Getting my tanks in order! (I wanna hear your thoughts on my stocking and ideas)

[OliveFish05]

20 gallon long allows you to keep 15-20 Corydoras pygmaeus and shrimps.
Dragon stone is beautiful but I'd rather go for smooth pebbles (not shingle from beach).
You could choose dark fine sand to accentuate Cories, shrimps and plants.

I have some smooth river pebbles! Wouldn't the dragon stone give the shrimp somewhere to hide? I have pale sand on hand, will it make much of a difference?

 

[Avel1896]

I have some smooth river pebbles

Just in case, check their chalkyness with hydrochloric acid.

Wouldn't the dragon stone give the shrimp somewhere to hide?

Its holes are too small to hide the entire group. Shrimps live in colony.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I have looked on every online store I can find, and cannot find them anywhere. I asked my LFS maybe 6 months ago if they would be getting more, and they said they didn't know, it would just depend on what their supplier had. They took my name and phone number and said they would give me a call if they got more. Fast forward half a year, I still can't find any. There are 4 actual pygmy cories in there with them right now, I know it isn't ideal but it is the best I can do. And about their name, I've found it easier, in terms of stocking, size, and bioload, to refer to them as pygmy cories here on the forum, since they're one of the pygmy varieties and people have just seemed to have an easier time understand. Sorry if I am confusing When I search for them online or ask specific questions about them I use "Tail spot pygmy cories" "Dwarf Cory" "Cory hastatus" "pygmy cory hastatus" "tail spot cory". It isn't that I am not trying to find more or simply not wanting to spend the money on a larger school, its that there are genuinely none for sale anywhere right now

I get it, I really do! I had a single pygmy cory for months, because between covid and Brexit, there were supplier problems. I bought the single because he was the last one in the store tank, alone. I felt bad for him and thought I could get a batch of them asap, but no one was able to get them in for months. Neither of the privately owned fishstores, and not the big chains that I usually avoid either. Sucks, but it happens.

Just keep trying and keep calling. Remember that if supplies are low (not many shipments of either pygmaeus or hastatus are coming in to your area) that you won't be the only one wanting some, and any that do come in will be snatched up quickly. So don't wait for the store to call you; they won't have time/won't remember, and they'll have no problem selling them either, they'll be flying out the door. So keep calling around yourself, find out when shipments are due in, whether they've managed to order any, reserve them if they say they have some on order (in my old store, reserving fish meant paying 50% in advance), keep checking online etc. Check local fish keeping groups too, you're more likely to find a local hobbyist who breeds them, like me But my shipping to the US isn't practical here

Sorry, had to make sure about the names, since plenty of people get the three dwarf species mixed up, but they're not the same. Just wanted to be sure you knew.

 

[Essjay]

There are three dwarf cory species and between them they have quite a few common names. It is safer to call them by their latin names - pygmaeus (or just pygmy), habrosus (the one which looks like a miniature pepper cory) and hastatus (the one with the black spot where its tail fin starts). That way we all know which ones we are talking about.

 

[OliveFish05]

Just keep trying and keep calling. Remember that if supplies are low (not many shipments of either pygmaeus or hastatus are coming in to your area) that you won't be the only one wanting some, and any that do come in will be snatched up quickly. So don't wait for the store to call you; they won't have time/won't remember, and they'll have no problem selling them either, they'll be flying out the door. So keep calling around yourself, find out when shipments are due in, whether they've managed to order any, reserve them if they say they have some on order (in my old store, reserving fish meant paying 50% in advance), keep checking online etc. Check local fish keeping groups too, you're more likely to find a local hobbyist who breeds them, like me But my shipping to the US isn't practical here

I heard the hastatus cories are easiest to find in July, so all summer long I was at my LFS every week or so (my mom was also setting up a koi pond and wanted to check out all their new plants), I will call and ask if I can request them or if their supplier carries them. I never thought about joining a group My LFS will let you pay over the phone.

Sorry, had to make sure about the names, since plenty of people get the three dwarf species mixed up, but they're not the same. Just wanted to be sure you knew.

There are three dwarf cory species and between them they have quite a few common names. It is safer to call them by their latin names - pygmaeus (or just pygmy), habrosus (the one which looks like a miniature pepper cory) and hastatus (the one with the black spot where its tail fin starts). That way we all know which ones we are talking about.

Sorry

 

[Avel1896]

C. hastatus prefers slow or even no current.
C. habrosus prefers medium current and loves to play in.
C. pygmaeus prefers slow current.

 

[OliveFish05]

I figured I would update this thread. I have finalized some plans a little bit more and a lot has changed in the last 2 months.

I spent a lot of time trying to find a decent lid for the 55 gallon tank, but couldn't find one that really suited my needs. In addition, I learned that 40 breeder tanks (36x18x16 inches) were more suited to axolotls because of the added 6 inches of width. So I went out and bought a 40 breeder. Will be buying a shelving unit rated to hold 800 pounds per shelf to be the stand, hoping to put my second tank (bought a 20 long 30x12x12 inches) on the lower shelf. In recent threads several members have used lighting grids cut to size as part of their lids. This also allows them to grow plants above the tank, which I love. So I figured I would give this a try. Because the grid is able to be cut to your desired size, I can leave room for my axolotls fan to hook to the side of the tank. This was not possible with a typical screen lid. I plan to have some dwarf umbrella palms grow up out of the tank, and some swiss cheese vine (monstera adonasii, which is toxic for the same reason as pothos) growing at the top and draping over the edge. I was going to have a water lily and mosaic plant, but realized that because I cannot have lighting over my axies tank the mosaic plants would not do well as they are very high light demanding plants. I have been doing a bunch of research on axolotls and keeping them with other axolotls, and it seems like it is completely fine to have more than one. I am hoping to have 3, 2 lucies and a golden albino. I plan to introduce them when they are 6 inches each or larger and monitor them closely. Right now I only have 1 and am watching for more 2 more.

So, that is where I am at with the plan for the axolotl tank. Now on to where I am at with my cories. I set up a 10 gallon for the hastatus cories, lots of plants, sand, driftwood in the hopes of giving them the chance to breed. They laid lots of eggs but none ever hatched. I gave them lots of time and after about 2 weeks decided to move them over to my 20 long (30x12x12 inches) with my BN pleco, nerite snail, and 11 Pygmy Cories. As of right now, the plan for the 20 gallon is to watch for marbled hatchetfish and green neons either online or at my LFS. I am hesitant though because of the hatchetfish’s jumping habits. It makes me very nervous. So I am still determining the end plan for that.