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Passport
- Family
- Corydoras Catfish
- Grows to
- 3 cm (1.2")
- Lives
- 3–5 years
- Temperament
- Peaceful
- Care
- Intermediate
- Swims
- Mid-water
- Keep
- In a group of 6 or more
- Water
- 22–26 °C (72–79 °F)
Brazil
Care requirements
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On record for Pygmy Cory: adult size, lifespan, minimum tank, temperature, ph, hardness, minimum group, diet, care level, swim level, tank length.
A figure that is not on record is left out rather than guessed. One marked Suggested comes from keeping knowledge rather than a page.
- Minimum tankSuggested 38 L / 10.0 US gal
- pH 6.4–7.4
- Hardness 2–15 dGH
- Diet omnivore
- Tank length 45 cm minimum
Care notes written from general aquarium knowledge, not from the cited sources.
About
Pygmy corys break the rule about corys. Instead of working the bottom, they shoal in open midwater like a tetra, hovering in a loose cloud and dropping to the sand only to feed — it's the only cory that behaves this way and it changes where they fit in a tank.
They're tiny. A full-grown pygmy is smaller than most people expect from the photographs, and that size is what makes them one of the few catfish genuinely suited to a small tank.
The silver body carries a single crisp black line from nose to tail, and in a group of twenty hanging in midwater the effect is closer to a shoal of miniature fish than to anything catfish-shaped.
Tank setup
Keep your pygmies in a big group and give them midwater to use. A handful of them is a waste — the shoaling behaviour only appears in numbers, and it's the whole reason to keep the species.
Give them sand and open floor for the times they do feed on the bottom. Their barbels are as vulnerable as any cory's, and they're small enough that gravel does damage quickly.
Plant the sides and leave a clear column through the middle. They hover, so vertical space matters more here than for any other cory.
Choose tank mates carefully. Anything large enough to eat a very small fish will, and that includes plenty of standard community species.
Leave an air gap. Like all corys they surface for a gulp of air.
Feeding
Pygmy corys need very small food, and this is where most of them fail. Standard sinking pellets are simply too big for them to manage.
Feed crushed sinking wafers, micro pellets, baby brine shrimp, microworm and finely chopped frozen food. Anything you'd feed to fry is about right for an adult pygmy.
Make sure it reaches them. They feed in midwater and on the substrate, so a food that sinks slowly suits them better than one that plummets.
Avoid: ordinary catfish pellets, which they cannot eat, and avoid keeping them with fast greedy feeders.
Filtration and flow
Moderate flow. They appreciate a decent current.
Guard the intake. A pygmy cory is small enough to be drawn into an unprotected pipe, and a sponge filter is the simplest answer.
Keep the water clean. Small fish have little margin, and pygmies decline faster than larger corys in a neglected tank.
With plants
Pygmy corys are entirely safe with plants and belong in a planted tank.
Plant densely at the sides and back. The shoal uses open water in front of it, and having cover within reach makes them far bolder about staying out.
Moss and fine-leaved plants give them somewhere to rest, which they do, draped over leaves in a way larger corys never manage.
Health
They're moderately hardy once settled and vulnerable on arrival. Newly imported pygmies are often thin, and getting weight back on them takes small, frequent feeds.
Barbel erosion turns up here as in any cory. Sand and clean water are what keep it away, and shortened barbels mean something in the tank wants attention.
Salt and strong treatments both suit them badly. Check what a product says about catfish, use it as directed, and take anything serious to someone qualified rather than experimenting on a fish this size.
Breeding
They spawn readily in a well-fed group, triggered by a cool water change in the same way as other corys.
The female sticks small clutches of eggs to plants, glass and wood, usually higher up the tank than a bottom-dwelling cory would. Adults will eat them.
Fry are very small even by cory standards and need infusoria or a micron-graded food before they can handle microworm. Clean water is the other requirement, and it's less forgiving than with the larger species.
Tank mates
Avoid11
- Convict Cichlid Convict Cichlid grows to 15 cm against Pygmy Cory at 3 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Jewel Cichlid Jewel Cichlid grows to 15 cm against Pygmy Cory at 3 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Kribensis Kribensis grows to 8 cm against Pygmy Cory at 3 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Panda Garra Panda Garra grows to 9 cm against Pygmy Cory at 3 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Pictus Catfish Pictus Catfish grows to 12 cm against Pygmy Cory at 3 cm, big enough to eat it.
Only with care7
- Chinese Algae Eater Chinese Algae Eater is aggressive and Pygmy Cory is peaceful.
- Clown Loach Clown Loach is a risk to Pygmy Cory: corydoras catfish and loaches and botia are a pairing to watch.
- Dwarf Chain Loach Dwarf Chain Loach is a risk to Pygmy Cory: corydoras catfish and loaches and botia are a pairing to watch.
- Hillstream Loach Hillstream Loach is a risk to Pygmy Cory: corydoras catfish and loaches and botia are a pairing to watch.
- Kuhli Loach Kuhli Loach is a risk to Pygmy Cory: corydoras catfish and loaches and botia are a pairing to watch.
No conflict is recorded with the other 88 species in the database, so nothing to flag. 2 species are not covered at all, so they could not be judged either way.