Help! My Corys Have Laid Eggs...

[twodoctors]

Hi all. Merry Christmas.

I put my cories in a "hospital" tank as 3 of them had short barbels. I have also (cheekily) put a spawning mop in there. They have been there for a few weeks now and not a lot has happened. I recently did some large cold water change, last being on christmas eve and wahla, eggs in the tank on Christmas day. Most are on the mop but some are on the bottom of the tank. There are 8 3-lined corys in there and a few pink ramshorn snail to mop up the debris.

Googled it. Some say move them into a fry net or move the adults out. I also have no liquifry at home so that's those are things to get I guess. I would prefer to keep the adults in the same tank, hoping to get more eggs. Any other advice welcomed!

Adrian

PS First time I managed to spawn anything, ever! Please help!

 

[thereverendturtle]

You can leave them in there, but I wouldn't expect many fry to survive.

 

[Baccus]

Depending on the size of the "hospital" tank you could suspend a net or mesh fry trap/ net in the tank with the adults and move the eggs into the net. That way the parents can't eat their own eggs, but the rams horn snails may eat the eggs, I don't really trust snails with a yummy snack. I usually put some tank weed into the net to provide cover for the fry when they hatch and I find the weed often has micro foods in/ on it that the newly hatch fry will nose around and eat. I have raised fry on liquidfry food but find it can foul the water pretty quickly so usually give the fry finely crushed tropical flakes and swirl it in the water to help it sink to them, also dapinea is a good food for them and newly hatched brine shrimp (just rinse the brine shrimp in fresh water before adding them to the tank). Since the eggs are only just laid you will still have time to get some brine shrimp eggs hatched before the cory fry hatch. If you have some Java moss or similar weed this will be great for the cory fry to find food in. The parents don't tend to eat their fry (just the eggs), but I usually keep any fry safely away from the parents and their larger filters incase the fry get sucked into the filter.

Also with the net you could position it near the outflow of the filter so that the eggs get good water movement around them to help stop them going off, or add an airstone to the net. Almond leaves can also help repel fungus from the eggs.

Best of luck
Let us know how you go.

 

[karawr]

Well I would separate the eggs into a net and put an airstone under them so they get good flow and don't fungus. They parents and perhaps the snails will eat the eggs. If you see any eggs turning white remove them right away. They are infertile and will turn all fungusy and infect other eggs.

Also cories do eat their fry so you have to separate or at least provide really good hiding spots....

Liquifry isn't needed. I fed my cory fry baby brine shrimp only takes 12-24 hours to hatch and is very simple. You can also use a small small amount of crushed flake food. There are other methods floating around but this is what I used and now I have way too many fry.

Also I don't know if your hospital tank has any substrate but sand is best, especially for cories. If it is bare bottom the fry will be very susceptible to bacteria. A lot of mine died before I put sand in. Definitely recommend sand.

 

[twodoctors]

Thanks.

It's a Clearseal 18*10*10. Barebottom for ease of cleaning, and put snails there to mop up any debris as I said. There are two fake plants in pot and two bamboo tube for the adult but no facilities for the eggs/fries. I tried to move the eggs onto the mop but there's still some left on the bottom.

I'm thinking about getting either a fry net or plastic tank to hold them. The tank is filtered with an air driven sponge so fairly weak. Problem is most places are still close tomorrow. Should I float a plastic container on the tank and put the eggs in there for now? Would it be ok without filtration that one would get with a fry net? Or should I just move the corys into the plastic container and leave the eggs in the hospital tank? I guess the snails are coming out first thing in the morning...

Adrian

 

[twodoctors]

I bought myself a fry tank which attaches externally to the tank, with the tank water constantly pumped into the fry tank and fry tank water flow back into the main tank. Quite neat really.

My corys eggs seemed to look pretty much the same as when they first hatched. I also found some eggs in my other tank so I put them in there too. Not sure who laid them so if they hatch as well it will be a real surprise.

How long do I have to wait before they hatch? Some say 3 days but mine have no signs of changing at all. No fungus etc that I can see. I hope they hatch....

Adrian

 

[Harlequins]

3 line cory (trilineatus) usually take around 5 days to hatch dependant on temp

Good luck with them

 

[tribalbrit]

4 to 5 days is the norm. Try and airate the eggs if posible and remove any that go white.
Where did you get the fry tank from? sounds neat! My daughter has baby Bn's so might try one for her tank altough they are doing quite well on their own at the moment.

Good luck and congratulations

are these the same ones as you were trying to sell a few weeks back?

 

[twodoctors]

Got it from Maidenhead Aquatics in Nottingham. Made by Marina I think. It was the last one. There are a few eggs that has turn completely white so will move them soon. one or two has some "eyes" developing. Exciting times ahead!

Adrian

http/www.hagen.com/uk/aquatic/product.cfm?CAT=1&SUBCAT=122&PROD_ID=01109410030101

This one.

 

[Syphoniera]

I was wondering if you'd added a tiny drop of Pimafix or methylene blue to help reduce the chances of fungus?

Fry are always so exciting!


Edit: also, if you had or had considered cultures of, for example, Walter or microworms?

They drop to the bottom and are very handy for fry and small fish.

 

[twodoctors]

I had to remove the first batch of eggs as most seemed to have turned white, while others seemed a bit mushy. I have to admit the water quality when they were laid weren't pristine. I guess fungus got there before me. Down the drain they go.

My corys have laid a second batch of eggs for me though. I have just harvested them and put them into the fry tank. I have put a Fluval U2 in the tank prior to the second batch so I can confidently say the water is a lot cleaner this time round. I guess I should add some methylene blue as suggested and with a lot of luck, I will have some fries in the next few days.

Out of interest, how bothered should I be if the eggs is still attached to fine strands of the mop upon removal? It's not exactly dirty but I didn't want to rough handle the eggs. My guess is it makes no difference as it would have hatched in left on the mop. Am I wrong?

I bought liquifry so I'll be using that when they hatch. I really don't have that much time in the next 2 weeks as I have an extremely important exam I must pass in mid-Jan.

Any other advice welcomed.

Wish me luck!

Adrian

PS Yes, tribalbit. They were. I just realised that I can't turn the 90L into a Mbuna tank anyway, despite seeing at least 2 LFS squeezing 30+ fish into their display tank not dissimilar to mine (ok, they were 125L tank, but dimension similar). I wanted colour and the shell dwellers aren't exactly what I'm after...

 

[Harlequins]

Did you have an airstone in with the eggs?? - eggs need good airation around them,personally i dont use meth blue.

Egga will be ok on the mop

Be careful with liquidfry,i found this pollutes the water very easily. I use tetramin baby - which is a fine powder and my fry thrive on it

 

[twodoctors]

No I don't. The tank that I'm using would circulate the water a lot. I guess that would be enough right?

Also can't I just leave them sank at the bottom or should I stick them all on the "glass"?

I don't have methylene blue, only malachite green. I don't think they are the same thing in terms of toxicity. It says use 1/2 does if you have sensitive fish like loaches. I'm worried it might harm the eggs/fries. Has anyone have experience with it. I guess I can get some almond leaves from ebay but it won't be in time for this batch...

Adrian

 

[twodoctors]

Well, I ended up going out on New Years eve to get a bottle of Meth Blue. Used 1/2 the recommended dose as I was scared. Turned everything blue including my fingers! I think the corys were a bit shocked as well. At least none of the eggs have turned white yet.

I did a 40-50% water change again today, just to get rid of the meth blue. No harm done as far as I can see. No "obviously" dead eggs yet. There are still a bit of debris in my fry tank but I think it's from the peat ball that I have in the tank, which got transferred over when I put the eggs in. Also some strands of fibre from the mop attached to some of the eggs. The peat ball does leak a bit of debris as well as tannis when I squeeze it after water change. Try to get rid of some by swirlling the fry tank water and it worked to a degree (also proves that the water circulation on the fry tank system is quite good).

Eggs looks exactly the same as before. Am I supposed to see eyes and movement etc by now (Day 2/3)? As I said, first time for me. Any other advice at this stage would be welcomed.

Adrian

 

[Harlequins]

Tri eggs gradually go a darker beige colour on the 3-4 day and normally hatch on the 5th day. They're so tiny you wont necessarily see any movement until they hatch.