My Cory Eggs Have Hatched! :)

[ey2006]

First of all, I was wondering if one of the moderators could please move one of my topics from the "Beginner Questions" section to this "Corydoras" subsection, since its much more relevant here.

Here is the link to the thread I am talking about.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=135341

Now, to the good news! When I checked on the eggs this morning, a third of the eggs have hatched and there are roughly around 50-60 cory fry swimming about! They're so cute! I've never seen what fry looked like before so it was a pleasant surprise to see them today! They look like tiny tadpoles, they have a little body and a little tale, its hard to describe but I wish I had a magnifying glass so I can see what they look like!

Tried getting photos of them, but they're too small so I'll try again in a few days!

Currently, the fry and eggs are in the same container, with an airstone inside. Do I need to separate the fry and the eggs? They are still about 150 eggs in the container.

Should I feed the fry yet or should I wait a few days? Some of the fry doesn't seem to be swimming or moving, does that mean they are dead? On the other hand, there are others that are swimming non stop!

Seems like the bronze corys can't stop spawning! Including the eggs that were eaten and the new eggs that I found today, they must have layed, easily over 600 eggs over the past week! Is this normal? lol I always miss out when the female lays the egg, but am fortunate enough to see them mating!

 

[dwarfgourami]

Congratulations!!!

 

[AlexAndCarmen]

Congrats on the fry . You can leave the fry and eggs together till they've hatched. It should take about 24 hours for them all to have hatched, they do take their time. Some are so eager, while others like a later entrance. I normally wait till they've absorbed their egg yolk sac before feeding them, about 3-4 days. I normally have a straw and gentley nudge babies that look dead and remove them with a turkey baster if they are. They are still tiny and may take a while to move, normally around the time they are ready to eat.

How many cory's do you have? Our female laid between every 8-14 days, but hasn't now for about 8 weeks. Which is fine for us, since we had about 8 spawns from her and more fry than we knew what to do with.

The females normally lay pretty soon after 'T-ying' with the male, just watch where she swims to after mating.

Good luck and put some pics when they're big enough to capture

 

[flumpit2]

hi ey2006,congratulations on some of the eggs hatching!!!its right what 'alexandcarmenstank' said about some eggs taking longer to hatch than others,i also gently nudge them to see if there alive but be warned that i have also removed some that i thought were dead (luckily i put them in a jug of tank water) and after about 20 mins or so i nudged them again to make sure they were dead and they moved!think some of them are so exhausted from hatching that they play dead-little buggers,lol!!

as to your other post,DONT put them in with any other fish as they will get eaten,even the cory will think of them as dinner!!!i asked about putting small white clouds in with my fry & inchworm told me not to as she once put guppy fry in with her cory fry and the guppy fry attacked the baby cories.

imho you will need another tank to put you fry in as a plastic container floating in your main tank or breeding trap will be too small.plus if there in there own tank its easier to keep the water quality right and to keep the bottom of the tank clean!iv got a heater in my fry tank set to 23 degrees C,an air stone & do a 25-30% water change daily.it is much harder & time consuming looking after the fry than what it is looking after the adults.

i started feeding my fry liquifry 1 but this makes a hell of a mess in the tank & must be used sparingly,then i switched to microworms (with alot of advice and help from 'alexandcarmenstank')which are much easier to clean out of the bottom of the tank if they are uneaten.i said you can put a sponge filter in the tank with them when there from 4 weeks old onwards because any other type of filter is too powerful and will suck the fry up,that is if there in there own tank.

hope this answers all the questions you asked me in your other post.good luck & keep us informed of how things go!!
sharon

 

[bucsfan914]

Thats great congrats! im still waiting for my corys to mate =(

 

[AlexAndCarmen]

Hi, sorry I only just read the thread on the beginners side. We put our eggs in a small tank and the fry stay there till about 8 weeks where they get moved to a much bigger tank for growing to sellable size. By that size you could probably put them with the older cory's, as long as there is still hiding places. Some like to still get away while others will swim with the adults. Have all your eggs hatched now? As you can see, we've changed our name from Alex'sandCarmen'stank to alexcarmen. My husband didn't put spaces between the words and I wasn't impressed Good luck and speak soon.

 

[flumpit2]

hi ey2006,so hows it going with the fry?how many eggs hatched in the end?my fry are 5weeks old now and doing fine (iv got 11 left out of the 16 that hatched).they look like little replicas of there mum-bless them!let us know how things are going!!! x

 

[ey2006]

hi ey2006,congratulations on some of the eggs hatching!!!its right what 'alexandcarmenstank' said about some eggs taking longer to hatch than others,i also gently nudge them to see if there alive but be warned that i have also removed some that i thought were dead (luckily i put them in a jug of tank water) and after about 20 mins or so i nudged them again to make sure they were dead and they moved!think some of them are so exhausted from hatching that they play dead-little buggers,lol!!

as to your other post,DONT put them in with any other fish as they will get eaten,even the cory will think of them as dinner!!!i asked about putting small white clouds in with my fry & inchworm told me not to as she once put guppy fry in with her cory fry and the guppy fry attacked the baby cories.

imho you will need another tank to put you fry in as a plastic container floating in your main tank or breeding trap will be too small.plus if there in there own tank its easier to keep the water quality right and to keep the bottom of the tank clean!iv got a heater in my fry tank set to 23 degrees C,an air stone & do a 25-30% water change daily.it is much harder & time consuming looking after the fry than what it is looking after the adults.

i started feeding my fry liquifry 1 but this makes a hell of a mess in the tank & must be used sparingly,then i switched to microworms (with alot of advice and help from 'alexandcarmenstank')which are much easier to clean out of the bottom of the tank if they are uneaten.i said you can put a sponge filter in the tank with them when there from 4 weeks old onwards because any other type of filter is too powerful and will suck the fry up,that is if there in there own tank.

hope this answers all the questions you asked me in your other post.good luck & keep us informed of how things go!!
sharon

Hi Sharon, thanks for the reply, its much appreciated! Pretty much all the eggs have now hatched and I have just created a new thread and posted some photos I just took earlier!

I took some of the eggs that had fungus on them (unfortunately a lot of the eggs had fungus) and also the dead fry. Some of them not only layed motionless, but looked physically dead as they were looked more pale than the other healthy fry. The other fry's which I wasnt sure were dead I've just left in the container, hopefully leaving dead fry in the same container with the living fry wont have any adverse effects or ramifications.

I'm definitely NOT going to put the cory fry with ANY other fish, at least not until they are big enough to fend for themselves. It was surprising to read that Inchworm's guppy fry actually attacked the cory fry! I never expected fry picking on other fry.

If I need a tank solely for raising the fry? How big of a tank will I need if I've got 100+ fry? Will a small 1 feet tank (roughly 30L)be enough? I don't have much space left to put another tank, and if the tank setup is going to require a heater, filter, air pump etc. then I might have to wait a bit before getting it as I've spent a heck of a lot over the past month setting up my 240L tank and getting all the aquaria-related items!

How big is your tank with the fry? Even if I was to get a small tank to keep and raise the fry in, wouldn't the new tank have to be cycled before putting the fry in? It'll take sometime to cycle the tank as pure ammonia isnt sold where I live, so I can't do a fishless cycle.

Is there any other alternatives to raising the fry apart from getting a new tank? I'm sure the fish will somehow need filtration so I don't know how to provide them that if they're going to be in the little container.

Where can you get microworms from? Do most LFS sell them? Are they live or frozen? I've only noticed LFS selling frozen bloodworms or bronze brine shrimp, but not microworms..

At the moment, the fry have hatched for 3 days, is it time to start feeding them? I have 2 options, either the liquifry stuff (which I am going to buy tomorrow) OR crushed granule flakes. Which would be best for them?
How can I tell when the fry have used up their yolk sac? Because this is when I should start feeding them!
It will be tricky feeding them, as some of the fry would have been hatched for 3-4 days, while some of the rest would have only hatched today!

 

[ey2006]

Congrats on the fry . You can leave the fry and eggs together till they've hatched. It should take about 24 hours for them all to have hatched, they do take their time. Some are so eager, while others like a later entrance. I normally wait till they've absorbed their egg yolk sac before feeding them, about 3-4 days. I normally have a straw and gentley nudge babies that look dead and remove them with a turkey baster if they are. They are still tiny and may take a while to move, normally around the time they are ready to eat.

How many cory's do you have? Our female laid between every 8-14 days, but hasn't now for about 8 weeks. Which is fine for us, since we had about 8 spawns from her and more fry than we knew what to do with.

The females normally lay pretty soon after 'T-ying' with the male, just watch where she swims to after mating.

Good luck and put some pics when they're big enough to capture

Thanks Alex'sandCarmen'stank, apologies for the late reply - been spending so much time checking on the fry and searching the net for articles on raising the fry!

I'm still new to aquaria (only got my tank setup 3 months ago), let alone raising fry so I know that I need to research more in order for the fry to survive. 95% of the eggs have hatched now, only waiting for a handful to hatch. I'm still baffled with the number of eggs the adult females layed...how did they find the energy to lay 500+ eggs?!

I've got 5 bronze (3 males and 2 females) and 6 sterbai's in the 240L tank. When the eggs appeared, only the bronze were in there, but since putting the sterbai's in, the bronze don't seem to be mating anymore! But now the sterbai's look like they are mating!

Is there a point where you get too many fry and don't have enough space to put them?

Hi, sorry I only just read the thread on the beginners side. We put our eggs in a small tank and the fry stay there till about 8 weeks where they get moved to a much bigger tank for growing to sellable size. By that size you could probably put them with the older cory's, as long as there is still hiding places. Some like to still get away while others will swim with the adults. Have all your eggs hatched now? As you can see, we've changed our name from Alex'sandCarmen'stank to alexcarmen. My husband didn't put spaces between the words and I wasn't impressed Good luck and speak soon.

No worries at all, it was my fault posting there instead of here!

How big was the tank where you kept the eggs and fry? So it takes about 8 weeks for them to grow to a size that will enable them to be put with the adult corys and other fish?

Are the fry very fragile and sensitive during their first 8 weeks? Did any of your fry die during the 8 weeks?

Finally, I was wondering if you had any pics of the fry you could post? I'd really love to see what the cory fry looks like as they grow. I'll definitely be taking photos and putting them up as they grow.

 

[ey2006]

hi ey2006,so hows it going with the fry?how many eggs hatched in the end?my fry are 5weeks old now and doing fine (iv got 11 left out of the 16 that hatched).they look like little replicas of there mum-bless them!let us know how things are going!!! x

Hi Sharon, all is well with the fry! I've started a new thread with piccies of the fry, so check it out!

Wow, your fry are 5 weeks old already! How big are they? Do you have any pics of your fry during the first 5 weeks? I so want to see what they look like during the first few weeks, I guess I'll get my chance in the coming weeks!

 

[flumpit2]

hi ey2006,glad to hear everythings going ok!!leaving the dead fry in the tank with the others for a short while shouldnt cause to many problems but i wouldnt leave them there for too long as it may cause harmful bacteria to form and you dont wana risk losing the fry.

you buy microworms as a culture,most lfs dont sell them.i bought mine from ebay,it cost me £2.50 inc p&p.think BigC on here sells them aswell.you get a bag or tub of ready brek or porridge oats with the worms in & you spread it on more ready brek & in a few days the worms start crawling up the sides ready to be wiped off & fed to the fry(there so small you can hardly see them).sounds grose but the fry love them!!!!

since you dont have any microworms i suggest you use liquifry1 as crushed flakes will probaly still be too big for them to eat.i didnt have a microworm culture to start with & used liquifry with no probs but dont put too many drops in at a time.after about a week my fish moved onto liquify 3 for a few days then my microworm culture was ready to use,so its never too late to order one & getit started!!!you can feed the fry now.dont worry about the late hatchers as they just wont bother feeding but the first hatched fry wil probaly be hungry.make sure you remove any uneaten food tho (i use a turkey baster to suck it up from the bottom)

the tank iv got is 16x8x8 inches and i would say that its massive for the 11 fry iv got left.im not sure what size tank you would need to be honest but the tank you mentioned should be fine to start off with (remember that not all the fry will survive) as long as its a long rectangle tank & not a deep one as bottom space is more important for them.the fry dont need filtration for atleast 4weeks (you have to do daily 25-30% water changes to cycle the water),then its just a sponge filter (theres a diy one in the diy section or you can buy them for about £10).ive only got a heater in mine cus our fry tank is near the back door and gets cold when the doors open.if the tanks in a sheltered position and the rooms kept at a warm constant temp then you should be ok.so basicaly all you need to start with is a bare bottomed tank (no plants or owt) and an air stone.

its scarey how even guppy fry will attack the cory fry aint it!!its cus the cory fry are soooo tiny and easy pckings due to there placid peaceful nature!

keep me informed of how things go mate and good luck!!!!
sharon

if im honest i never cycled the tank i put my fry in as since you cant have a filter r substrate and you have to do daily water changes i didnt see the point and it didnt do any harm to my fry.just make sure you acclimatise (sp) them well first.

 

[ey2006]

hi sharon, i've been feeding the fry some liquid fry food from wardley's. here is a link to the product...its right at the bottom.

http/www.aquariumproducts.com.au/category68_1.htm

The fry seem to be loving it, though it causes a big mess and I always have to clean up afterwards because the water gets so cloudy and dirty.

I found more eggs (another 60 of them) this morning but was in a rush so didn't get the chance to take them out, by the time I came back in the afternoon, all the eggs were gone. Guess the other fish ate them all.

I'm surprised none of the fry have really grown much (if any) at all. They look the same size as the photo I posted a few days ago! I was expecting to see them grow a little over the past few days, especially as I feed them 4-5 times per day.

Am I feeding them too little? On the liquid fry food, it says I should feed several drops at least 3 times a day for a small fry group (3-10fry) but as I have about 50-60 fry, should I feed more drops? I'm feeding them 4-5 times a day, each time, only 3-4 drops. Its hard to tell if the fry is eating because the liquid clouds up the water.

Any advice would be appreciated as I don't seem to be making much progress with the fry at this stage. With 50-60 fry still alive, hopefully I can get a handful of the fry to survive and that I'll be able to raise them to be as big and healthy as your peppered cory fry!

I don't think they sell microworm culture over here in Australia, so my best bet is to feed them crushed flakes and liquid food until they get big enough to eat standard food.

 

[ey2006]

Bump....Its been almost 2 weeks now since the fry have hatched and they are still very tiny and haven't grown much - is this normal?

 

[flumpit2]

hi ey2006,has it really been 2 weeks already?thats gone soooo fast!!!have you changed the fry food to the next stage up yet?after about a week i swaped my fry onto liquifry 3 (a very fine ground powder) as they require more nutrients now than the first stage can offer them.if im honest your best to get a microworm cultre going as the fry grow much more quicker eating microworms than they do eating prepared fry food (as you probaly noticed by that pic i posted).
i answered you the other day in my cory fry pic post.i put...

"ey2006,my cory fry seemed to start off growing really slowly for about the first 3 weeks then all of a sudden it seemed like every other morning when i got up and checked on them they had grown a bit over night.so its just patience im afraid!they also seem to go through a phase of not really growng but changing to look like catfish rather than tadpoles,lol.iv got a feeling that the pic iv posted is of a female as apparently i read somewhere that females are bigger than males right from the begining,dont know whether its true or not tho." just incase you didnt read it,lol.

because they start off sooooo tiny it does seem like they hardy grow (other people who dont see them often notice that theyv grown more than you do).it really is just patience tho.if youv got a runt fry use that to compare sizes as with mine ive got two runts left and there not alot bigger length ways than when they first hatched but are fully developed minature catfish,so i use them to compare how much my other fry have grown.

definatly make sure you change there food tho as if there not getting enough nutrients then there gona grow slower.like i said about the microworms,the fry seem to grow really fast eating these (i got mine off ebay,might be worth trying there for them).some people also feed baby brine shrimp but you have to be careful of the shells and eggs as if these are eaten they can not be digested & kill the fry or something.definatly get them off the liquid food soon tho.my fry still wont eat normal crushed cory food (picky things!!!) so might be awhile before yours eat regular food aswel!might be worth looking in your lfs to see if they sell any tiny worms or things that you could chop up & try feedng to the fry,but they do have to be really tiny!
let me know how things are going,keep me updated!!!!!!
shaz

 

[ey2006]

Hi Shaz, yes, it has been 2 weeks since the first batch of fry hatched. I haven't changed the fry food yet as I do not know where to get microwoms in Australia! The LFS don't have it and I've searched on ebay and they don't have it either.

i was more concerned if i was doing the right thing with the fry since a lot of them have died. i only have about 30 fry left, from about the 100+ fry that I had 2 weeks ago. with the liquid fry food, i always have to change the water and clean up after feeding, which is a hassle, not sure if that is killing some of the fry.

maybe they will start growing more quickly in a week or two? i will see if i can feed them crushed pellets/flakes, i have no idea how i can crush it to a size that the fry will be able to eat.

when you were feeding them liquid fry food at the beginning, how many drops did you use each time and how many times a day did you feed them? i've been feeding the fry 3-4 times a day. how long do you leave the liquid food in the water before cleaning it up?

i'll ask the lfs again for any other alternative food. thanks for the help and sorry i missed your reply in the other thread!