Cory Species Only Tank

[tank212]

So I was thinking of setting up a cory only tank with the intentions of breeding them. I was wondering what would be a good number for a breeding group of corys and what would be a good starting cory to breed. I have been admiring cories on aquabid for the longest time but never bought any because I wanted a species only tank. Also I would like to know what a good tank size would be,substrate, and any breeding materials I would need like caves and things like that. I can easily house any fry I would get as I have many 10 gal tanks. I also have a massively growing culture of microworms that are currently being used by two baby platies. soo yeah... lots to spare . Appreciate any advice. Thanks.

P.S I already have three c.Aeneus (albinos) in a 55gal with some other fish and have never seen them breed I don't know if I have males or females tho.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Albino, bronze and peppered corys are the easiet to breed, for a cory only tank the most important thing to have its lots of surface area- it also depends on what sort of size tank you are willing to buy- something in the range of 30-40gallons would be very good although as i said it mostly depends on how many surface area the tank has.
The best substrate for corys is fine sand .
Corys prefer to lay their eggs on broad leaved plants although occasionally they will lay their eggs on any sort of flat smooth surface like the tank glass or filter box- corys are mainly nocturnal in nature so you will also need to provide a shelter of some sort that they can go into to stay out of the glare of the tank lights during the day when they need to, caves are quite good for this as well as densely planted areas.
Corys will not breed in a tank that has water quality issues, and their eggs will not hatch out in unstable water quality wether it is big temperature fluctuations all the time or ammonia/nitrites being present in the water etc, so you will want to avoid doing a cycle with fish but rather instead do a fishless cycle.
Corys perfer the lower tropical tank temps, 24/26degrees is good, doing slightly cool water 30% water changes will somtimes incourage the corys to spawn, gender ratios aern't too important as they are very peaceful friendly fish but preferably you want at around 2males per 3females.
For eggs to hatch you need very good filtration as the eggs need to have a good constant suply of oxygen to hatch, cory fry find liquid fry foods the easiest to feed on when they are young as they are very tiny when they first hatch. For a cory only tank i would avoid moving the eggs to another tank as they are extremely difficult to remove and acclimatise to another tank without killing them, most people only move cory eggs when they have fish in the tank that will make a meal of them but corys themselves usually don't do this so you should be ok.
Putting a very small watered down dose of anti fungal meds into the tank before the corys spawn will also help prevent the eggs getting fungus on them when they are layed as this is the most common killer of cory eggs, needless to say if the eggs go solid white or fluffy this usually means the eggs have fungus and you should remove them ASAP to prevent the whole clutch getting infected.
As for a further note on tank dimensions, because corys are air breathers, i would not go for a tank taller than 1ft high as so to help prevent any new born fry struggling to get to the surface of the tank to breath- if you watch your corys carefully you will notice they dash up to the surface of the tank to take a gulp of air at least once evry 30mins .

 

[tank212]

Hey thanks for that info. I will probably move the albinos I got now into a tank by themselves although I still don't know the gender, I could always get more right? I have a 20gal high laying around would this work? If not I might be getting a 30-40 gal tank on a stand for christmas hopefully. I don't know if I have problems with my water quality or not. I don't think it is an issue because I have never had a fish die of illnesses, I have also never cycled a tank for more than 2 or 3 days. Before anyone flames me for the cycling thing I have NEVER lost a fish because of it. They die of old age a year or so later. All I keep now is livebearers and angelfish. The tank the cories are in at present time is inhabited by an angelfish which I'm sure would eat all the eggs and if he didn't get to it I have upside down cats in there along with a syno. I know this is probably a stupid question but I figured I would ask for the heck of it. Is it possible for corys to eat freeze dried foods? I know it doesn't sink so I'd figure they wouldn't mess with it because they mainly eat stuff that falls on the bottom.
I will be getting a few amazon swords also for their tank. What about those clay plant pots? I am not sure what they are called specifically but I have used one in a cichlid tank before. Would this be a nice cave for them? Considering there are no sharp edges for them to hurt themselves?
One last question is would the cories themselves eat their own eggs or fry if they were in a species only tank?
Thanks.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

The corys shuldn't eat their own eggs although it can happen from time to time, its imposible to cycle a tank in a couple of days unfortunatly, most corys should last for about 7-11yrs if properly looked after, even though you say you havn't lost a fish yet, cycling with fish can last for months until the tank is any where near stable and corys are much more sensitive to ammonia which is most concentrated at the bottom.
So if you want to be a successful cory breeder i strongly suggest you read up on the articles on how to cycle a tank properly and for you to also buy some test kits for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates as this way you can save your fish much unesarsary stress if you know for sure whats going on in your water quality .
The corys will be able to eat freezedried foods but because these foods take such a long time to become water-logged and sink, many will probably end up in the tank filter before they end up on the bottom of the tank, so if you want to try feeding freezedried foods i'd advise you try and pre-soak them first- either way though these foods are much more nutritious in their thawed out frozen forms but its up to you really .
To encourage your corys to spawn though you will need to do alot more water changes on average even if theres nothing wrong with your water quality, corys prefer to spawn in only the most cleanest crystal clear of tank water.

 

[tank212]

Ok no problem. My tank has been running for over a year. I actually have a perfect spot for the tank which will make water changes easier.
I think I'm gonna go with the albinos to start out with and maybe in the future some peppered cories.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi tank212

Albino C. aeneus are usually one of the easiest corys to get to spawn and are in constant demand by hobbyists. If you have a good independent lfs, who will buy them from you, a species tank of them can be a lot of fun.

Have you raised any egg laying fish before? If not, these are good to start with too. Their eggs and fry are a little larger than many other kinds of fish, but the fry are much more delicate than fry from livebearers. The fry love microworms and will do well on them.

C. aeneus usually have the advantage of not being egg eaters like some of the other corys are. I do not recommend C. paleatus (peppered corys) for this reason.

If you have a picture of your corys, taken from the top, looking down on them, I can probably help you tell if they are males or females. The usual proportion is to have two males for each female. This is to insure that all the eggs laid have been fertilized, but this is not always necessary since the albinos are such prolific spawners.

This is a picture of my C. aeneus, sp black corys. It's easy to see which is the female and which is the male. The difference between the genders in mature albinos should be similar.

I like to set up a small tank for them to be conditioned in and once they have spawned, I remove them, clear the tank of gravel and everything else, and use that tank to raise the fry. It seems to me that it is much easier and safer to move the fish than to move the eggs.

I'll be happy to help you get started, if you would like.

 

[tank212]

I am definently interested in setting up the tank and raising the fry I have plenty of tanks so that won't be an issue. I have had albino bristlenose fry one time that wasnt intentionally spawned. I want to get started asap. I was wondering is there a certain kind of sand I should use? If I had a trio in a 10gal tank alone how much filtration would I be looking at? What is a good temp to keep a tank at? I would also like to know how I can get my hands on some fungal prevention medicine. I can't find any at our petsmart nor the local pet store.
I was also wondering if a piece of pvc pipe would work for something for them to lay their eggs on? My petstore doesn't keep many species of cories mainly albino's and some other kind I am not sure of.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi tank212

OK, let's get started!

I'll explain how I raise my fry, but their are other ways to do it too. For example, some people like to move the eggs and leave the fish and tank as it is. I found that it's easier to move the fish and leave the eggs. If anything's important with corys and their fry, it's keeping the water clean and fresh to avoid bacterial infections and other complications. With a bare bottomed fry tank it's easier to clean it than one with sand or gravel. I also work with an uncycled fry tank and depend on the daily water changes to keep the water healthy for them.

To start with, I usually use a 10 gallon tank, set up with fine gravel such as this:

Since I will be taking it out once they spawn, I find it's easier to remove than the finer sand, and the corys do well with it. If you want to use sand, use well washed play sand, which you can find at Home Depot or a similar store.

If you want, add some plants or a cave for them, but don't go to a great deal of trouble. If you have any plants in pots, or java fern, or java moss, that's fine. If you want to put in a cave, they will probably like it too.

For filtration, I usually use either a small AquaClear that has bacteria laden filter floss in it, or go right to using a box filter with an air pump. You will need an air pump to run an airstone once the eggs have been laid, so you might as well set it up with a box filter. Later, when the fry have grown, you will use the box filter again for them. You do understand how you can clone a cycled tank using filter media from a bigger tank, right? When it's ready, put the corys in and condition them for a week or two.

I like to keep the temperature around 74-75 degrees F. while I am conditioning the corys. To condition them I feed them as many live blackworms as they care to eat. Are you familiar with using them? If not, let me know and I'll tell you how to wash them so they are safe and last longer.

I would also like to know how I can get my hands on some fungal prevention medicine. I can't find any at our petsmart nor the local pet store.

Put nothing like this in the water before spawning. The water should be clean with nothing but a basic dechlorinator added. Do not use any product like stress coat either. After the eggs have been laid and the parents removed, you might want to add methylene blue to the water, but it's not necessary.

 

[Barracuda518]

Put nothing like this in the water before spawning. The water should be clean with nothing but a basic dechlorinator added. Do not use any product like stress coat either. After the eggs have been laid and the parents removed, you might want to add methylene blue to the water, but it's not necessary.

Inchworm,

I did not know we were not supposed to use stress coat. I used it some when I was doing water changes on my fry tank. Ive been using Aquaclear lately. What do you use?

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Barracuda518

I use a product by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals called "Tap Water Conditioner." Wardley makes another good dechlorinator. Both of these products are inexpensive and do a good job.

I'm not familiar with the brand you are using, but if it just takes a drop or a few drops per gallon of water, it's probably good. I don't like Stress Coat, or any product containing aloe, because I think it could possibly interfere with their absorbing oxygen from the water. It's an unnecessary risk, IMHO.

 

[Barracuda518]

I did not know that about aloe. Thanks for the heads up

 

[tank212]

My biggest obstacle is to have the right genders other than that I am good to go. But I think I have two males and a female. Should I add more to the group when I am ready to put them in the spawn tank?

 

[Inchworm]

Hi tank212

Since they are schooling fish, it's always better to have a larger number of them than just three, but that doesn't mean they won't spawn. Having the right genders and being mature is the most important thing. If you can find adults of the same species, by all means add them. If not, get some young ones to improve their general comfort and plan on spawning the whole group once they get old enough.

In the meanwhile, it won't bother the mature fish to spawn while there are younger ones in the tank with them. While the youngsters are in the tank, the older ones will spawn and the smaller ones will probably take great interest in the whole thing. They are apt to swim up and inspect the eggs right along with the adults.

If there are more adults in the tank who are not spawning at the same time, they get quite excited and follow the action. It's fun to watch the "aunties" inspect the eggs. While C. aeneus are not usually egg eaters, they might remove one if it is infertile or damaged.

 

[tank212]

Cool so how about 6 or 7 in a 10gal tank is that too much? I just got some frozen bloodworms too so I can condition once I add them to the tank.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi tank212

If they will all be adults, it would be a little crowded normally, but not impossible. I've kept more in tanks that size for a time. You will, of course, be watching them closely since you are conditioning them. Just keep an eye on the water and do an extra water change when needed. Be sure to put adequate bacteria laden filter media in when you are setting it up.

If you are using the frozen food to condition them, you will want to watch them closely to be sure none goes uneaten. Live food gives you the advantage of being able to feed them as much as the can eat and, IMHO does a better job of preparing them.