my surprise.  There has to be twenty to thirty in there now and they seem happy to me. They often swim around in a big swarm of cuteness. 

My initial thought was for you to get 20 right of the bat, but then I wondered if that would prevent them from breeding, and you said that you wanted to have a colony mostly breed in you tank.  I know that some species will stop breeding if they feel they are at capacity. In my tank, they bred that first time and haven't breed since, but I also haven't tried to trigger them either.

I would say go with 10, and if only 6 survive you should have a good enough sized group to get a colony started.  If you do go with 20, I wouldn't be worried about being overcrowded, mine love being part of a large group.

By any chance do you have any pictures of your tank so I can see how you set it up for successful spawning you would be willing to share?

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I don't have any pictures of that tank, but I'd be happy to take some and post them tomorrow. All the lights are off right now and I'd feel bad waking them up.

Here's an old picture of one corner of my fish room just for fun. 12x20highs on the left, 6x10s in the center (pygmy cory's are in the top left 10 gallon), and 6x 40 breeders on the right.

IMG_0577.JPG

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fyi aquahuna has some in stock and they do 6 packs and shipping is $12. Not sure how the cost per fish compare to your other site. They also have gaxaly rasbora (cdp) in stock. They do 8 pack and again shipping for entire order is only $12. Just be aware that the fishes you purchase from aquahuna might be very small (young) so if you have predators they might become food.

Edited by anewbie
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On 8/9/2021 at 1:25 AM, anewbie said:

fyi aquahuna has some in stock and they do 6 packs and shipping is $12. Not sure how the cost per fish compare to your other site. They also have gaxaly rasbora (cdp) in stock. They do 8 pack and again shipping for entire order is only $12. Just be aware that the fishes you purchase from aquahuna might be very small (young) so if you have predators they might become food.

😍yes they do and I have some of each from Aqua huna 😁 and half my panda Cory stock is from Aqua huna. I try to get stock from different places for genetic diversity. The CPD were actually very large compared to what i thought I would get. When I hatched them in the past they are only the size of an eyelash when they become free swimming. Had I not bred them I would have been shocked at how small they were though. Thanks for the info though! I do appreciate it.

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I'm sorry for the "chia pet" sponge filter.  I think it looks kinda cool, and can't bring myself to clean it :)

I set this tank up with sand in the front, and painted black gravel in the back, separated by a thin strip of twin wall polycarbonite.   I planted micro sword in the back hoping it would fill in and create a nice thick hideout in back.  That plant has never really done well for me, so I think I might put dwarf sag back there with maybe some floating guppy grass or frog bit to reduce the algae growth.  I had a ton of duckweed in there at one point, (I think around the time they spawned) After I removed it all, I started getting the algae growth.

Since the tank is turned breeder style, I figured the front would be where most of the food ended up, so I wanted to give them some cover while foraging, but still allow me to see through the tank.  The anubias nana has grown quite large and works well up front I think.  The CoOp use to sell nano dragon stone and big bags of loose spider wood branches, so that is what I have sprinkled in the front.  I was bummed when they stopped carrying them and not sure where to get them now.  And of course I had to have the Star wars AT-AT in there,  I may try adding a spawning mop if I ever get around to breeding them intentionally. 

 

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On 8/9/2021 at 8:47 PM, Guppysnail said:

That sponge is so groovy. I would have to keep it! I like the setup it definitely gives me ideas. I’ll let you know what I come up with. Thanks again!

Please do share, I'd love to see what you come up with!  Many of my tanks are starting to have the same look, and I could use some fresh ideas. Good luck with your fish order, I hope they arrive safe.

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