# corydoras hastatus



## CanisDraco (29 Jun 2014)

Hey guys, been thinking about what small fish I want to stock in my future 125l and have fallen in love with dwarf corys, in particular c.hastatus, this may well be because I am contrary and they are hard to attain fish 

Anyone know why they're so much scarcer than c. pygmaeus and c. habrosus? I've never had an answer from shops I've asked apart from "they're not popular so we don't stock them" or "they're not being fished atm". I just like to know more about fish in general and if I can track these down at some point, all the better


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## allan angus (29 Jun 2014)

yes they do seem rare i like them too ! and am on the lookout for a half dozen of them myself if they come up at all seems to be i find the odd obe or two lol
iwould like to by in one go since i want them for a new tank and like to add my fish in groups,


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## CanisDraco (29 Jun 2014)

Yeah, if I could find enough of them I'd like at least a dozen, maybe two dozen, I have no idea where I'd find such a large group though. I'd probably get them in groups of six if I had the option but, as you said, there's rarely even that many in one place...


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## dw1305 (30 Jun 2014)

Hi all,
I've got a small colony of them I've had for 6 - 7 years, I'm not sure how many I have because I virtually never see them, and they are the most reclusive fish I've ever kept. I've definitely got at least 5 at the moment.

Since I posted this picture on PlanetCatfish of 2 fry (about 2 years ago and just before the sad demise of the male _Dicrossus_ pictured).



 
I get an email every couple of weeks asking me if I have any to sell, some from Europe or N. America, so I assume they are pretty hard to find anywhere.

cheers Darrel


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## tim (30 Jun 2014)

Tyne valley aquatics maybe worth a call if you don't mind buying fish mail order 
http://www.tynevalleyaquatics.co.uk/tropical-fish/4573576554


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## sciencefiction (30 Jun 2014)

@Darrel.
Do they behave like normal corys browsing the substrate most of the time or like pygmy corys swimming in the middle?


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## allan angus (30 Jun 2014)

from what ive seen and read they shoal a lot in all sections of the tank and are an active fish


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## CanisDraco (30 Jun 2014)

Yeah, I've heard that hastatus and pygmy shoal midwater and habrosus spend their time being like a "real cory" and sitting on the substrate. I'm very jealous of your guys Darrel, I can well imagine people asking if you have spare or where you got yours from etc, we need someone to start breeding them and flood the market 

I've spoken to Tyne Valley before, apparently they got some in by mistake once but can't really get hold of them otherwise, I emailed them (and Rare, Pier Aquatics, Trimar, Abyss and any MAs local to me) a couple of months ago and they've said they'll let me know if any show up, I should probably follow this up though just in case!


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## tim (30 Jun 2014)

Lovely looking fish I wasn't aware of before this thread so thanks  I have a shoal/ school (never sure which is correct ) of pygmies adorable fish which when active swim mid water tightly together closely followed by a few of my pencil fish, fun to watch, good luck with the search for them.


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## CanisDraco (30 Jun 2014)

I've got a pygmy cory myself, a lone survivor from a mysterious easter massacre, I'm hoping to get him some friends when I upgrade tanks. Initially I preferred pygmies to hastatus but now I kinda want them both 

It was this video that made me want them, so cute!


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## sciencefiction (30 Jun 2014)

Nice tank Canis Draco. I used to have pygmy cories and they died in a mishap. I've since wanted to get more but I've been looking into Shadow catfish instead(hyalobagrus flavus)
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/hyalobagrus-flavus/

Has anyone kept these?


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## Iain Sutherland (30 Jun 2014)

might be worth trying kesgrave tropicals (ebay), that guy is well hooked up and seems to be able to get most fish eventually.


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## CanisDraco (30 Jun 2014)

My LFS often has shadow cats, they're really pretty and I'm considering going for them if my hastatus quest doesn't pay off... Will have to get a couple more pygmies regardless, feel bad for my little dude, he's being kept company by four otos atm but they're not the same, obviously!

Thanks for the idea Iain! I'll try firing a message to them, anything's worth a shot


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## Iain Sutherland (30 Jun 2014)

Shadow cats are cool, I have 5. Can be quite shy and impossible to catch if you every want to get them back out! 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## CanisDraco (30 Jun 2014)

Yeah, my 70l tank only has the one cory and four otos in it and I'm already not looking forward to catching them! I'm dying to get more fish but there's no point since the upgrade is hopefully happening soon, I'd end up spending more time chasing them with nets than watching them swim about


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## sparkyweasel (1 Jul 2014)

I've had Shadow Catfish for a few years, they are very nice and lively, active in daytime. Easy to keep, no special requirements.
A5 Aquatics in Nuneaton had some last week, if you're anywhere near there.


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## sciencefiction (1 Jul 2014)

Good to know. Thanks guys. I can order them from one of the LFS here. I've got way too many corydoras so something different would be nice.


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## dw1305 (1 Jul 2014)

Hi all,





sciencefiction said:


> Do they behave like normal corys browsing the substrate most of the time or like pygmy corys swimming in the middle?


 I've kept all 3 species of "pygmy" _Corydoras_. From what I've found _Corydoras habrosus_ is just like a bigger cory, they sit on the sand in a group, and occasionally have a small swim around.
_Corydoras pygmaeus_ spends some of their time on the sand, or often perched on a rounded pebble or low leaf. They also swim around more then the _C. habrosus_, and occasionally visit the upper layers of the tank. 

_Corydoras hastatus_ are more active and spends a lot more time swimming, but mine never come out of the cover, I just see flashes of them amongst the plants and leaf litter. This is true even when I feed micro-worms, which really makes them forage actively. If I turn the filter off they will appear and "peak" out of the top of the plant mass, but they never come out into the open. With the filter off they briefly shoal like a Tetra, but always within gaps within the vegetation, a few moments later they all swim off, and that is the last I see of them.

I've gone months without seeing them, and I didn't realise I had any left at all at one point.

cheers Darrel


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## CanisDraco (19 Oct 2014)

Just an update, I've found them in stock in two places near to me (AquaLife in Leyland and Abyss in Stockport, if anyone wants to know) I've already got pygmys and habrosus in my tank but I may have to pick up some of these as well because I've searched for them for so long...


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## damrabbit (20 Oct 2014)

I also managed to find some from ripples aquatics in Shenstone none left now as me and my mate bought the lot (30) but did find wharf aquatics in Nottingham and sjxhills in Grimsby also have them at the moment


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## CanisDraco (20 Oct 2014)

I guess they're seasonal Halloween fish 

I got nine yesterday, hoping there'll be some left at the end of the week so I can get some more  they're cute little things.


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## damrabbit (20 Oct 2014)

dunno about seasonal been looking for a while now and then bam found 3 shops with stock so perhaps a 1 off import??


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## CanisDraco (20 Oct 2014)

Same with me, strange since habrosus and pygmaeus seem to be available all year round...


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## Mark Livermore (3 Nov 2014)

Just bought some from ADC in London, they can order them in if you ask...


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## Sacha (4 Nov 2014)

ADC order their fish from Danna. Last time my LFS ordered Hastatus from Danna, they got Pygmaeus. And the guy tried to argue that they were Hastatus. They weren't. 

Maidenhead Aquatics get their fish from Danna too, so you can go there if it's closer than ADC. The fish all come from the same place. They just don't look after them as well as ADC do


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## Mark Livermore (4 Nov 2014)

Interesting, I didn't know that. I can however confirm I bought seven which were well hidden with Kitty Tetras which look rather similar when dashing around avoiding the net!

Definitely Hastatus, very cool little fish.


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