How Do You Do It?

[bubblej17]

ok im getting my partners 4 1/2 ft tank soon when he gets his mega 6 1/2 ft tank!!! and im moving my cories into it as i would like to try breeding them, so i have a few questions before jumping into it and getting it wrong,

firstly i have 4 peppered, 3 albino cory cats, and 2 sterbai (getting more when they go into bigger tank), which of these are the easiest to breed??

i believe if you have a pair, you change the water with slightly cooler water, how much cooler??

what happens when they drop eggs, what do i need to do to save them??

how do you guys do it, your general views on it? like i said i would like to get as much info before doing anything so as much info as you can please guys and girls, thanks in advance

 

[Ripley]

I have bred cories several times in the past, its pretty easy. I would go with the Albino speices ( Aneus ), to get your feet wet, as they are the easiest to breed. I have used the technique of adding cold water, but I have never really checked the temperature of the new cold water. I just turned the cold water on from the tap and used that. Anyway, my only suggestion it used a smaller tank to breed them in, a 10 gallon is good. When they lay the eggs all over the glass, plants etc... you can either remove the parents, or remove the eggs by scraping them off with a razor blade.

 

[bubblej17]

I have bred cories several times in the past, its pretty easy. I would go with the Albino speices ( Aneus ), to get your feet wet, as they are the easiest to breed. I have used the technique of adding cold water, but I have never really checked the temperature of the new cold water. I just turned the cold water on from the tap and used that. Anyway, my only suggestion it used a smaller tank to breed them in, a 10 gallon is good. When they lay the eggs all over the glass, plants etc... you can either remove the parents, or remove the eggs by scraping them off with a razor blade.

i do have a smaller tank i could use and it would be easier than ruining the eggs, wouldnt it??
doesnt the coldness shock them if the water is too cold?
also i cant tell the difference between males and females is it true females are bigger? if so how much bigger they all look the same to me!! but maybe i have all males or all females!
do i add the cold water then let it heat up slowly?

 

[jollysue]

The influx of cool water imitates a snow melt or summer runoff. Corys are mostly river fish. The summer runoff is a signal that there is fresh water and food for the young. As the water warms up the females are stimulated to reproduce. They release hormones that signal the fellas that they are ready to spawn.

The albinos can be C. aeneus, C. paleatus, C. sterbai or even C. pandas, I am told. Peppers are also easy to spawn, but the eggs are a little less sticky so harder to collect. There are several methods for spawning and raising Corys. One method is above in the pinned faqs. Finding the one that works for you and your fish is the big adventure.

Any of those species you have will spawn once they start. If you can't tell a lady then they are too young or you don't have one. A lady in any of those fish will be broad in the girth and larger. The male will be svelt and smaller. Look down on them from above and look for the buxom lass. Once one species starts to spawn they may all get jiggy and you will have a Cory orgy.

 

[bubblej17]

anyone else got any ideas or things i should know about this?

 

[ICEEGRL]

jollysue nailed it. She knows her stuff.
The one thing I will add is that she tends to sometimes use terms that are not the easiest to understand. She is very smart and usually puts things in simple terms. I will put what she said other words.
If you have a female that is ready to spawn she will be really fat. She will look like she is very pregnant.
Both are very wide arond the head area. If you look down from the top at them you can see where they either get skinnier in the middle of the body or stay thick almost down to the tail. The skinny one is male and the fat one is the female.
The female gets what I call birthing hips.
If you don't have one that is extremely fat then you either don't have a female or your female isn't old enough to breed yet.
I have also noticed that most of my breeding females have what looks like white padding on her chest and belly. They may not all do that though. They all get really fat though.
I hope that helps some. If you didn't understand some of her wording. If that wasn't it... sorry. I can't tell you anything different.
The rest is very much trial and error.

 

[jollysue]

Another method at Studz World

An article on breeding C. sterbai, but let me add that my aquarium bred C. Sterbai spawn regularly at below 82 degrees. His are probably wild caught.

 

[bubblej17]

excellent thanks for that people, when i do try i will let you know how i get on thanks again

 

[dwarfgourami]

Don't forget to condition them, i.e. feed them lots of meaty foods. With many corys, 2 males per female is a good spawning ratio. Oh, and don't forget to watch- they are ever so cute!