Hi everyone......I just got a wonderful surprise the other day. My 2 little bronze catfish bred and left little clumps of eggs all over the front of my fish tank. I have never been a big lover of corydoras just kept a couple of them as tankmates for the other fish. I never thought these guys would ever breed in my tank I can't even tell male from female. If they hatch what will I do just leave them to fend for themselves? Does mum and dad play a role in looking after them? Do I feed them live food or can they eat what drops to the bottom? This has got me excited and I want to know a bit more from you all, any good advice on what to do next etc,etc,etc.
The parents will most likely go back and eat the eggs unless you remove them, if the parents don't then the other fish are sure to. And even if the eggs don't get munched the fry are almost certian too. I use a razor blade to carefully remove the eggs and put them in a suspended net breeding cage with some weed. The weed comes in handy to carefully scarpe the sticky eggs off the razor blade. By having the net in front of the filter return the net gets good water movement through it to prevent the eggs going fungusie. The eggs should hatch in a couple of dyas and the best first food is liquid fry after that they can start having finely crushed flakes and micro live food. I find the weed also gives the fry some micro food particles to kick start their lives. And the fry will look nothing like their parents until they are at least a couple of weeks old. Hope this helps. And have fun
