Tomhas Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 Hey all! I purchased 4 Pygmy Cory cats about three weeks ago, from my LFS, they were the first fish in a new 10 gallon set up. They have settled in nicely and seem very happy! i called the LFS today to see if they had more Pygmy cats in stock and reserved 2 so i would have a school of 6. Upon returning from picking up the 2nd batch of corys and starting the acclimation process i noticed that i actually have two very different looking catfish. I now believe, after some research, that the first 4 were actually Salt and Pepper corys and the 2nd two are true Pygmy corys. I was wondering if the six of them are sustainable in the 10 gallon or if i need to return the 2 Pygmy and get my hands on two more salt and pepper corys. Thanks for any insight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomhas Posted January 20, 2021 Author Share Posted January 20, 2021 First pic is what i suspect is the Pygmy and second is one of the salt and pepper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Billy Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 Yeah, so their are 3 subspecies of pygmy corydoras. Cory pygmeaus which is in your top picture, cory hasbrosus which is in your bottom picture, and cory hastatus, the third pygmy you havent encountered yet. It is entirely up to you. I have yet to own pygmys yet, but i have kept several types of other corys together and they all get along fantastically. As to the schooling nature of the pygmys unless you are against the idea of 2 different subspecies, you might give it a bit and observe their behavior. They may all school together despite being just a bit different. I would be interested to see how they do. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanTruth Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 I have no idea if a "mixed" school of corys will do well or not. For me though, I would return one group and get more of the group that I liked more. Mistakes happen, but the store should get the id of fish correctly in my opinion. I guess the supplier could be at fault. That kind of thing just bugs me a bit though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 What I would do is get couple more of each but it all depends on what other fish you plan of puting in the tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 23 minutes ago, OceanTruth said: I have no idea if a "mixed" school of corys will do well or not. For me though, I would return one group and get more of the group that I liked more. Mistakes happen, but the store should get the id of fish correctly in my opinion. I guess the supplier could be at fault. That kind of thing just bugs me a bit though. I understand what @OceanTruth is saying but as @Will Billy points out above there really are 3 species of Corydoras all rightfully referred to as 'Pygmy Corydoras'. Here is a good article on the 3 different species: https://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/features/the-littlest-hobos/ Both photos that @Tomhas posted look like pygmy Corydoras to me. The first being Corydoras pygmaeus in first photo and Corydoras habrosus in the second photo. It gets worse. There are actually even 3 additional species of 'pygmy Corydoras', Corydoras cochui, Corydoras multimaculatus and Corydoras piragua, but these are rarely imported. It is kind of like when I was growing up in the South any carbonated soft drink was referred to a 'Coke'. As in this kind of conversation. Me: You want a Coke? You: Yes. Me: What kind can I get you? 2 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy's Fish Den Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 Depending on which part of the country or world you are in, there are a couple different species of corydoras that are often labeled "salt & pepper". Around me, it is the corydoras paleatus that is often referred to as salt & pepper, but I have seen the habrosus also called it. The habrosus, hastatus, and pygmaeus species are all three considered pygmy corys, and as such are often labeled as pygmy corys at the LFS. I have seen shipments come into an LFS that will have two of the three species in the same bag labeled as 'pygmy cory' and usually the person working there doesn't even realize there are two different ones in the bag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomhas Posted January 20, 2021 Author Share Posted January 20, 2021 Thanks all! It is going to be strictly a planted Cory tank (with some inverts), my favorite type of fish! I wanted to do Pygmy cats so i could do a 10 gallon. It may also occasionally act as a holding tank for molly fry. The corydoras habrosus have been great so far, does anyone know if they stay smaller than the Cory pygmaeus? They are currently shorter and skinnier than the two and I’m not sure if they are just less developed or if they’re a smaller fish generally! Thanks again, i appreciate the replies! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tami Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 @Tomhaswhat substrate did you pick? I am planning my next tank to be planted with Cories but am stuck with all the confusing discussion about substrate and Cories since plants won't do well in sand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Billy Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 12 hours ago, Daniel said: It gets worse. There are actually even 3 additional species of 'pygmy Corydoras', Corydoras cochui, Corydoras multimaculatus and Corydoras piragua, but these are rarely imported. Huh? Learn something new everyday. Thanks Daniel 😊. To answer your question about the size difference Thomas, all 3 species generally max out about the same size 3/4” to maybe 1”. However cory pygmaeus does have a slightly different shape from the traditional cory dora shape we all know and love. Pygmaeus does have a bit more bullet like shape that resembles more a traditional fish like appearance. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomhas Posted January 21, 2021 Author Share Posted January 21, 2021 49 minutes ago, Tami said: @Tomhaswhat substrate did you pick? I am planning my next tank to be planted with Cories but am stuck with all the confusing discussion about substrate and Cories since plants won't do well in sand I used the fine black gravel from PetSmart, the same as my 29 gallon. I have found it’s small enough for the Cories to filter through and still allows most ‘easy’ plants to grow. I also have about 50% out of the substrate on decorations and stuff. It is an experiment so far with the Pygmys but they seem to be doing well so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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