# Pygmy Cory tankmates



## curtisonrad19 (Oct 31, 2010)

Hey everyone! 
So i my planted 10gal tank finished cycling not to long ago! It currently has a couple RCS and 3 pygmy cories in it, but will be ordering 3-4 more cories in a week or so hopefully. 
Anyway, i was hoping to put some chili resboras (6) in with them, but the pet store supplier did not have any. SO i am at a loss at what else to stock it with. 
I am not gonna lie, i have been looking for some egg scattering fish that i could try to breed in this set up. 
Was hoping someone had an idea that would work nicely! 
curtis


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## jhj0112 (Jul 30, 2013)

how about endlers or other kind of guppies?


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## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

Blue-eyed or Gertrude Rainbowfish.


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## mikebike (Sep 8, 2010)

I have Guppies, Plecos, kulli loachs, Neon and Cardnial tetras sharing small tanks with cories.


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## Livyding (Feb 6, 2013)

I've kept pygmy cories (C. pygmaeus) for a couple of years now and I've found it a bit of a challenge to get the right tank mates for them actually. The problem is that they're quite shy and also not very vigorous eaters... They're easily intimidated and out-competed for food. The best tank mates I've found through trial and error are 

RCS - they complement the cories nicely by cleaning algae and when the catfish lay eggs, they clean and pick off fungused ones. 

Otos - Don't go for the same food as the corys, so no competition there, and they actually will all shoal together which is hilarious and cute to watch...

Bristlenose plecos - a little big for a 10G but I have a couple juvies in a 20G with my group of pygmies. 

WCMM also worked all right. 

The pygmy corys are surprisingly easy to breed... I didn't find that they ever ate any of their own eggs/fry. Originally I did remove the eggs and try to raise the fry in a breeder net, but a lot of the eggs were laid on plants and places I couldn't see them, so over time I noticed a bunch of fry swimming around in the tank, which were clearly not being eaten by the parents. 

I started out with a group of 6, sold about 40, and kept six young for myself and now have a nice group of 12. Really a nice species. Right now I have them living with some pandas and bandits corys which I am regretting since the other corys are so boisterous they kind of make it hard for the pygmies to get to the food, so I have to be tricky when feeding them. I'm probably going to end up making a pygmy and oto and shrimp tank again once I get another tank for the other corys.


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## curtisonrad19 (Oct 31, 2010)

I thought about endlers but i think i have had my fill live breeders for awhile ! 
I never had rainbow fish and had not considered any! Gertrude Rainbowfish look real nice, i will have to look into them. Is there any special care needed for the little guys?

Would WCMM work in a tropical tank?? I had always wanted to give these guys a shot but did think they would really fit in with the pygmys. i am currently keeping the temp a little on the lower side ~73.5 F. Would a small school of 6 work with 6 pygmys? 

And i am really wanting to get fry from the cories. I am really enjoying the 3 i have, and currently ordered a couple more. Been feeding the little guys blood worms and plain flaked food to try and fatten them up!


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## Tazzy_toon (Jul 25, 2011)

I believe WCMM can handle a little heat, i had some in a heated tank and they where quite happy with it. I recently got 3 pygmy cories myself and planning on getting some more to have with shrimp. They are so cute and very active, mine aren't shy at all, in a temporary tank with glowlight tetra and honey gourami.


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## Livyding (Feb 6, 2013)

Yeah I have a kind of warm apartment, and even without the heaters turned on my tanks are all 78-82 degrees, and the WCMM do just fine. Of course they do better at 72-75, and most corys will do just fine at those temps too. 

The thing about breeding the raising fry is you have to consider tank mates that won't eat the eggs/fry... For that you'd want to limit to just pygmies and rcs and otos. Wcmm generally won't eat their own fry, but I noticed they did eat the cory eggs.


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## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

I give my Gertrudes no special care. They eat anything, and when I move plants out of their tank babies often appear in the new tank.


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## Tazzy_toon (Jul 25, 2011)

Awe, tom that is so cool, i've always wanted to keep Gertrudes myself, but they are hard to find. If you ever decide to sell them, give me a shout. 

Good point about the breeding with other types of fish, might now work, my WCMM would eat everything that fit in their mouth.


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## curtisonrad19 (Oct 31, 2010)

That is fair... Maybe i will give the cories a chance to breed and get a little colony going before i add something else to it. 

Also, after reading a little about rainbowfish they sound very neat! From what ive been reading is that people have shipped their eggs around and still had them hatch. Very cool.


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## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

Tazzy_toon said:


> Awe, tom that is so cool, i've always wanted to keep Gertrudes myself, but they are hard to find. If you ever decide to sell them, give me a shout.


 Fantasy Aquariums has some.


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