Trying To Breed My Cories

[Akasha72]

UPDATE ON NEW EGGS

On closer inspection today I've found both to be covered in a layer of fur so they've gone down the plughole.

I'm going to boil my kettle in a bit and give the pot a really good clean out with some hot serile water and a clean sponge and then I'll have to wait for another set of eggs. She hid these two so I suspect she'll hide the next two aswell

 

[Akasha72]

Finally managed to get some pictures of all 5 of my bronze cories together. Can someone cast an experienced eye over the following pictures and see if they can work out if I have only got the one male or not. Still not getting any eggs from them

Thanks in advance

Hope those pictures are clear enough for someone with more experience to be able to tell

 

[This Old Spouse]

It's possible the one second from right is a male, but it's hard to tell from the photo. The other four definitely look like females to me.

 

[Harlequins]

They look mostly females to me also,i can't see the back one though, they are very stocky with rounded curved bellies which is usually the give away

 

[Akasha72]

thanks guys. I thought there was only one male. I'll have to go and look at the lfs this week and see if I can get another male. Is there any clues to look for when they are young for male/female difference? I find it so difficult to tell when they are adults never mind when they are young.

I'm also looking for another 2 peppered whilst I'm there

If I can, I'll see if they'll let me get a picture from above. Trouble is, they go hide when I lift the lid up so it's not going to be easy. I'll have a go though

 

[Harlequins]

Very difficult if they're youngsters,has you know males are smaller & slender, another give away is they tend to sit flat,i.e bellies are usually flat compared to the round females.

 

[Akasha72]

okay, thanks. I'll look for a slim bronze layed flat and hope it's a male

 

[Harlequins]

Good luck

 

[Akasha72]

I could do with a whole lot more luck hun. I've just finished lugging buckets of water. I could smell ammonia so did a test on both the fry tank and the main tank. Fry tank read as 2ppm and main tank read as 0.25ppm!!

I've changed 95% of the water in the fry tank and zero'd the ammonia. Problem was then that I was running out of stresscoat and only had enough to change 40 litres (5ml of stresscoat)

I've done nearly 40 litres and I've still got a slight ammonia reading but I'm counting on the fact that my bogwood is keeping my ph low (barely even a reading it's probably about 6.4 - test is pale yellow) so any ammonia in there is ammonium and not as dangerous. I'll be up early and be on P@H's doorstep for opening time to get another bottle of stresscoat (it could take 3 days for a delivery of Prime to get to me) and back home emptying the tank before I've even eaten breakfast!!

To be honest, I was expecting a mini cycle after the substrate change and I've been keeping a close eye on the tank just waiting for it to come creeping. I rinsed my sponges (in tank water - don't panic) at the weekend aswell so that can't of helped. I've also added a dose of Safe Water by King British to bind any ammonia


WAAAHHH I could've done without this

 

[FishFanatic04]

ew, sorry to hear it. Hopefully your bacteria will multiply fast.

 

[Akasha72]

forgot to say - the buying of any new cories is now on hold until I've got rid of the mini cycle. Adding anything new will only upset the filter even more

ew, sorry to hear it. Hopefully your bacteria will multiply fast.

I really hope so. I don't want to have to deal with an uncycled tank again. Been there done it and I never want to do it again.

The crazy thing is, I can still smell ammonia ... think it's just got up my nose now and I'm being paranoid

 

[Akasha72]

well, I've done another ammonia test in the daylight this morning and it's not looking so bad now - it's probably between 0 and 0.25. PH is only 6. The fish are all happy, swimming about normally. There's no sign of any gasping or behaving abnormally (there wasn't last night either). They've all had a light breakfast (just cos I don't want to make things worse by feeding too much) My oto's are both still alive and I think they'd be dead this morning if it really was so bad.

So ... the plan is to leave alone for now seen as they are happy. I'm about to take a drive out to York to Maidenhead Aquatics and see if I can get some of those aqua pure balls I saw there and then do a water change and add the balls when I get back in a couple of hours time.

Mini cycle - I will get you under control

 

[Akasha72]

would you all like to meet our new friend? I don't want to count my cories and call him a he just yet but I'm praying 'he' is

I wanted to get 2 more peppered but with my tank coming around from a mini cycle I didn't want to push my luck

 

[Staxx]

ahh int he middle of changing my substrate to sand. im dreading the "mini cycle" hopefully it doesnt happen! ive just come out of one!!

hope i skip the cycle as ive got 4 new fish today for a early birthday present from my mum

 

[Akasha72]

be prepared for the mini cycle, if your prepared and it comes it's half the battle. I was prepared for a bacterial bloom and a mini cycle - thankfully I avoided the bacterial bloom.

I'm testing out Evolution Aqua Pure balls at the moment (documented in tropical discussion) and they are helping