Pygmy Corydoras
Corydoras pygmaeus · Peaceful · Beginner care
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A 3 cm catfish that shoals in mid-water like a tetra — silver with a bold black lateral stripe. One of the most charming nano fish in the hobby; keep a big group and watch them move as one.
At a glance
Species profile Corydoras pygmaeus
Origin
Rio Madeira basin, Brazil (Amazon)
Family
Callichthyidae (armoured catfish family)
Adult size
Up to 3 cm (1.2 in)
Diet
Micro sinking foods, crushed pellets, frozen cyclops and baby brine (Omnivore)
Temperament
Peaceful
Swimming level
All levels
Minimum group
8+ (shoaling)
Lifespan
3-4 years
Minimum tank
40 L (10 gal)
Water type
Freshwater
Size to scale
3 cm adult length, shown to scale against an iPhone 15 Pro (14.66 cm).
Natural range
Where it comes from — South America
Rio Madeira basin, Brazil (Amazon)
Water
Singapore tap water vs its needs
Hardness: Soft to medium (2-12 dGH).
In the aquarium
How it lives in the tank
Swims at every level of the tank
Keep in a group of 8+
Sensitivity Index — Hardy
Hardy and beginner-friendly; keep up routine water changes and it will thrive.
Our own read on how forgiving this species is of water changes — not a formal standard.
Keeping & care
What this fish needs
Family
About the Callichthyidae family armoured catfish family
The Callichthyidae are South American armored catfishes, so called for the two rows of overlapping bony plates (scutes) that run along each flank in place of scales. The family is best known in the hobby for Corydoras and the closely related Aspidoras and Brochis (now often folded into Corydoras/Scleromystax), small, peaceful bottom-dwelling catfishes with downturned barbeled mouths used to sift sand for food; larger genera such as Callichthys, Hoplosternum and Megalechis also occur. Members are almost universally gentle, gregarious shoalers that suit calm community tanks and are undemanding once given clean, oxygenated water and a soft substrate.
Keep in groups of six or more over smooth sand or rounded fine gravel to protect their barbels, and maintain clean, well-oxygenated water; they are excellent, peaceful companions in a planted community.
Breeding
Egg-depositor (adhesive eggs; larger genera are bubble-nesters)Corydoras and their small relatives are egg-depositors: a cooler, water change (mimicking rain) often triggers spawning, after which the female clamps a few eggs between her pelvic fins and presses them onto glass, plants or hardscape in the classic "T-position" with the male. Eggs hatch in roughly three to five days and the fry take crushed dry food, microworm and baby brine shrimp; many hobbyists remove the eggs to a separate container to protect them from being eaten. The larger genera such as Hoplosternum and Megalechis differ in building floating bubble nests that the male guards, but these are seldom bred in home aquaria.
Feeding
Recommended food
Compatibility
Best tankmates
Community
