# Got 3 Pygmy Corydoras!



## marabriscoe (Jul 22, 2016)

Hey guys!

So today I decided to get some Corydoras for my planted 20 G.

I put them in with my female, Sunny, and I'm hoping everything works out.
She was immediately pretty interested in them but didn't attack them last I'd checked.

They seem pretty scared. They dart around for a bit and then sit really still.
They were hiding in one of the decorations earlier.

Is that normal behavior for cories?

Also, any advice on what to feed them?


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## marabriscoe (Jul 22, 2016)

oh, one is albino! :*


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## halleyana (May 25, 2016)

Corys are best kept in shoals of 6+. They won't be frantic if there are larger numbers. They appreciate a varied diet, mine get algae pellets, frozen food, and NLS pellets. If the other two are true pygmys the albino is a different type of cory and will be much larger. Do you have any pictures?


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Your cory are exhibiting normal behavior for shoaling fish without a large enough shoal. If one is an albino it's not a Pygmy. BTW, Pygmy are not substrate dwellers; they prefer mid-tank.


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## marabriscoe (Jul 22, 2016)

oh jeez, do you think they'll be okay til tomorrow afternoon? i can pick up a few more tomorrow for the shoal.

yeah, the albino is pure white, red eyes. i don't have pictures; they move really fast! i'll keep trying to get some though.

will the albino being a different type of corydora be a problem? 

if so, do i need to get four more pygmies rather than three?

as an update, Sunny pecked at the albino but no blood. they're still okay, just still acting scared. 

thanks guys! i'll have to buy them some foods tomorrow too.


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## halleyana (May 25, 2016)

Pygmy corys are much smaller and hang out in the mid levels of the aquarium, as opposed to regular corys that spend the majority of their time on the bottom. The first picture is of pgymys and the second is of regular. Ideally if you have two different ones you need shoals of 6 of each type.


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## marabriscoe (Jul 22, 2016)

aw jeez. that's not good news. 

so, basically..

would four more of the other corys and five more albinos...
that's probably going to be too much for my 20G, right?

i'm planting my second 20G, so i could move one shoal to that one after i've got plants in it.


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## marabriscoe (Jul 22, 2016)

i feel really bad for the albino, now. Wal-Mart had him in with a bunch of pygmies and no other albinos at all.


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## marabriscoe (Jul 22, 2016)

I got some pics of them! Excuse my messy tank; between IAL and me still trying to find a good vacuum for a lower sitting tank, it looks kind of rough.

The top one has more dark color, but he's pretty pale right now, I think from being stressed.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Neither of those are Pygmy Cory. Get three more of the Albino and see how it goes. In a 20 long you won't be overdoing it. 

Think of the aquarium as three levels: Top, mid and bottom. Then stock accordingly. These guys are bottom dwellers so you can have 10 or even 12 as long as you don't add any more bottom dwellers.

You're doing just fine. Making mistakes such as yours is probably how I learned a majority of what I know. ;-)


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## marabriscoe (Jul 22, 2016)

thanks @RussellTheShihTzu, i appreciate the kindness.  

so i went to my LFS and i got 4 albino cories and 1 more green cory (which is what the other kind is!!) and introduced them to the tank. they seem to be a lot more active! the 2 baby greens are hanging out with each other, the rest of them are kind of just everywhere.. will they eventually start following each other / hanging out?

also i saw one of the albinos dig into the sand... and stick it's head in it ?? is that.. normal??

anyway i got some bottom feeder pellets for them and they were pretty enthusiastic about those. :lol

and Sunny was way more interested in the pellets than she was the cories. i think she's gonna behave!


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

The Greens probably won't shoal with the Albino so you'll need more Green. My fault: I meant to say that in my previous post but only mentioned the Abino. :frustrated:


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## marabriscoe (Jul 22, 2016)

ugh, unfortunately two of the albinos died overnight and Sunny tried to make lunch out of one of the greens.. 

oh it's okay, i figured they'd only shoal with their own kind. that's why i got one more green, but my LFS didn't have any more. 

so i'm not totally sure what to do.. i made a super quick divider and gave sunny about 35% of the tank and the cories the other side. one of the green cories is injured. i took out the dead albinos and did a 40% water change, and made sure the rest were safely on the other side of the divider.. 

but i don't want my tank to be divided. i guess i'll have to find homes for them. which sucks, i really like them, and the green cories that aren't injured seem to be a lot less stressed today.


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

Sorry to hear it. sometimes its better to see how the betta will react with one or two at a time before adding anything else in.


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## marabriscoe (Jul 22, 2016)

change of plans!

i've decided to divide my top 20G for my betta, which i hope will be plenty of room. 

and give my bottom tank to the cories! 

they're just so cute. i can't find them homes. i decided to give them another shot yesterday and bought 4 more albinos and 3 more greens. i think the petsmart i got the albinos from the other day wasn't too healthy of an environment, because 3/4 died. the injured green died as well, unfortunately. 

that brought me down to 2 albinos and 2 greens. so i bought 4 more albinos to bring it to 6 and three more greens to bring it to 5 greens.

and they're doing really well!
none of them passed overnight and they're all way less jumpy. none of them have been darting around or hiding. it took a bit for the ones that were already in there to find the others, but once they did they just started being extremely happy fish!!

now they're very active, and almost always near each other. i'm going to keep them! 

any idea if i can put some other types of fish in a 20G long with 6 albino and 6 greens?


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