Tell me about dwarf corydoras

[EliWhitney314]

I just found out they existed, anyone own them?

[MatsP]

There are several species that you could call dwarf corydoras. The most common are:

Corydoras pygmaeus

Corydoras habrosus

Corydoras hastatus

There are many keepers of these, between 20 and 70 per species in the "My Cats". Please read the Cat-eLog entry for each and then ask specific questions.

--
Mats

[EliWhitney314]

no problem

[apistomaster]

There are a few fish that I keep and breed for just the fun of it and not for how much money they will earn.
They happen to be my permanent breeding colonies of Corydoras habrosus and my favorite, Corydoras hastatus.
Each group has it's own 20 gal long tank.
There are no other fish in with them but I do have well established colonies of Cherry Shrimp in each tank.

Corydoras hastatus behave much differently than the majority of other Corydoras spp. They spend most of their time schooling just off the bottom to mid-water. They look like some kind of Tetra at first glance. I have about 100 breeding sized fish plus about that many larvae and small fry that are usually in hiding. At about 1/4" long the fry have transformed into their species typical form and begin joining the larger school. They are a prolific species and I am able to keep my population reasonably stable by selling a couple hundred each year in lots of 12 to 25 periodically. Those sold and removed are soon replaced. Here is my C. hastatus breeding set up.



The Corydoras habrosus are small but otherwise very much a typical Corydoras. In the colony breeding method they are less prolific than the C. hastatus but they lay much larger eggs although fewer of them. This colony seems to maintain a stable population of about 75.
I sell a few or give some to friends keeping nano-fish/aquariums like one friend who keeps Celestial Pearl Danios(CPD). He took 2 trios from me earlier this summer and the group has grown to about 20 already. He bred his in his CPD grow out tank. This was possible because the juvenile CPD do no eat C. habrosus eggs or fry.

I have bred Corydoras pygmeus but they do not endear themselves to me enough to maintain them. They seem to be among the most shy of Corydoras spp.

[nvcichlids]

THat picture makes me want to dedicate a tank to them! Very Good Job Larry!

[EliWhitney314]

Beautiful.

[unotim123]

I have pygmaeus and I can say that this species spend nearly all time on Echinodorus spp.They generally dont eat from bottom.They prefer to clean Echinodorus leaves.I saw them at the bottom rarely.As apistomaster said,they are shy but very cool species.I enjoy watching them while chasing each other.But they dont harm one another.All the dwarf corydoras very beautiful.

[Mike_Noren]

Just a small note... C. hastatus looks like a tetra for a reason: it's a mimic which in nature blends in with schools of tetras such as Aphyocharax paraguayensis.

Also, around here C. hastatus is extremely rare. I have seen it for sale exactly twice in the last ten years, although it may of course be more common where you live. The most commonly occurring dwarfs here are C. pygmaeus and Aspidoras pauciradiatus, both of which can be found pretty reliably, and both of which are also, unfortunately, very sensitive and demanding fish.

EDIT: image link changed.

[apistomaster]

I completely agree with you, Mike, that C. hastatus does mimic A. paraguayensis.
The original specimens took me more the 15 years to obtain. I cannot tell you how many times I received C. pygmeus when I ordered C. hastatus. I only see them offered 1-2 times a year at a couple of reliable sources. It was only after I finally bought a PC and was able to search deeper that I finally found intermittent sources.
They are not rare anymore locally as I have been able to keep producing a steady supply. I bought 10 specimens about 2-1/2 years ago and it did not take long for me to establish my large colony. I have sent out about 200 specimens to others across the USA.

I wish I would have as much success with breeding my Aspidoras pauciradiatus. I have had several spawns but none resulted in fry. Their eggs always went bad even in soft acid water. I still have 12 so I may yet figure out what I have been doing wrong.

The C. pygmeus are the only other dwarf Corydoras that does not spend much time on the bottom and they are a nice enough fish. I have a bias against them mainly because they have been sent to me so many times as C. hastatus. They are commonly available at many fish shops, unlike C. hastatus, but their care is identical to C. hastatus.