Cory Spawning help

[sandyd]

I woke this morning to find one of my girls with a clutch of eggs in her "hands". I took out about 6 gallons of tank water and put it in a 10 gallon tank. I then took out the cories, 2 boys and 2 girls, since i was unsure which one was laying eggs. I then went back to the 55 they were in, and recovered the eggs that the tiger barbs had not eaten. Ok, here are my questions. All of my cories are "cleaning" the tank glass, but it has been about 2 hours since I moved them and there are not any more eggs in there. Do you think I may have missed it? Or do you think the move messed it up? Should I leave them in the 10 gallon and see if they lay more, or should i put them back in the 55? I was planning on putting them in this tank for them to spawn, but they were a bit quicker than I was this morning. The 10 has a filter in it that has been cycling in the 55 for about 1 month, so I dont plan on having a problem with cycle, but will still keep an eye on it. Any suggestions on what I should do would be great. Thanks.
Sandy

 

[sandyd]

I guess the move got my other female going and now I have a tank full of eggs from the girl that has never spawned!!!!!!!! It was the greatest thing to watch, it was like a mom leading her child in labor, the other female was helping her out. As the males ganged up on her, the other female (ripple) would come to her rescue and get one of the males to chase her. It was great!!!!! Now I know that I have 2 females who will spawn, so i should be over run with cories, I cant wait LOL
Sandy

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Sandyd

That's wonderful news! Congratulations

The "glass cleaning" you saw before she spawned is part of the courtship ritual that the corys do. If that's happening, it's usually a good sign.

When I breed my corys, I put them all into the tank. Often, when one starts, it well seem to set the others off, too. I think it has something to do with hormones in the water.

 

[sandyd]

Thanks for the reply Inchworm, it is great to watch, although it does seem to get a bit agressive for them. I put them all back in my 55 last night, and added another air stone to the 10, so now i have a sponge filter with an air stone in there. It seems like alot of movement of the water though, so i will have to keep an eye on it once they hatch. With 2 air pumps moving 6 gallons of water, it seems like alot. I am thrilled that I did not have to move any of them, because i am sure you know, it is not alot of fun to ge tthose sticky eggs off of your finger LOL. Hopefully all goes well with them. Thanks again. Sandy

 

[Inchworm]

Hi sandyd

It's important to keep water moving over the eggs to prevent fungus from setting in. Adding methylene blue to the water will also help. Once you see the first fry in the water, you can stop the air stone because the rest of the eggs will hatch quickly after that.

Depending on their size, 2 air pumps might be a lot of water movement, though. If you think it might knock the eggs loose, you can put a splitter on one pump to reduce the agitation.

I like to keep my corys with the eggs for as long as possible because they keep the eggs clean and remove any that go bad. That also keeps the fungus down.

Good luck and let me know how it goes.

 

[sandyd]

Just wanted to update you on my eggs. They started hatching last night, was great to watch, looked like the eggs had grown tails, LOL. Then i watched as they rolled down the tank glass and onto the floor of the tank. I am not sure how many I have, as they are hiding. I left the plant in there with some gravel that is holding the plant down, and they all seem to be in there. There are still a few eggs that have not hatched, but you can see movement inside of them, so I will leave them alone. I did lose some eggs to fungus, but my trusty turkey baster removed them before they could infect anyone else. I forgot just how small they really are when they are first born. LOL They are only about the head of a pin with a little tail, very hard to see in there. I started my water changes today, and will be doing them everyday from the parents tank to make sure that their water stays as good as it can. When they grow a bit, i may be able to count, but now all i see are little tiny tiny tales.
Sandy

 

[Inchworm]

Hi sandyd

I'm so happy for you! I know you've been waiting for this day to come for a long time!

Little corys are a lot of fun to raise, too. I found it interesting to watch their schooling behavior, when they start getting a little older, and see them tumble over each other and crowd into their cave. They are wonderful little fish!