Two
years ago I purchased 6 pygmy corys. Being so small I set them up
in their own 10-gallon tank. This tank has 1.5 inches of gravel,
several live plants and a sponge filter. The light is on a timer
set for 10 hours a day. The pH is 7.4 and the DH around 10.
Right away I fell in love with these peaceful 1-inch cats. They
are gray with a black line from nose to tail. Unlike their larger
relatives that scurry around the bottom of the tank, the pygmy swim
mid level and often just hover. However, they are shy and hide under
the sponge filter at any movement around their tank. I added a clump
of Java Moss to five them a little more security.
I never saw them spawn but would see eggs on the glass and Java
Moss. A couple times I actually saw a few fry in the gravel. Were
the parents eating them or was the water chemistry not to their
liking? The temperature is kept around 75 degrees; I tried raising
it to 80 degrees; no difference.
Several months passed before I found and purchased 6 more Corydoras
pygmaeus. Six pygmy gourami were also added, no more eggs were
seen. I set up a 5 with a sponge filter and a large clump of Java
Moss. They corys were moved in and the temp. raised to 80 degrees.
They were fed flake food, micro worms and freeze dried tubiflex.
Getting them to spawn was no problem. I’d come home from work
and find eggs on the glass and in the Java Moss. After several days
of spawning, I removed the parents. That was not easy. They are
very fast and few eggs were left on the glass by the time I was
done. Somehow I missed one cory that had hidden in the moss –
no fry.
Planning on painting my living room I took two weeks vacation. That
was the week we had 90 plus degree days. As long as I was spending
most of my time in the cooker basement I might as well see if I
could have any luck with the pygmy corys. The 5 was set up again
with a sponge filter and Java Moss. Eight corys were moved in –
4 females and 4 males – pure luck. The females are larger
and broader than the males. The next day they were spawning and
I was home with a ringside seat. Two or three males chase one female.
Once the chase was over, in the typical cory “T”, the
female would nudge the mid-section of the male. A single egg was
released and held in her anal fins. She would then swim around,
find and clean an area to place her adhesive egg. The eggs are large
for such a small fish. They continued spawning on and off all day
for several days. Eggs were on the glass and in the Java moss. It
was impossible to tell how many but a lot more that I would have
guessed for such small fish. Guessing I would say around 50. The
eggs are clear and by the second day you can see a spot in the center.
Taking no chance this time I set up a 2.5, filled it halfway with
water from the 5 and added tap water to bring it to 3/4 full. Both
tanks were kept at 80 degrees. An airstone was added but no filtration
(my one and only small sponge was in the 5). You guessed it; I moved
the Java Moss with eggs into the 2 .5. The next day tiny fry could
barely be seen, a black dot with a clear body and tail. I started
them off with Liquifry, adding microworms about a week later when
I thought some were big enough to eat them. As they grew, black
dots appeared in a line down the length of their body. At three
to four weeks, the dots expanded into a line and they are miniatures
of their parents. By 6 weeks they are close to 1/2 inch long.
There were no fry in the 5 with the parents. I added another clump
of Java Moss and they continued to spawn. Several days later the
parents were moved back to their 10. In the process of catching
them I discovered 3 good-sized babies hiding under the sponge filter.
With the parents removed, the eggs hatched and the fry survived.
The 3 larger babies did not bother the fry.
At a month old I added the fry in the 2.5 to the ones in the 5.
Small tanks are great. The 2.5 was dropped to 2” of water
and the 5 to half full. I lowered one end of the 2.5 into the 5
and let all the babies swim out. It is very rewarding to see a tank
teaming with baby Corydoras pygmaeus.
There seems to be no question that Corydoras pygmaeus do not eat
their eggs but do eat the fry. The big size difference in the fry,
mainly due to the lengthy spawning. Although at 6 weeks there are
still some really small ones that are only a week or two younger.
Mistakes – oh yeah. I stopped feeding Luquifry too soon in
the 2.5 and lost fry that were not big enough for microworms. Also
no sponge filter, the fry in the 5 seemed to fair much better eating
whatever morsels they could find on the filter.
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