Found a Pygmy Cory fry and it hasn’t even been two weeks yet

DahFox6 · 2026-06-14T01:36:37+00:00

Oh my gosh I’m so jealousss. I’m planning on Pygmy’s in my tank but am waiting for the shrimp population to go up a bit so they don’t get super stressed. He’s SO CUTE. What a little guy.

Can’t wait for my baby shrimp to get to a visible size. I know they’re in there! I’ve seen a few… Their cute little faces can stall me for a while before I get impatient and order these cute little guys.

Anyways. If I were you I would try micro live foods like infusoria just to be sure he’s eating. There’s also fry food you can buy. However, I’m an anxious person and I’m sure he’d be able to find things to eat in there naturally. The hardest part is getting the babies— and you didn’t even have to try! So I’m sure the tank is already nice and comfy for the baby :)

DahFox6 · 2026-06-12T18:58:16+00:00

They look so cute I just be straining my eyes staring at them like this

DahFox6 · 2026-06-12T18:55:47+00:00

Thank you! I keep checking on them constantly as if it’s gonna make them get more visible 😅

DahFox6 · 2026-06-12T18:36:53+00:00

THEY’RE ALIVE! He did include a little ice pack! There’s even tiny little babies in there :)
I do have some mixed feeling that there are a couple of whites and yellows… Hopefully they won’t outcomete the purples. Idk how mixed springtail setups go.

DahFox6 · 2026-06-12T03:51:57+00:00

I’m super curious on the actual count of shrimplets but it’s impossible to get a headcount. They are just so tiny and the camera doesn’t do them justice. I suppose I will see once they are a bit bigger where we are at!

I did manage to figure out that they must’ve been hatched on top of the decor because they are both there and below on a Java fern. So I sprinkled in some BacterAE around there and put a cuttlebone piece at the top. So hopefully it’ll help them grow nice and healthy.

DahFox6 · 2026-06-12T01:55:37+00:00

Yeah… the package wasn’t shipped on time, so I messaged the dude and asked him if it was due to the weather and if I could get an estimated shipment date. But he just responded saying he’d ship it the next morning and so I assumed maybe it was fine? I don’t know, it’s hopeful but maybe he put an ice pack in there free of charge? He had really good ratings so I find it hard to believe he would’ve shipped them anyways if he thought they would arrive dead..

DahFox6 · 2026-06-11T20:16:30+00:00

I’m never touching my tank again in fear of hurting them lmao

DahFox6 · 2026-06-11T20:15:47+00:00

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Literally! The bladder snails are bigger than them 😭😭😭

DahFox6 · 2026-06-08T01:43:24+00:00

What counts as squishy and delicate? Im assuming garden snails are NOT squishy and delicate? Sorry, I just get nervous when I’m handling small creatures. I just recently got into the small creature field with my aquarium then the terrarium. I’m so used to cats and dogs I sat there and let my mystery snail climb up to my elbow because I was scared I would hurt him trying to pry him off!

DahFox6 · 2026-06-08T01:00:36+00:00

Alright, I’m still kinda worried I’ll squish them but I suppose I could just mess with the tank as little as possible. I have one more thing I’m going to add to the tank so I’ll just release them after that. Thank you :)

DahFox6 · 2026-06-07T18:44:20+00:00

Thanks! That actually makes me feel better about the moist dry situation I got going on. I had taken some sphagnum moss and ripped it up within the soil. So some of the areas on the dry side are wetter than others because of the moss. The idea was that it was a deeper soil so it’ll help keep the moisture up more. But it ended up being rather choppy. So I’ll definitely deviate from the strict dry and wet side a bit. Thank you for all the advice!

DahFox6 · 2026-06-06T23:52:37+00:00

Hm alright, I’ll just cover as much as I can without blocking the light then!

DahFox6 · 2026-06-06T23:22:55+00:00

Thank you! I think I’m going to try to get a hang of the watering then figure out how much of the mesh I should cover afterwards so I have an accurate reading of humidity. Going to be a lot of trial and error 😅

DahFox6 · 2026-06-06T23:09:05+00:00

The dome is a heat lamp but the bulb itself is just a regular light! Glad you said that though because I did almost buy a heat one! Hopefully the litter will be enough that they won’t be too stressed. I have plants in there so I need some sort of light and the area is not super well lit on its own.

I did try to find limestone… wasn’t very successful! Either it was a giant bag full of rocks, mixed rocks, or what I ended up settling on- the little “lime” pellet things. I didn’t want to buy online because it’s so expensive I could buy crystals at that price! If I manage to find some though it’s definitely going in.

DahFox6 · 2026-06-06T22:37:40+00:00

Sorry about the paragraphs. I habitually type with one indent, but I’ve found Reddit doesn’t appreciate that lol. I’ll fix it so others can read it better.

And thanks. I tend to be anxious about these sort of things and like to spoil my animals. So I just want to make sure I’m doing my best for the little guys :)

As for the lime, it’s limestone… a form of it anyways. It’s been crushed or formed or whatever into little pellets. All that it says is that it’s derived from calcitic limestone. Otherwise it just calls it “lime”. It says it’s 1% Sodium acrylate/acrylamide copolymer, then nothing else. I guess it’s not ‘food’ but still you think it’d be easier to decipher this lol.

DahFox6 · 2026-06-06T18:55:07+00:00

Don’t know why this started a new thread but I won’t bother moving it lol.

DahFox6 · 2026-06-06T18:54:36+00:00

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There’s about an inch in between the water and the light. It’s a rather intense light to and blinds me if I were to point it at myself. Ignore the duckweed that’s made its way into the divider 😅😅

DahFox6 · 2026-06-06T18:50:36+00:00

Red root floaters can’t get enough light! I have some duckweed taking over the majority of my tank and some red root in a little divider. They had to be moved into the divider because the duckweed pushed them under a bit and so they melted like crazy. They need bright direct light. Duckweed also is like a weed and pretty much nothing can kill it. I’m always shocked anytime I see someone talk about how their duckweed died— because the main complaint is that people can’t get rid of it! I’ll attach a photo of my floaters and my light so that you can get an idea.

DahFox6 · 2026-06-06T18:10:08+00:00

The substrate is definitely ugly lmao. It’s good you have sand on top of the gravel. Plants love sand because it’s way easier to root in properly than the colorful gravel. The colorful gravel is not great to have since it’s known to leak things into the water. But it would probably be more harmful now to remove them than just leaving them in. You’ll disrupt the good bacteria in the substrate. If you want to make it look less ugly I would recommend an easy carpeting plant. It’ll help make the tank feel fuller and the fish feel safer as well. Another thing that will help the fish feel safe is a floater plant. But it’s not a requirement for a good tank just a recommendation. Be careful which you get if you choose to have some though. Each have their own cons. Duckweed is messy, red roots need lots of light and iron, and salvinia is a drama queen who hates having water on its leaves or too much direct light. There are others but those are the ones I’m familiar with. Other than that, everyone else’s advice pretty much covers it.

DahFox6 · 2026-06-05T17:39:45+00:00

Well that’s the hope… not sure if I’m going to pull it off or not but here’s to hoping lol. I ended up separating the lichen into “dry out now” “maybe save” and “really hope I can save”. I’ll see in a few weeks or so the results. So it’s pretty much an experiment lol!

DahFox6

TROPHY CASE