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I've got six Corydoras pygmaeus and I love them, but they're a little reserved. How inclined would the pygmies be to school with another species? Habrosus specifically. I was thinking of getting some Corydoras habrosus to bring the pygmies out of their shells a bit. There were some habrosus in the same tank as the pygmies when I bought them. The habrosus cories were remarkably less afraid of the net, and much more energetic.

I'm asking because, though they're the same size, they don't look a whole lot like the pygmies in shape or pattern. I wouldn't have room to fit a whole 'nother school of habrosus, so if I got just three would I be augmenting the pygmy school or just making three more lonely habrosus?

I'm very new to cory-keeping (fish-keeping in general, really), so I'd appreciate any advice.

Nope. Hardly. The behaviour of both is totally different. Habrosus hardly shoal themselfs. Mine are often in a 2 / 3 group eating and resting. Think Pygmaeus stays together a lot more and can swim as a "normal" fish as well. Cheers Aad

Ahh, shoot, that's too bad. I'm surprised habrosus don't school; are you sure about that? Does that mean they'd be all right individually, or do they still need groups? Thanks for the advice!

No they, as all Corys, need company of their own species. My experiences with habrosus (got 5 now) are that when at ease they are resting and eating ins mall groups or alone. There is one always resting at is own in the same corner of my tank. Maybe there are other experiences with larger shoals, but my don't really shoal. Both fish have other behaviour than all my other corys (about 75) as well.

Hi all,
I've found C. habrosus are much more "Cory" like in behaviour, and spend their time on the sand, mine are usually as a small group resting, but often you find them as 1 or 2's foraging. When they are foraging they often have some C. pygmaeus with them. I very rarely see the C. pygmaeus, otherwise, other than when I've fed some grindal/micro worms, but they are in a very weedy tank with lots of leaf litter

I've also got some C. hastatus in the same tank (since 2011 <http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... =6&t=32349>, and I virtually never see them now the tank has filled out.

cheers Darrel

I would love to have some Hastatus overhere. Very rare in our LFS or breeders !!!!

Thanks for all the replies, guys!

Maybe I'm just too new to cories, but my pygmies don't seem as shy as everyone says. But then, those habrosus at the store were really outgoing, so maybe I'm just judging on the wrong scale. I heard similar-looking species will shoal together, is that just a case of misidentification on the cories' part?

Different species will shoal when too little of the same species. They like to be In the neighbourhood of other corys, but the specific social behaviour will be seen with the same species. But only C.Aeneus alone has more than 25 different species. Keep them in a couple or four? Nope : see this vid : buy a hundred (of the same species). http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cWIVCdLOImw

Oh, man, I'd love to, but I don't have the space or budget for a hundred cories. I guess I'll just leave my six pygmies be for now. Someday, I'd want to get a gigantic tank and fill it with tons of tiny fish, just to see their natural behavior. But that's just a dream for now.

Hi all,

I would love to have some Hastatus overhere. Very rare in our LFS or breeders !!!!

I remember you mentioning this in the earlier thread. I've only seen them once (I bought them from "Amazon Aquatics" in Warminster in the UK). They were wild caught, because I also got a single Serrapinnus kriegi with them. A lot of shops occasionally have fish labelled "C. hastatus", but they are always C. pygmaeus. I think "Apistomaster" said the same about the states, which is partially why he keeps a breeding colony going.

I don't know why they aren't more available, they seem reasonably easy to care for and breed in a planted tank, and whilst they are quite elusive, they are really attractive and it is not like keeping , or similar, which never appears in the day light.

More details about my C. hastatus here: <http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... =+hastatus>.

cheers Darrel

I heard somewhere else about hastatus or habrosus being misidentified as "pygmaeus," which is weird because they don't look alike at all! My guess is that the shopkeepers just see that they're small cories, know that there's a species called "pygmaeus" and decide to call the little ones that.

My pygmies come out into the light surprisingly often, especially since my tank is lit by some pretty bright LEDs (I'm looking for some dimmer lighting—any suggestions?). They spend a lot of time swimming or sitting out in the open, even though there are darker, heavily-planted areas.

Correct and thanks Darrel. Maybe they live at places where commercial catching is less (just as real Julii). Can get 3 extra habrosus from a friend. that will do for at least a month hahahhaa. Cheers Aad

CoryfanAad wrote:Different species will shoal when too little of the same species. They like to be In the neighbourhood of other corys, but the specific social behaviour will be seen with the same species.

Mostly quite true, however C pygmaeus behaves more like a tetra than a Corydoras does, while habrosus is a rather normal Corydoras in behaviour

Therefore, although most Corydoras seek each other out, these two species will not.

How about hastatus?

All Corydoras species are shoaling fish, but that is to say with their own kind and different species may or may not group with other species, it all depends on the species concerned and whether they occur naturally together. Some species do combine at certain times of the year, but not all species.

Ian

Huh; certain times of the year? I didn't know about, that's really interesting. Why is that, and how do they tell? Is it based on the environment and conditions?

Thanks for the advice; I guess I should do some research about what species occur with my pygmaeus.

Although I have kept and bred about a dozen Corydoras species over the years the only two I made a serious effort to produce in quantities were C. habrosus and C. hastatus. Of these two, my favorite is C. hastatus.
As others have already pointed out, C. habrosus behaves much like most other Corydoras.
To me, that means the C. habrosus usually form small groups when kept in numbers and rarely school except when they are being pursued or otherwise frightened.

C. hastatus frequently school. I suspect they often hide among similarly marked schools of small Characins in the wild.
I have only kept them in colonies of up to several hundreds. They loosely school usually but become more unified when frightened. My existing colony presently numbers only about 75 including the fry that are constantly being added but this number has held fairly steady in the care of my best friend. We are still only maintaining this colony so that we do not lose them and none are available for sale. I/we feed them mainly newly hatched brine shrimp. My friend doesn't feed them as much shrimp as I did and that has kept their reproduction rate lower than when I was taking care of them.

Historically, C. pygmeus has been sold frequently as C. hastatus. This is in large part due to cases of mistaken identity in some old tropical fish books and perpetuated by many dealers of old. I think the increased popularity and awareness presently about catfish that this mistaken identity isn't made as often.
C. hastatus isn't collected as frequently as C. pygmeus.

I hardly saw my C.Pygmaeus. After getting the idea for a ditherfish (didn't know this english term )from fellow countryman Jeroen I added some Heterandria Formosa having some kind of same size (females), colour and striping. Yahooooo it worked hahaha. I did see them more that afternoon than the month before.