Cory Pygmaeus

[lilfishie]

Could i have a group of cory pygmaeus in my 8 gal tank with my betta after i move the pencilfish out?
the tank has roman gravel, few fake plants getting a cave for it and the betta shouldn't be a problem
how many would you reccomend if i can?

had cories for 4 days and want more

 

[james_fish]

Yes, you should be able to get some in there. They are really small, but a nice fish nonetheless.

Have you got some in there already?

James.

 

[lilfishie]

no none in there atm just the betta and the pencilfish which are moving out shortly, how many would you say?

 

[kizno1]

Is the gravel smooth? IMO its really best to have sand for pygmy corys but if the gravels really smooth you might get away with it but sands best. 8 pygmy corys and 1 betta should be fine

 

[Katch]

I have 7 pygmy corys in my 24 gallon - the substrate is not a particularly smooth gravel and they are all happy and very healthy. Their barbels are long and complete. They're great little fish; my favourite shoal in the tank.

 

[lilfishie]

it is very smooth gravel, i made sure with keeping the betta in there, thats great then shall hunt some down

 

[schmee]

Agree with the others, lovely fish. Get as big a shoal as you can fit. i'm not sure what that would be in your tank as some would say betta should have that to himself while others might say 1 gallon is enough for betta. Agree with the sand or smooth gravel. If your lighting will allow it, you could get a live plant, perhaps an anubias with nice flat leaves, they tend to sit on those.
Betta should be fine unless he's very agressive, mine followed one of my corys around for a little while when he first joined the tank, looking curious but has never tried anything with them since.
Really lovely fish, i had 8 but lost one this morning They can be hard to track down (i looked in 5 shops with no luck and actually bought mine from an ebay seller, who i cannot reccommend highly enough - i think they are the only ebay uk seller offering pygmies so i don't need to name drop as it's probably against the rules)

Good luck!

 

[lilfishie]

the betta is a very laid back lil guy and was very lazy until i put the pencilfish in but they are moving out so to speak and i would hate for him to go back to being lazy, he is a complete different fish since having tank mates. the guy i got my other cories from is selling them in a group of 10 so will probably end up with an extra 2 which shouldn't be a problem, got a decent filter and keep up with the water changes.