Irene Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 (edited) I'm usually a lurker on the forums and rarely talk about my own tanks here, but I decided to document my progress with breeding pygmy corys because they're just so stinkin' cute! I got them seven months ago, so please excuse me as I backfill the earlier entries... July 1, 2021 I purchased a group of captive-bred pygmy corys from Aquatic Life Farm, and they shipped to me in June. After a few weeks in quarantine, 9 of them got added to a 10-gallon, species-only breeding tank in my kitchen that has been running since late 2020. I have 8.0 pH and relatively soft water (which is boosted with Seachem Equilibrium minerals to keep the plants alive). The plants are floating water sprite, dwarf water lettuce, needle leaf java fern, anubias nana petite, and dwarf sagittaria. Hardscape includes sagewood and pink granite. Substrate is CaribSea Eco-Complete, light is a Finnex Stingray that is on for 6 hours, filtration is a sponge filter, heater is set for 74-78°F, and fertilizers are Easy Green and Easy Root Tabs. This is a screenshot of me pouring in the pygmys, so some of the floating plants got disturbed. Edited January 27, 2022 by Irene 10 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 I'm so excited to follow this journal. We all know what a fantastic writer and presenter you are, Irene. But please feel free to just relax and share. Leave in some typos . . . post some embarrassing-tank photos . . . I promise we'll all be so glad to cheer you on! Frank (Aquatic Life Farm) is a friend. We've been to his place near D.C. and also bought lots of fish from him. He's a retired chemist who keeps . . . maybe hundreds of tanks in his basement. He's a true aquarium genius. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 This will be fun to follow. Baby Pygmy Corydoras really are super cute! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beardedbillygoat1975 Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 Awesome @Irene! You need to come over to the Cory Appreciation Society! Excited to follow! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 I’m also excited to read about your journey. My Pygmy tank has not laid a single egg yet 😞 since august. Hopefully I can learn some tips from you. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levi_Aquatics Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 I am interesting in breeding corydoras so this will be a fun thread to follow! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taco Playz Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 (edited) Amazing! I have been surprised with a Pygmy Cory fry for myself and he is so cute. Edited January 7, 2022 by Taco Playz 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Posted January 27, 2022 Author Share Posted January 27, 2022 July 24, 2021 Oops, correction – I added 9 corydoras originally, not 12. Today I went to a not-so-local fish store to browse for plants, and a lady brought in 4 pygmy corys that she had been keeping in a 5-gallon tank. She found them to be too shy and didn't feel comfortable getting more for her nano tank, so she brought them back to the fish store. I promptly bought them for my 10-gallon breeding tank. What a lucky find! Because of their tiny mouths, I find that even frozen mini bloodworms are too big for them. Their favorite foods so far seem to be baby brine shrimp, frozen daphnia, frozen cyclops, Repashy gel food, and nano pellets. I've also tried Easy Fry and Small Fish Food, but sometimes I worry that the little particles get stuck in the floating plants and the corys don't find them. August 15, 2021 I tried doing a giant water change to simulate the rainy season, since I heard that sometimes stimulates corydoras to breed. The pygmy corys seem to be out and about a little more than before, but I don't think it really did anything. Because of all the plants, this tank really doesn't need a lot of water changes; nitrates are around 0-10 ppm so I have to add Easy Green occasionally to keep the plants alive. I've been thinking of minimizing tank maintenance to let the water slowly acidify (since my pH is on the high side) and to encourage mulm/microfauna growth for future fry to eat. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac M Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 @Irene That is a lucky find! My school of pygmy corydoras recently spawned for me and I agree with you about the bloodworms being too big. I usually will feed mine frozen tubifex worms though which they can easily eat. Also, I was able to fatten mine up with Xtreme sinking wafers. It worked really well as they are very stable in water which allowed the pygmy corys to graze on them all day every day. I do minimal tank maintenance as well but I have pH on the higher side (between 7-8.2 usually) and harder water. I also do not have a heater on my aquarium so my pygmys spawned in 68-70 degree water. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Posted January 27, 2022 Author Share Posted January 27, 2022 On 1/27/2022 at 12:50 PM, Isaac M said: @Irene That is a lucky find! My school of pygmy corydoras recently spawned for me and I agree with you about the bloodworms being too big. I usually will feed mine frozen tubifex worms though which they can easily eat. Also, I was able to fatten mine up with Xtreme sinking wafers. It worked really well as they are very stable in water which allowed the pygmy corys to graze on them all day every day. I do minimal tank maintenance as well but I have pH on the higher side (between 7-8.2 usually) and harder water. I also do not have a heater on my aquarium so my pygmys spawned in 68-70 degree water. I'll definitely have to try frozen tubifex worms; I didn't know they were small enough! Yes, I find that my heater seems to rarely turn on in that tank, and the temperature tends to be around 73-74°F. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac M Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 @Irene tubifex worms are really long and skinny, the pygmy corydoras slurp them up like spaghetti haha it is also one of the foods that is highly recommended by Eric Bodrock in the Cataclysm 2017 corydoras presentation video on the aquarium co-op channel which is where I learned it from. Anyways, good luck with your pygmy corydoras! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 (edited) I’d maybe try a few things (because I’m impatient… always trying stuff…) (1) Gently increase flow. You can try something like this attached to the side of your tank, directing flow across the tank lengthwise. (2) Add botanicals. Some Catappa leaves, pods, etc. (3) Clean out uneaten, meaty organics daily, replacing some water each day. (4) Try feeding them a few live black worms just before lights-out. Corydoras are generally nocturnal. Certain Repashy foods might be good too. (5) Leave a dim night-light on in your fishroom. Edited January 27, 2022 by Fish Folk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimp Doggy Dogg Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 I absolutely adore my Pygmy Corydoras! They are like a wiggly underwater hummingbird. Good luck with the project! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Posted January 28, 2022 Author Share Posted January 28, 2022 On 1/27/2022 at 3:19 PM, Shrimp Doggy Dogg said: I absolutely adore my Pygmy Corydoras! They are like a wiggly underwater hummingbird. Haha, that's the best description I've heard of them yet. I love how they perch on the driftwood and plant leaves. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimp Doggy Dogg Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 Any fish that grabs onto driftwood or a leaf with its pectoral fins and looks around the tank makes me laugh. Like ottos on vallisneria. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Hopkins Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 (edited) My previous experience with breeding them was adding a Fluval 406 with spray bar and I dropped it on a 20H where they were established. It was that night that they were spawning by laying under crypt leaves. I think the snails ate the eggs, but for sure increase in flow worked great for me. Edited February 1, 2022 by Tim Hopkins 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Posted February 8, 2022 Author Share Posted February 8, 2022 @Tim Hopkins Good point! I had an amano shrimp in there originally and quickly removed it once I realized it could be eating eggs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SidneyE Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 I have a group of 12 Pygmy’s with some chili rasboras in a 10 gallon tank purchased mid January. This morning I found the cutest little fry resting on a Anubis Nana Petite leaf, my heart almost exploded. I was surprised to see a baby as I rarely see the Cory’s, maybe 3-4 at a time. I do overfeed the tank as I’m also breeding bladder snails for my pea puffer tank. I’ve got a huge water sprite plant, a big chunk of driftwood, and some botanicals in the tank, run a sponge filter. Feed Fluval Bug Bites, Xtreme Nano and Bottom Wafer. I really would love to see the Corys more often! Any advice on getting these shy buddies to come out more? Anyone know if they can handle live Blackworms? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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