Bronze Corys Laying Eggs

[bingy_bong]

Just witnessed two of my bronze cories laying eggs all over the tank, but as fast as she was laying them the other cories were finding them and eating them. This is the first time i have witnessed these doing this and was a bit surprised to say and wasnt expecting it. This is a cories only tank - with the exception of a few snails with 20 bronze cories in. Looking at the fish i would hazard a guess in saying that i have approx 6-7 females the rest males.
Just a few questions though, if somebody could help me out a bit,
Is the eating of the eggs always going to happen, or once the others have experienced laying/ breeding will it dissapear?
Do the male and female always stick together like discus or angels or are they not fussy who they do it with?
I dont really want to have to set up another tank as this one is all i wanted to have and i would prefer to keep the fish in the main tank rather than set up another for breeding/raising fry. It seems a shame to me to have such a big tank with only 20 cories in and have to have another along side of it for breeding..

Sorry i didnt take any pics, i was too happy / frustrated / annoyyed at the others to be taking photos.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi bingy_bong

It's always disappointing to see the corys eating their eggs. I had some C. paleatus that I just gave up on because of this. Any batch of corys can be egg eaters, but bronze corys usually aren't. I've seen them all inspecting the eggs, and picking off one here and there, but never ran into ones that ate them all. If this is a first spawn, perhaps the eggs were infertile or something else was wrong with them. We can only hope you will have better luck next time.

Do the male and female always stick together like discus or angels or are they not fussy who they do it with?

No, they spawn as a group. Sometimes there will be three or four males pursuing a spawning female. When she is ready she will pick the one to provide sperm for that particular clutch. A few minutes later she might pick a different male. When they are not spawning they will pay no mind to the difference in gender.

It seems a shame to me to have such a big tank with only 20 cories in and have to have another along side of it for breeding..

Given the size of the newly hatched fry, you will almost certainly have to do that. If your tank is well planted, a few might be able to hide and survive until they are able to avoid being eaten, but not many will.

 

[MHunt]

The only way I've managed to raise a decent clutch of fish is by removing the eggs. And yes eating the eggs and the subsequent fry is inevitable. Once spawned the parents don't protect the eggs, I guess in the wild they breed in such open water that the chances of another fish finding and eating the eggs/fry is minimal.

 

[bingy_bong]

Thanks for the answers, i suppose i will have to remove the eggs at the next spawning, hey ho not to worry.
I have a plan, to get a clear tupperware box and clamp it to the inside of the tank with an airstone in. I with a think i saw that Harliquin was using this method too. Something along the lines of a fry breeding trap, but obviously without the holes so the litttle uns cant get out. Then maybe it will be time to expand my fish keeping empire

 

[Harlequins]

Good luck

I left the eggs in a catching net over the airstone in my platy fry tank for 4 days,then transferred them to another separate tank,it worked for me.

The platies in the main tank ate most of the eggs before i realised to remove them

 

[Inchworm]

Any clean container will do. I keep mine on my kitchen counter until they hatch. It's a place where the temperature stays fairly warm. Sometimes I just use an ordinary deli container.

 

[bingy_bong]

thanks again people. The next time there is some corys laying eggs i will keep al lthis in mind.
Better go and find that tupperware box

 

[StrontiumDog]

Thanks for the answers, i suppose i will have to remove the eggs at the next spawning, hey ho not to worry.
I have a plan, to get a clear tupperware box and clamp it to the inside of the tank with an airstone in. I with a think i saw that Harliquin was using this method too. Something along the lines of a fry breeding trap, but obviously without the holes so the litttle uns cant get out. Then maybe it will be time to expand my fish keeping empire

Hi bingy_bong,

To attach the tupperware box to the glass, why not by a couple of rubber sucktion cups. Drill 2 holes(under sized) at the toppish of the tub, push the cups through the holes and, hey presto