While they might be too small for you - i think you are missing what makes these guys unique - it isn't just about looks but how they school. They are one of the few species of cory that actually will form a school when traveling around the tank - of course - like tetra - the schooling behavior depends a lot on other fishes. My pygmy used to school with the kribs because they were terrified of the other fishes - my cardinals school because they are terrified of the discus - my rummy school because they are terrified of the geo - however in environments where their is no perceive threat the school behavior goes away - my hastatus are not very amused by the green neon and don't bother to schoolI do like the looks of the hastatus, but it just seems I should be looking at non pigmy / dwarf Cory's just because of the size of the other fish
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On the one hand watching schooling fishes is amazing - when i first got my rummy - 50 of them would swim back and forth the entire length of the aquarium for the first 3 weeks (8 feet); but then they stopped and didn't even bother to group up until i got the geo - they aren't that terrified of the geo - but at night they form a tight ball in plants.
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You really don't wnat your tetra to be terrified as that induce stress but the schooling behavior is still quite nice. Unfortunately my cardinals are truly terrified of my discus and that is something i can't really solve very easily.