platytudes
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- Apr 6, 2008
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Hi everyone,
I have a question about corydoras spawning. If anyone has any tips, I would be all ears - I am completely new to this! Here's some background information...
I just recently set up a 29 gallon tank - by recently I mean about two weeks ago. I have two other 29 gallon tanks, so I grabbed the H.O.T. Magnum off another one and got it cycled just about instantly. I used leveling sand from Lowe's as substrate, the stuff is as soft and fluffy as anything. I decorated generously with plastic plants and two large pieces of red lava rock. It's low lit, a perfect bedroom tank...which is where it is located. It gets no ambient light since I have privacy drapes over my bedroom to block the view of the neighbor's junk cars, etc.
I first started off by moving two of my corys from another 29 gallon tank, a C. metae and a C. julii. They were pretty tickled to have the sandy substrate after having lived for years with fine gravel, but they were also low key since it was just the two of them. About a week went by and I added four C. aeneus, also from another tank with a sand/gravel mix, which after a few years had turned into mostly gravel with a few sandy patches.
Here it is, two days after adding the four bronze corydoras, and I turn on the aquarium lights at 11 am to find that they have laid eggs all over the sides and back! There must be at least 20-30 eggs in total. All of them are totally white, so I know they are no good However, I am wondering - is there anything I can do to ensure they are viable next time?
I have been feeding them various sinking foods...Hikari Sinking Carnivore Pellets and Tetra Veggie Algae Wafers, along with Aquadine Freshwater Fish Food (from a free sample tin I got recently) and New Life Spectrum Cichlid Pellets. Both these last are not really sinking foods, but they do sink after a few seconds, so they seem to enjoy rummaging for them.
I have been doing 5 gallon water changes twice a week, just to make sure the water stays nice and fresh when I get around to adding the final inhabits. The plan is blue platys and a few golden wonder killifish...I am not ready yet though, as I have a hectic work week up ahead, so I won't have time to keep an eye on things until the middle of this month.
In case it matters - and I'm sure it does! - here are my tank stats:
Ammonia - 0 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Nitrate - <10 ppm
pH - ~7.8
alkalinity - 300 ppm
hardness - between 150-300 ppm (sorry, my test kit is rather crude)
There is no heater in this tank, as I intend to make it an ever so slightly subtropical setup. Since it's summer here in Florida, the house stays between 78-80 F, but the bedroom might be a bit cooler, maybe about 77 F or so. Around winter time it might get as cool as 70-72 F, at which time I will see how the golden wonders do, and add a heater if need be.
Anyhow, sorry for the long post...I figure, better TMI than too little!
If anyone has a clue as to how to get this bunch into a spawning mood (to this minute, they are still frolicking wildly amongst themselves) and get the eggs to keep from getting fungused or whatever it is that turns them white, please do share. Baby cory kittens are just about the cutest thing there is! I never would have thought to intentionally breed them, but now that they have shown some interest, I figure I ought to encourage them however I can.
Thanks so much!
Nicole
I have a question about corydoras spawning. If anyone has any tips, I would be all ears - I am completely new to this! Here's some background information...
I just recently set up a 29 gallon tank - by recently I mean about two weeks ago. I have two other 29 gallon tanks, so I grabbed the H.O.T. Magnum off another one and got it cycled just about instantly. I used leveling sand from Lowe's as substrate, the stuff is as soft and fluffy as anything. I decorated generously with plastic plants and two large pieces of red lava rock. It's low lit, a perfect bedroom tank...which is where it is located. It gets no ambient light since I have privacy drapes over my bedroom to block the view of the neighbor's junk cars, etc.
I first started off by moving two of my corys from another 29 gallon tank, a C. metae and a C. julii. They were pretty tickled to have the sandy substrate after having lived for years with fine gravel, but they were also low key since it was just the two of them. About a week went by and I added four C. aeneus, also from another tank with a sand/gravel mix, which after a few years had turned into mostly gravel with a few sandy patches.
Here it is, two days after adding the four bronze corydoras, and I turn on the aquarium lights at 11 am to find that they have laid eggs all over the sides and back! There must be at least 20-30 eggs in total. All of them are totally white, so I know they are no good However, I am wondering - is there anything I can do to ensure they are viable next time?
I have been feeding them various sinking foods...Hikari Sinking Carnivore Pellets and Tetra Veggie Algae Wafers, along with Aquadine Freshwater Fish Food (from a free sample tin I got recently) and New Life Spectrum Cichlid Pellets. Both these last are not really sinking foods, but they do sink after a few seconds, so they seem to enjoy rummaging for them.
I have been doing 5 gallon water changes twice a week, just to make sure the water stays nice and fresh when I get around to adding the final inhabits. The plan is blue platys and a few golden wonder killifish...I am not ready yet though, as I have a hectic work week up ahead, so I won't have time to keep an eye on things until the middle of this month.
In case it matters - and I'm sure it does! - here are my tank stats:
Ammonia - 0 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Nitrate - <10 ppm
pH - ~7.8
alkalinity - 300 ppm
hardness - between 150-300 ppm (sorry, my test kit is rather crude)
There is no heater in this tank, as I intend to make it an ever so slightly subtropical setup. Since it's summer here in Florida, the house stays between 78-80 F, but the bedroom might be a bit cooler, maybe about 77 F or so. Around winter time it might get as cool as 70-72 F, at which time I will see how the golden wonders do, and add a heater if need be.
Anyhow, sorry for the long post...I figure, better TMI than too little!
If anyone has a clue as to how to get this bunch into a spawning mood (to this minute, they are still frolicking wildly amongst themselves) and get the eggs to keep from getting fungused or whatever it is that turns them white, please do share. Baby cory kittens are just about the cutest thing there is! I never would have thought to intentionally breed them, but now that they have shown some interest, I figure I ought to encourage them however I can.
Thanks so much!
Nicole