Ok, So I Looked In My Lb Birthing Tank Last Night.....

[Sp00ky]

and it would appear we have had a spawing. About 60 eggs.

Totally unplanned so i dont have a clue whats to do now. The tank is 4imp gal and the corys live quite happily in there with whichever female i place in there to birht ( it was a green sailfin molly who left me about 40 fry in there which are still there as they are just over a week old).

The tank has good circultaion via and aqua flow mini and the temp is around 26. It has a thin layer of gravel in the bottom with stones and the likes stacked in the two from corners, which are generally for the LB fry to hide in. I change the water once a week in there and theres about 4 plants in there as well.

Any advice anyone?

What should i feed them when they hatch?
Should i remove the 4 corys? (dont wanna move the eggs incase anything happens to them)

Cheers

Sp00ks

 

[Barracuda518]

Its not a good idea to keep cory fry in the same tank with live bearer fry. The live bearer fry will grow much more quickly then the cory fry and that can lead to problems. Also, peppered cories are known egg eaters and will eat the eggs in no time. Also, I used a bare bottomed tank for easier cleaning when the fry were young since I couldnt use a filter at first. The filter might get the small fry at first. So you might need to move the eggs to another tank if you plan to raise them. The eggs need constant circulation over them to keep them from getting fungus. If you decide to keep them, then you need to think about what to feed them.

Good Luck.

 

[Sp00ky]

Its not a good idea to keep cory fry in the same tank with live bearer fry. The live bearer fry will grow much more quickly then the cory fry and that can lead to problems. Also, peppered cories are known egg eaters and will eat the eggs in no time. Also, I used a bare bottomed tank for easier cleaning when the fry were young since I couldnt use a filter at first. The filter might get the small fry at first. So you might need to move the eggs to another tank if you plan to raise them. The eggs need constant circulation over them to keep them from getting fungus. If you decide to keep them, then you need to think about what to feed them.

Good Luck.

the sailfin fry will be coming out of their in the next week. Should i remove the adults from the tank then??

the filter thats in there creates a good current as it is so the water passing over the eggs is constant.

 

[Barracuda518]

You need to remove the parents ASAP. Im suprised they have not eatened the eggs yet.

 

[Sp00ky]

You need to remove the parents ASAP. Im suprised they have not eatened the eggs yet.

there well fed already LOL. Will remove them tonight if they are still there when i get home

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Sp00ky

Barracuda518 is absolutely right. You need to get the livebearer fry and the adult corys out of there as soon as possible. Or, you might want to try moving the eggs to another tank. Cory fry are very tiny when they first hatch and even young livebearer fry are likely to attack them. The parents don't recognize them as corys and will eat them too.

You are lucky if you have peppered corys that don't eat their own eggs. If you don't save this batch, you will most likely have another chance in the near future.

I would strongly suggest that you find and start your own microworm culture to feed these tiny fry. It's well worth the effort and your molly fry will thrive on them too.

Good luck with them. Please let us know how they do for you.

 

[Sp00ky]

cheers inchworm. i took the adults out last night. moved hte plant arround a little so i could see the eggs and counted 68.

gonna move the fry later in the week

cheers

Sp00ks

 

[Sp00ky]

Moved the mollie fry out yesterday. There were 15 of 68 eggs which were white, so i removed them. all the others have little black dots in the middle and im SURE when i look at them close enough i can see it move.

Did a water change on monday and gonna do another one tonight to keep the water nice and clean for em.

How long is it generally after the eggs are laid that they hatch? I have been told about 5 days, but just wanna check.

 

[Barracuda518]

Moved the mollie fry out yesterday. There were 15 of 68 eggs which were white, so i removed them. all the others have little black dots in the middle and im SURE when i look at them close enough i can see it move.

Did a water change on monday and gonna do another one tonight to keep the water nice and clean for em.

How long is it generally after the eggs are laid that they hatch? I have been told about 5 days, but just wanna check.

It usually takes 3-4 days for them to hatch. Be careful doing the water changes when they are still in the eggs. Where did you put the eggs or where did the cories lay them? Make sure they are not exposed to the air.

Do you have a mircoworm culture started yet? If not what do you plan to feed them?

 

[Sp00ky]

Moved the mollie fry out yesterday. There were 15 of 68 eggs which were white, so i removed them. all the others have little black dots in the middle and im SURE when i look at them close enough i can see it move.

Did a water change on monday and gonna do another one tonight to keep the water nice and clean for em.

How long is it generally after the eggs are laid that they hatch? I have been told about 5 days, but just wanna check.

It usually takes 3-4 days for them to hatch. Be careful doing the water changes when they are still in the eggs. Where did you put the eggs or where did the cories lay them? Make sure they are not exposed to the air.

Do you have a mircoworm culture started yet? If not what do you plan to feed them?

hi there. They are still in the tank the corys laid them in. they are all over the front and back glass and also a couple on the plants.

i have liquifry 1 to start with. Any one got any info on how to start up the microworm culture?

 

[Sp00ky]

also should i remove the gravel thats in the tank or leave it? the eggs appeared on sunday so they aint got long to go till they hatch i dont think !

 

[Sp00ky]

Well, they all hatched last night, which is good for me as i am going away today until sunday lunchtime, so they will be sell sufficent on their yolk sacks. MAN aint they tiny !! i hope they are all right with the gravel in there.

made me laugh when they broke free from the egg and started spining round and round round not knowing what to do hehehehehehe

So, how do i get this microworm culture up and running?? I can feed them with liquifry no1 for egg bearers to start with. but i need to know how to get the microworm going.

ta

Sp00ks

 

[flumpit2]

hi sp00ky,congratulations on the eggs hatching!!!now the hard work begins,lol!since you cant have a filter going in the tank yet (just an air stone)cus it will be too powerful & suck the fry in you have to do daily water changes (i do 25-30%).you also have to keep the bottom of the tank spotlessly clean to avoid the fry gettinga bacterial infections.not sure how you should do this as i had a bare tank with nothing except an airstone in it (no gravel,plants etc.maybe someone who has used gravel will come along and give you more advice.

you have to buy a microworm culture.most lfs dont sell them but think big c on here sells them.i bought mine off ebay for £2.50 inc p&p.it comes in a bag or tub of ready brek or porridge & you just put it on the top of more ready brek (in an old marg tub or similar).in a few days the worms will start crawling up the side of the tub & you simply wipe them off & feed to the fish.

i didnt have a microworm culture to start with so i used liquifry1 but it makes a real mess of the water so use it very carefuly.its never to late to start a microworm culture as the fry will thrive on them & they love them!!!

congratulations once again & keep us informed of how things go!!!

shaz

 

[Sp00ky]

hi sp00ky,congratulations on the eggs hatching!!!now the hard work begins,lol!since you cant have a filter going in the tank yet (just an air stone)cus it will be too powerful & suck the fry in you have to do daily water changes (i do 25-30%).you also have to keep the bottom of the tank spotlessly clean to avoid the fry gettinga bacterial infections.not sure how you should do this as i had a bare tank with nothing except an airstone in it (no gravel,plants etc.maybe someone who has used gravel will come along and give you more advice.

you have to buy a microworm culture.most lfs dont sell them but think big c on here sells them.i bought mine off ebay for £2.50 inc p&p.it comes in a bag or tub of ready brek or porridge & you just put it on the top of more ready brek (in an old marg tub or similar).in a few days the worms will start crawling up the side of the tub & you simply wipe them off & feed to the fish.

i didnt have a microworm culture to start with so i used liquifry1 but it makes a real mess of the water so use it very carefuly.its never to late to start a microworm culture as the fry will thrive on them & they love them!!!

congratulations once again & keep us informed of how things go!!!

shaz

ahhhhh nutz!! i got a bloody power filter in there !! its not an overly powerful one mind, its only an aqua pro mini..... i was watching them last night and they seemed to be able to avoid being sucked in

I heard something about being able to do your own microworm with a slice of bread and some soil in a box. Know anything about this?? dont get me wrong, i dont mind buying it, but im kinda thinking of breeding all my corys now LOL

 

[flumpit2]

iv heard of some people using bread to rear the microworms on (never heard of using soil tho).apparently ready breks the best tho.i think you still have to buy a starter culture tho but once youv got one culture going you can start another one off from it,then another etc so youl have a never ending supply of microworms for as long as you want.deffinatly worth the couple of quid it costs!!!

imo if i were you i would take the filter out and replace it with an airstone if possible as once the fry become free swimming (in a few days time when theyv used there yolk sacs up) and they start trying to swim to the top even the smallest filter will be too powerful for them and suck them in.even an airstone blasts them about if they get 2 close (the airstone needs to be only half way down the tank,not right to the bottom).if you havent got a spare airstone/pump im sure i read on this forum somewhere that you could cover the filter intake holes with some really fine mesh to stop the fry being sucked in but i personaly dont think its worth the risk of losing them!!!
shaz