Dwarf corydora Habrosus (salt and pepper)

[starfish615]

Anyone have experience keeping these guys in a 10 gallon tank? Wondering how they do and experienced stocking recommendations (inter webs has wide range from 3-10) lol. I bought a group of 6 from lfs however after having them for a bit I have realized they were actually baby peppered Cory unfortunately. Alas they will join my 6 panda Cory in my 55 gallon. The only place I can find them in stock right now though has a minimum of 9 for order .

 

[Colin_T]

All Corydoras naturally occur in groups of hundreds in the wild and the bare minimum group for any Corydoras in captivity is 6 (preferably 10) or more.

They aren't a big fish so get 10 of them and they will be fine.

 

[Joe_D]

Fact is, just because corys often occur in hundreds in the wild does not mean they have to any more than humans have to live in huge cities ,

There is as much bad info on the net as there is good info. I do what works great and ignore what seems to be bad info.

Among other fish, I have 3 (panda) Cory cats in my well planted 10 gal tank and they do just fine.
BTW, this is also with a gravel substrate and the bad info says you can not do that either with Cory cats.

 

[starfish615]

Thank you! I was just worried 9 with my betta and snail in a 10 gallon would be overstocked. You don’t think so? I know they only get about an inch big… Should I just monitor my levels for awhile to be sure and look for signs of stress?

Also Completely agree with the gravel as well I have small rounded gravel and have had no issues with panda in my 55

 

[Colin_T]

My main issue would be the Betta who might attack them but they are dark coloured and normally live in the lower half of the aquarium so should be ok. But you will need to monitor the Betta to make sure he doesn't go nuts and kill them.

 

[Joe_D]

FWIW...
I do not presently have a beta now, but have in the past when they were commonly known as "Siamese fighting fish".

This was in community tanks and there were no problems if you followed a couple of simple rules .

1) No fin nippers for the obvious reason.
2) Always add them last. They are bit territorial and if you add then at the beginning, they think the whole tank is their territory and it can create issues as more fish are added.
Add them last and there does not seem to be much of a problem as they settle in with the other fish. :

 

[starfish615]

Thanx! I have successfully kept female in community tanks in the past based on research I’ve done female are much easier to do this with than male. my current female has been in with the “fake” 5 Cory (they were mislabeled and now that they have grown a bit are clearly peppered Cory not salt and pepper) She is very docile and haven’t had any chasing or nipping going on. I’m not worried but have extra small tanks so can always move her to her own tank if needed to.