Fertile Cory Eggs!

[Flubberlump]

Ahh I never thought of doing it that way. I've always done it in reverse - suck water out of the breeder box so it fills back up again from the main tank. Your way sounds faster.

Thanks for the tip about the water changes in the main tank, I'll do that

 

[Akasha72]

well I put some microwroms in after the water change - my thinking was cories can be more nocturnal and so the fry would probably be hungry in the night - the microworms are still wriggling away in the corner of the tub where I put them. I don't get it. Surely they must be hungry ...

 

[Flubberlump]

I wonder why! Surely they've been to that corner overnight. Maybe they're still finding bits to eat on the moss and leaves? I squirt some worms in each corner and down the edges hoping that the fry will be more likely to come across them. Admittedly, that means it's a bit harder to see whether there are any left uneaten, but by the time I do the next water change they're still alive anyway so easy (ish) to spot and remove before they die - the lampeyes love them That said, mine are on the worms instantly now! They've stopped swimming away from the pipette so I wonder whether they recognise it, and the squirt of water movement that comes from it meaning that food will appear. Either that or they're just more confident now.

I'm just about to do a water change on the main tank as eagles suggested, the last one was on Tuesday.

 

[Akasha72]

my thinking was that I'd add the worms after the water change as I knew you'd said they live for 24 hours so won't foul the water. I thought that that would mean I could leave them alone and just do the water change at the same time tonight which would remove last night's worms then I could add new for another 24 hours. Now I'm doubting myself. I'm wondering whether to change their water now and then again tonight ... hmm

 

[Flubberlump]

I've been doing water changes twice a day before feeding to be on the safe side. I haven't actually taken the fry out yet so not quite 100% changes but have taken everything else out to give the bottom a good Hoover and used the turkey baster. I shift the moss around a bit to suck up some bits from underneath if I don't take it out. Maybe if you wanted to change water twice a day you could do one 100% like you have been doing and one with the turkey baster? Saves taking the fry out twice then.

Mine have pretty much just had microworms, moss, and some water from the top of the filter with a few bits in so far. Because the worms live for 24 hours I'm not too worried about the water quality as I'm doing a water change every 12 hours or so anyway. If I was using anything that wasn't live I'd be a bit more worried, like I was after the brine shrimp that only live for 5 hours. I'll be much more careful about how much of that I put in next time. Hopefully the fry will be big enough to go in the breeder box in a few days and then I'll start some dry food and frozen cyclops as there will be a bit of water flowing through from the main tank too. I'm sure I'll be doing the water 'exchanges' more often then though like Eagles suggested to be safe with the food not being live.

 

[Akasha72]

well I've changed 100% of their water again and I'll do it again tonight. They don't seem to mind being sucked up and I have to be quick as they are strong little swimmers. As soon as I suck them up they're swimming down out of the turkey baster! That has to be a good sign that these are strong healthy fry rather than the rather weak one's I've had before. 
While I was changing the water I had them in my little yogurt pot that I use for defrosting my frozen food. I thought I'd add a few worms to see what they would do and they didn't even notice! 

 

[Flubberlump]

Sorry about the delay. I did 100% yesterday after the main tank water change. I know what you mean about them swimming down the turkey baster! I had the same issue. When they were first sucked up they actually swam against the current. They're growing! Is it any clearer yet whether yours are panda or melini? Any joy with the worms?

 

[Akasha72]

well I did summat silly last night. I cleaned them out and put them back into their little spot in the fry tank and promptly forgot to put the air stone back. Then I went to bed. I got up and checked on them and that's when I realised they'd gone all night with no air. I pushed the moss aside and I saw two dart out so I'm guessing it's not affected them. I've put the air stone back now and I've added some more worms.
 
I added a tiny bit of water to the mixture last night and now it's teeming with wriggling worms. I think the mixture was drying out a little bit. I really can't tell is they are eating the worms or not. I'm trying not to disturb them too much really. The twice daily water change is enough. 
 
I'm planning on moving the harlequins out of the fry tank next week and then the cories can go into the tank. I'm sure they'll find more food and I can stop worrying about them being in an unfiltered pot. 

forgot to say - I don't know yet whether they are panda or melini as they're tails arn't developed enough yet to tell. Once their tail starts to broaden I might be able to see if it is plain black or if there is a stripe there. A stripe means melini. It'll be a while yet I think before I can tell

 

[Flubberlump]

Been for a trip down to Wharf Aquatics today for a nosey. Just got home.

I suppose they're so little that there will have been plenty of oxygen in the water for them. My worms are going a bit crazy now too! The other fish are loving their daily helping of microworms, and they had some more brine shrimp this morning as well.

Ooh the suspense about which species they are!

 

[Akasha72]

I dropped in one single catfish pellet this morning for them to try. It says on the pot that they won't foul the water so I thought I'd let them try one - see what happens. I rolled my pippette round in the teeming mass of worms a few times and added that too. Hopefully they are getting enough choice of something to eat. I've not had chance to change their water yet today so instead of waiting till 9pm to do it I'm gonna do it in a moment. It'll be interesting to see if they've had a nibble at the pellet

 

[Akasha72]

they appear to have eaten the pellet - there was no sign of it anyway. 

 

[Flubberlump]

Greedy little things lol! I'm hoping to move mine into the breeder box in a couple of days. I think they're big enough now really but don't want to risk them getting stuck!

 

[Akasha72]

You could try stretching a stocking over it perhaps?
 
I've just added another pellet to the babies tub - we'll see if that disappears aswell. They've definitely changed colour now anyway. They are all white instead of the grey they were when they first hatched. I tried taking some photo's again last night but they didn't come out too well. I've not added them to the pc yet so if there is a reasonable one I'll add it later.
 
It's water change day for the big tank and the baby tank today and then I've really got to decide whether to risk adding the new harlequins to the big tank or if I need to wait a bit longer. I'm fairly confident that they are too big to be angelfish food now but seen as these baby cories are doing okay in the tub I'm guessing I've got at least a couple of weeks.
I was thinking last night that if I move the harlequins out now and move the baby cories in they're going to be lost in the tank and will they be able to find food. While they're confined to the tub it's easy for them to find food.
It's difficult to know what's best

 

[Flubberlump]

How far should the fry be able to swim upwards? I'm wondering whether the breeder box might be too deep. It does have a divider though so I could put that in and then it would just be a couple of inches deeper than the box they're in now. I'm sure I'm worrying about things far more than I should be lol!

Did you decide who's going where in your tanks?

 

[Akasha72]

I had two panda cories that raised themselves in my main tank and my main tank is about 2ft deep - so yes, worrying more than needed. I don't think the fry need to take air from the surface like the adults do. I also raised several peppered cories from eggs in a 10 inch deep tank so again - no issue.
 
As for my lot. Well the 5 are still doing well in the plastic tub and so I'm still dithering. Changing my mind from one minute to the next. I've lost so many recently that I'm scared of messing up which is why I'm dithering so much