Its a cool concept. I did get sick of the contraption I had set up in mine after a while. So long as you can gaurentee both; good circulation/water exchange and that the fry can't escape then I'd say it's a goer ??
Fluval HOB fil.... wait, a HOB BREEDER BOX?? Who knew this was a thing? Have you used one?
- Thread starter AdoraBelle Dearheart
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Every week when I clean my tank, I find eggs the next day. @AdoraBelle Dearheart, I wish I could send these your way to take care of for me. I hate to let the parents eat them but just don’t have any room right now. We’ll just concentrate on yours.. Did you order the breeder box?
Nope, haven't ordered one, not even sure that the eggs are fertile yet, and I'd already ordered a Kritter keeper, so I'll by trialling out using that for this spawn anyway. But I might still get one at some point to test them out, since I feel like it could be really useful! But also wanted to get other people's views on them, since I'd never even heard of a HO breeder box before. I think every method has pros and cons. I hope someone who has used one before will see this and share their experiences, but it's also good to hear what other people think of it as a design, whether they spot a potential hazard that I hadn't as well. Part of me thinks that if it works as well as I think it might, then why hasn't it caught on?
LOL yes, I know those ones exist
The brand I have, the holes in the net are way too large for cory fry, even a particularly small batch of guppy fry escaped through the holes once 
(that was embarassing, because I kept catching more fry and adding them to the net, not realising for a long time that I was recatching the same escapees over and over again! 
)Last time I had cory wrigglers, I did use the frame for one of these, with an XL pair of tights stretched out over the frame in place of the usual net. There are a lot of pluses to using that, the constant water exchange with the tank, negating daily water changes being one. But it meant I could only really view the fry from above, and they blended into my dark coloured sand after the first week too. So this time (provided I get some that hatch!) I want to try something like the kritter keeper, so I can see the fry from the side and watch their development
@AdoraBelle Dearheart Wow, I just saw the price of that thing which is crazy for a piece of plastic. You can get a 5G aquarium with lighted hood, filter, and tank for that price. Just put a piece of hosiery over intake and fry should be fine. Fry will grow bigger and stronger too with the swimming area. I know you don’t have Walmart but surely an equivalent. That and an extension cord is all you need.
The cost is a definite down side. I haven't shopped around to check out how many options are available, but @Circus found a wide range in cost in the ones available in the US.
The matter of sockets is trickier. It's a real hazard to plug an extension cord into another extension cord, and the towers are not cheap either. Even when "all" you need is the five gal, plus a heater, plus another eight plug extension tower... it's not really saving much money compared to an £18 HOB breeder box. Space for the fry to swim and gain strength is a very valid point though! If my cories would co-operate and spawn when it's convenient for me, I'd have the 12 gallon free to raise the fry!
But it's also true that if I didn't trust the HOB Breeder with cory fry for the first week after they hatch, then I'd want to release them into the 12 gallon once they're a month old, there's really no point getting something like this just to house them for three weeks! But talking through stuff like this is why I made this thread in the first place Talking through the options with you guys helps me a lot.You use a ten gallon for your cories, don't you? Do you release them into that as soon as they hatch? Do you keep it bare bottom? And do you know what your losses are like in those early weeks?
Right?? I do think it's a cool concept. It's the first breeder box type thing I've seen that seems designed for fry that aren't as large and easy to maintain as livebearer fry. I might still end up sticking with home-made contraptions for when the fry are tiny (again, if any of these turn out to be viable!), then releasing them right into the 12 gallon, but I still appreciate the input, and would consider trying this in the future.
guppy fry escaped through the holes once
"...46,47...48.."
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*Crawls into hole in the ground*
Atleast you can count that high. I get stuck on the number after 11
I keep mine in a 5 gallon. I just drop the eggs in and add a little methylene blue. Hatch rates very with each spawn. This time I collected about 60 eggs and they all hatched (great, wasn’t expecting that!). I lost a few in the first few days but only a few. I sadly, found a couple dead around 3 or 4 weeks too. I think I tried to feed them adult food to soon. At 2.5 weeks I had to move the hole brood over to a 20G long. That was fun! Pic below. I do a bare bottom for first week and then just “dust” the bottom with sand. I am adding a little more sand now that they are a month old. I also only add about 4 inches of water fir first couple of weeks and then slowly increase it. I think we each have to raise them in the manner in which we feel comfortable and what keeps them healthy. You did great last time, you’ll do even better this time.Nope, haven't ordered one, not even sure that the eggs are fertile yet, and I'd already ordered a Kritter keeper, so I'll by trialling out using that for this spawn anyway. But I might still get one at some point to test them out, since I feel like it could be really useful! But also wanted to get other people's views on them, since I'd never even heard of a HO breeder box before. I think every method has pros and cons. I hope someonej who has used one before will see this and share their experiences, but it's also good to hear what other people think of it as a design, whether they spot a potential hazard that I hadn't as well. Part of me thinks that if it works as well as I think it might, then why hasn't it caught on?
LOL yes, I know those ones exist
Last time I had cory wrigglers, I did use the frame for one of these, with an XL pair of tights stretched out over the frame in place of the usual net. There are a lot of pluses to using that, the constant water exchange with the tank, negating daily water changes being one. But it meant I could only really view the fry from above, and they blended into my dark coloured sand after the first week too. So this time (provided I get some that hatch!) I want to try something like the kritter keeper, so I can see the fry from the side and watch their development
View attachment 131835
The cost is a definite down side. I haven't shopped around to check out how many options are available, but @Circus found a wide range in cost in the ones available in the US.
The matter of sockets is trickier. It's a real hazard to plug an extension cord into another extension cord, and the towers are not cheap either. Even when "all" you need is the five gal, plus a heater, plus another eight plug extension tower... it's not really saving much money compared to an £18 HOB breeder box. Space for the fry to swim and gain strength is a very valid point though! If my cories would co-operate and spawn when it's convenient for me, I'd have the 12 gallon free to raise the fry!
You use a ten gallon for your cories, don't you? Do you release them into that as soon as they hatch? Do you keep it bare bottom? And do you know what your losses are like in those early weeks?
Right?? I do think it's a cool concept. It's the first breeder box type thing I've seen that seems designed for fry that aren't as large and easy to maintain as livebearer fry. I might still end up sticking with home-made contraptions for when the fry are tiny (again, if any of these turn out to be viable!), then releasing them right into the 12 gallon, but I still appreciate the input, and would consider trying this in the future.
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That batch was pretty net shy after that experience, I'll tell you that!
Guppies are generally very easy to catch. Easier than platies or mollies even. Not the ones I kept from that batch, even as adults. I guess that formative experience taught them to be very wary of the net!
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Do you ever get fungused ones?
I added a few drops of MB and some alder cones to the tub the eggs are in, and it turns a sort of greenish brown in the water... bit worried about what that means for my tank chemistry! @Essjay ? I've never used MB before. Could the alder cones be affecting it? Have had big losses in that tank recently, which is why I was so surprised the cories spawned in there. Or perhaps alder cones are affected the colour?
But today I removed the tub briefly, diluted out the MB, and looked them over with a magnifying glass. Removed a few that had what looked like might be fungus, but dyed green, and put those in a separate container to check and see how they look later, while hopefully protected the rest of the eggs. I lost a lot of eggs to fungus last time, didn't have MB then, just alder cones, but I did have to check often to remove yet more fungused eggs. So I worry about dropping eggs straight into a larger tank where I couldn't inspect them, but it's clearly working for you! I'm happy to hear that
Unfertilized ones fungus quickly. Get those out. This time I tried placing the sponge filter sidewas on the bottom of tank and I had more water movement so no fungus issues. Place an air stone right under your bowl to keep flow in there. I did that with my one fry in basket. To me, you can get such a better view of what’s going on when eggs are in a tank. I have a magnifying glass and can get right up on them. It’s just what each prefer. Mine tend to spawn together and no way can I put 60 eggs in a breeder box. Your’s should hatch out in next couple of days. So excited!Do you ever get fungused ones?
I added a few drops of MB and some alder cones to the tub the eggs are in, and it turns a sort of greenish brown in the water... bit worried about what that means for my tank chemistry! @Essjay ? I've never used MB before. Could the alder cones be affecting it? Have had big losses in that tank recently, which is why I was so surprised the cories spawned in there. Or perhaps alder cones are affected the colour?
But today I removed the tub briefly, diluted out the MB, and looked them over with a magnifying glass. Removed a few that had what looked like might be fungus, but dyed green, and put those in a separate container to check and see how they look later, while hopefully protected the rest of the eggs. I lost a lot of eggs to fungus last time, didn't have MB then, just alder cones, but I did have to check often to remove yet more fungused eggs. So I worry about dropping eggs straight into a larger tank where I couldn't inspect them, but it's clearly working for you! I'm happy to hear that
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Will keep pulling any fungused ones for sure
I do have an airstone right there in the tub with them, and I made an effort to separate out all the clumps of eggs this time round, so it's less likely that one bad one will take out a bunch of good ones.Please keep fingers crossed for these little guys! I'd forgotten the anxiety of regularly checking the eggs, worrying about fungus, the losses, the heartsinking feeling at the times you worry none of them will make it... it's sent my pre-existing anxiety disorder into overdrive, for sure.
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