Spawning Madness

Greetings. Usually, about this time of year, many Cory breeders complain about the hot weather, slowing down the spawning activity in their fish rooms. Not here in S. Jersey, where it is knocking on 90º. I just had my 2nd spawn of S. kronei and A. microgalaeus. Additionally, I have wigglers from S. kronei, S. prionotus, C. nattereri, C. aeneus "Blacks," C. weitzmani and A. microgalaeus. I have eggs from C. duplicareus, S. kronei, C035 "Black Phantom," A. microgalaeus and C. sterbai.

In the past few days I have had unsuccessful spawns of C. aeneus "Blacks," C. duplicareus, C. sarareensis, C. adolfoi and C. caudimaculatus.

Bring on the hot weather! - Frank

thats a lot of babies, what do you do with them?

kewskills said:

thats a lot of babies, what do you do with them?

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A nice garlic and olive oil sauté. Yummy. Just kidding. I generally trade them for fish I'd like, but do sell/auction some, on occasion. - Frank

it happened to me that i used to have a coke fire in me old house when lit the house was too hot and within a few days they spawned but plecs got there before i did to rescue them

Hi Coryologist,

Good to hear you have lots of success with corys. And you just maybe the person I am looking for to get some advice from. I don't mean to sidetrack your thread but in a way it kind of relate to it.

Ok Here is the question. How many cory frys in what size of tank can I keep safely? And how long(old)?
I have been raising Pandas and Sterbais for a while. But this week I got big batch from Melanotanias 3 times(Mon, Wed and Fri). I had trouble hatching their eggs in their first few spawns until recently. But now they hatch really well probably around 95%. And spawns from Monday and Wednesday hatched already, totalling 230 wigglers or so and I expect another 90 from Friday batch in few days.
As you probably know Pandas doesn't produce that many eggs and Sterbais seems have trouble hatching(well at least my group hatch rate is not really good, maybe because they are still young. I don't know).
And all of a sudden, I got 200+ frys and probably 100 more in few days from the Melanotanias. And if they continue making eggs in same rate, I would buried with Melanotanias frys to my neck in no time.

That is why I need to know how many frys in what size tank for how long I can keep safely. I do daily partial water change to other fry tanks. So I can and will do the daily water change for the fry tank(s).

I would be appreciate if you have some advice or experience of raising big batch of Cory frys.

NEONCORY said:

Hi Coryologist,

Good to hear you have lots of success with corys. And you just maybe the person I am looking for to get some advice from. I don't mean to sidetrack your thread but in a way it kind of relate to it.

Ok Here is the question. How many cory frys in what size of tank can I keep safely? And how long(old)?

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Hi. That is not a question that can really be answered as most info on keeping Cory fry is anecdotal. I used to raise my fry in 2.5 USG tanks, but now I use strictly 10 USG tanks. I have some tanks with 10 fry (that's all that survived) and some tanks with 100. It's strictly a matter of water changes and size of the fish.

I have been raising Pandas and Sterbais for a while. But this week I got big batch from Melanotanias 3 times(Mon, Wed and Fri). I had trouble hatching their eggs in their first few spawns until recently. But now they hatch really well probably around 95%. And spawns from Monday and Wednesday hatched already, totalling 230 wigglers or so and I expect another 90 from Friday batch in few days.

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In my room I will keep lots of fry in a tank for 30 days and then I will cull any weak or deformed fish, if I did not catch them earlier. From 30 to 60 days I will start to reduce the numbers in a tank and by 90 days, most have been separated and moved. Remember, because I am short on tank space, I will oftentimes have 5 or 6 different specie of fry in one tank, especially if they were small spawns. Based on that, it is difficult for me to equate any of my techniques to your question, specifically.

This is a trial and error situation. What works for one breeder is not always what works for another. Sometimes all the fry survive, sometimes none survive. I would never say that I could tell you why. Experimentation, is the name of the game.

I would be appreciate if you have some advice or experience of raising big batch of Cory frys.

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Well, that brings up another issue. I know of breeders that have 350 eggs on some spawns. If I had the same specie, I might get 35 eggs. Again, can't tell you why. Were the fish not mature enough for large spawns? Did some eggs get eaten? I have no idea. I'm not trying to be evasive or hold back any "spawning secrets." If I had the answer to these types of questions, people would be lining up at my door for them. No, it's just give it your best shot and see what turns out. If at first you don't succeed, spawn those suckers, again!

Sorry I could not be more helpful. I'm fairly new at this, myself. - Frank

Thanks for taking your time try to answer the question with unclear answer Coryologist, I appreciate.
I guess I'll try and see how they do with the space I got.
Yes, all my fry tanks are mixed up also although I did try to seperate them at first but lack of space and frequency of spawns just made it unlikely.

Anyway, thanks again for your thoughts.

NEONCORY said:

Thanks for taking your time try to answer the question with unclear answer Coryologist, I appreciate.
I guess I'll try and see how they do with the space I got.
Yes, all my fry tanks are mixed up also although I did try to seperate them at first but lack of space and frequency of spawns just made it unlikely.

Anyway, thanks again for your thoughts.

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Hi. Yes, I appreciate that my answer was unclear. That is simply because you are asking a question that there is no answer to. If there were an answer, someone would have provided it to you, by now. Raising fish is trial and error. If you have been blessed with spawning hundreds of Corys over a 3 day period, you are doing better than any Cory breeder I know of on the planet. I suggest you do the experiments of how many fry you can safely raise in a tank of a given size and give other people a clearer answer. This is what is meant by the term, "your mileage may vary." Your results, or my results will not be the same as another person's results. Some people swear by microworms. I never use them. Some peiple move the eggs, some the adults. Some people use MB, some alder cones. We are all learning as we move forward. The one thing I have learned is to pretty much ignore what others do and find what works for me. Yes, I lose a lot of fry, but like I said, I'm fairly new at this and am still developing my techniques.

Not all questions have an answer. Yours is one of those questions. There is no magic formula of (x # of fry X # of gallons divided by size of fry and ?% water change every # of days = # of fry that can be safely raised in a tank of X size). That's just not realistic.

Sorry you didn't like my honest, sincere response to your question. I'll remember to keep my thoughts and advice to myself, next time. I'm tired of getting a knee to my cajones everytime I try to help someone. I won't be making that mistake again. Ever! - Frank

Coryologist said:

NEONCORY said:

Thanks for taking your time try to answer the question with unclear answer Coryologist, I appreciate.
I guess I'll try and see how they do with the space I got.
Yes, all my fry tanks are mixed up also although I did try to seperate them at first but lack of space and frequency of spawns just made it unlikely.

Anyway, thanks again for your thoughts.

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Hi. Yes, I appreciate that my answer was unclear. That is simply because you are asking a question that there is no answer to. If there were an answer, someone would have provided it to you, by now. Raising fish is trial and error. If you have been blessed with spawning hundreds of Corys over a 3 day period, you are doing better than any Cory breeder I know of on the planet. I suggest you do the experiments of how many fry you can safely raise in a tank of a given size and give other people a clearer answer. This is what is meant by the term, "your mileage may vary." Your results, or my results will not be the same as another person's results. Some people swear by microworms. I never use them. Some peiple move the eggs, some the adults. Some people use MB, some alder cones. We are all learning as we move forward. The one thing I have learned is to pretty much ignore what others do and find what works for me. Yes, I lose a lot of fry, but like I said, I'm fairly new at this and am still developing my techniques.

Not all questions have an answer. Yours is one of those questions. There is no magic formula of (x # of fry X # of gallons divided by size of fry and ?% water change every # of days = # of fry that can be safely raised in a tank of X size). That's just not realistic.

Sorry you didn't like my honest, sincere response to your question. I'll remember to keep my thoughts and advice to myself, next time. I'm tired of getting a knee to my cajones everytime I try to help someone. I won't be making that mistake again. Ever! - Frank

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I'm sorry if I may sound sarcastic but that is not my intention. I did and am appreciate your effort to answer my not so easy to answer question. And the time you took to answer as best as you can.
I appologize if I gave you any impression of me being unappreciative but that is not my intention.

I was just hoping to hear how other people with big cory spawn raise their fish. Since I neve had the spawn this big. That's all. No offence intended.

NEONCORY said:

I'm sorry if I may sound sarcastic but that is not my intention. I did and am appreciate your effort to answer my not so easy to answer question. And the time you took to answer as best as you can.
I appologize if I gave you any impression of me being unappreciative but that is not my intention.

I was just hoping to hear how other people with big cory spawn raise their fish. Since I neve had the spawn this big. That's all. No offence intended.

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Hi. Not a big deal. I think it's just a communication problem. We are cool. - Frank

Frank, we are looking for more input from you not less!

I appreciated you answer, because it is the conclusion I have come to. What works for one just doesn't work for another. As a matter of fact what works with one person's group of Cories may not work for someonelse's.

By the way:

Great news about your fishies! Send me some, when I move to the 2 bedroom this fall. The kronei would be nice or the caudimaculatus--hehe--or the saraneensisi

Hunker down Frank; if it's edging 90 now you are in for a rough summer. I come from N. Jersey originally myself and remember how hot it got. Congrats on the spawn. Mine did the same last week when the temps hit 92. I thought the T storms might have set them off as they spawned a day later. I keep my fry in a met for about a month then move them to a 2.5 or 5 gal. depending on the numbers to make it easier to feed them. As they grow out I move them to the larger tank. I guess it's just personal preference.
I'll be right behind you jollysue; Frank has some Cories I would really love to get my hands or net on.

Me too! He listed c. aeneus (spelling?) black... I have never seen those, but I would think they would have to be beautiful.

Hey Frank... How about pics of some of your fish? I would love to see them.

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ICEEGRL said:

Me too! He listed c. aeneus (spelling?) black... I have never seen those, but I would think they would have to be beautiful. Hey Frank... How about pics of some of your fish? I would love to see them.

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Hi. If there is anything in particular you would like to see, just ask. - Frank