A Quick Update On My Albino Pygmy Corydoras!
This is my nano community aquarium, home to 10 ember tetras, 10 pygmy corydoras, and a small colony of shrimp. It’s a peaceful, planted setup where there’s always something interesting happening if you take the time to observe it closely.
Most days, I regularly see the eight standard pygmy corydoras shoaling together, swimming in synchrony and exploring the tank as a tight group. But the two albino ones have always been different. They’re far more elusive, and it’s rare that I see both of them at the same time. In fact, it had been months since I last spotted them together, and I’d started to wonder if one of them had died without me realising.
Then a couple of days ago, as I walked past the tank, I was genuinely surprised to see both albino corydoras out in the open together. It was reassuring to confirm that they’re both still alive and healthy. Moments like this remind me how important it is to slow down and really watch your aquarium, because fish don’t always behave the way you expect.
What’s even more interesting is that they don’t shoal with the other pygmy corydoras. This made me curious, since fish usually recognise their own species by scent rather than appearance. After doing some research, I now suspect the albino ones may actually be a different but closely related species, which would explain why they don’t group together.
If that’s the case, I’ll be on the lookout for more of the albino variety so they can form their own shoal. Corydoras are social fish, and seeing them interact naturally is one of the most rewarding parts of fishkeeping.
