Pygmy cories hiding

[dachewitt]

I set up a 10 gal tank 11/17/10 for 6 pygmy cories (Corydoras pygmaeus) and 8 green neons (Paracheirodon simulans-they only get to 22mm.). It has a soil base, topped with Peace River fine gravel, and the tank is heavily planted. There is also a large piece of wood with java moss. I have a Tetra Whisper internal filter.
Water changes: 3 gal. every two weeks (2:l rain/hard water)
Ammonia-0, Nitrite-0, Nitrate-<5
Temp.-72 F
pH- 7.2
GH-6 (API drops)
KH-5
The first month or so the cories were usually out swimming and playing. The last 3 weeks they seem to be clustered behind the wood or under the filter, and I only catch a glimpse on occasion as they swim through the plants at the back of the tank. The neons seem to be the only fish in the tank. I read in another thread that the cories can be shy and more nocturnal.

Is there something I could do to bring them out more? Would I see more of them if they were by themselves in a 5 gal.(I have the tank, but wouldn't have as nice a location for it)? I enjoy their antics, especially the mid-level swimming that I don't see from their cousins in my 20 gal. long, but it looks like I have neon species tank.
Thanks for your help and suggestions.
Debbie in Maryland

[dachewitt]

To clarify my question: Would I see more of my cories if I move them to a 5 gal. and increase their school-or leave them in the 10 and possibly increase their school? Or will they continue to play behind the filter and plants in either tank and only make occasional forays to the front?

Happy New Year!
Debbie in Maryland

[MatsP]

If you are going to get more fish, I would recommend that you add them to the exisitng 10g tank. I'm not guaranteeing that this will make them more visible - it seems plausible - but if nothing else, there will be more of them that might decide to pop out from time to time.

--
Mats

[corybreed]

I keep a large group of pygmaeus in a 10 gallon tank. Other than when feeding they are usually in the Java Moss.

Mark

[dachewitt]

Thanks Mats and Mark-

Yes, I would prefer not to set up another tank-and the 10 looks empty (the green neons hardly take up any room-though they do flit about the tank regularly). I've been making sure food falls to the back to make sure the pygmies eat-I'll move it more in my view. I think I will try increasing the cory school-and add some more front plants and floaters to see if they'll come out more.

Debbie in Maryland

[Vlacek]

Hi Debbie,

I have absolutely the same experience as you. 10g tank, 6 c.pygmaeus, first month or so they were swimming everywhere but then they found they favorite spots behind the bog wood and under the sponge filter. I usually only see them late in the evening searching for food and swimming to the surface to get some air. They very quickly disappear to their spots once disturbed. I keep them with c.habrosus. These are calmer and not so shy but a bit boring in my opinion. I also had c.hastatus which I liked most but they all died within two month with no obvious reason

Martin

[dachewitt]

I just put 6 more pygmy cories in quarentine-hopefully they'll bring the others out when I add them in a few weeks. I have seen mine make occasional forrays around the tank-but usually I can't even see them (I guess they are little and disappear into plants or under the filter). I'll post an update if the larger group makes a difference.

Debbie in MD

[dachewitt]

Well, now there are 11 pygmies (one died in quarentine)-and for the most part it still looks like an empty tank-at least the plants are pretty. The pygmies do come around the front on occasion in groups of 3-7. I've even had what looked like spawning behavior where they were out all morning. I have never seen all the pygmy cories at one time-but I haven't found any bodies either. Luckily the green neons flit around a bit more, but they are so small that the tank still looks empty-especially to my older eyes. I guess I need to stick to larger fish!

Debbie in MD

[Coryman]

I have found not only with Corys but with a whole range of fish, if you give them plenty of cover they will use it. Its a security thing as far as the fish are concerned. The more cover there is the harder for predators to see them, the fact that there are no predators is something the fish don't know, its just an instinctive thing.

If you were to keep them in a tank with just a fine sand substrate they would very quickly become used to it.

Ian

[Bas Pels]

Although less expericenced with Corydoras then Ian (actually, far, far less expericenced ) my thoughts about hiding places are precisely the opposite

If you provide a lot of hiding, the fishes will be able to reach cover easily - and be able to be outgoing.

If you provide too little hiding places, any fish going out will not be able to get back - and the 1 or 2 places will be full with fishes.

So if your fishes are shy, I'd suggest putting more cover into the tank

[andywoolloo]

my corys are out more on darker sand then lighter
sand, out more the more of them there are together, out more the more cover there is, don't forget top cover also, whether real or fake floating plants.

just my personal experience.

but i do not have pygmies.

[Vlacek]

Hi,

I'd say both opinions (Ian's and Bas Pels') make sense but each applies to particular species. I have an experience with c.habrosus, c.hastatus, c.pygmaeus, c.panda and c.duplicareus. From these only c.pygmaeus are hiding most of the time and are hard to spot during the day. All others may spend a lot of time under shelter (plant leaves, rocks, etc.) to escape from strong light but never totally hidden in the roots or caves. My pygmies behave just like Debbie's ones. So if Debbie wants to stay with small corries, I'd suggest to try c.hastatus. I like them more although had a bad luck with them as all died for no obvious reason. Or if your tank can accommodate a little bigger ones, c.panda are the less shy corries I have (from the list of corries above) At least my ones are almost always in front part of AQ. Although my daughter says pandas are lazy because they lay on the bottom almost all the time while other not corydoras fish swim all the time

Vlacek

[dachewitt]

Thanks for all the replies. I went to planted tanks because I had such an algae problem when I didn't have a tank full of fast-growing plants. The front plants are growing in and I've got some floating-but not so much as to shade the others. I think Vlacek may be right and they are just more timid-I can see them swimming along the back of the tank and up along side of the filter between spaces in the plants. I only see them crossing the front every 3-4 days and only for short spurts. I'll just have to enjoy the spawning chase days.

If I get adventurous I may create a sand only tank with rainwater. Trying to catch them ought to be fun (I really don't want to tear up my plants in the current tank).

Thanks again-
Debbie in MD

[Vlacek]

Catching pygmies will definite be fun. I gave up catching them after an hour of trying all kind of tricks. I'd have to take everything out of the tank so I decided to leave them in there. They seem to be happy and females are probably full of eggs.

Good luck,
Martin

[dachewitt]

Yes, it was hard enough to get them out of a quarentine tank-it will be a long time before I'm up to trying in a planted tank. I've got too many chores that need to be done-rather than playing with the fish.

Debbie in MD