Trying To Breed My Cories

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hi again,

I've now brought the little spare tank home and measured it. It measures 14x8x8 inches which by the calculator on here makes it 15 litres.

It has no substrate yet and the lid is old and battered so I'll need to sort something out for a lid but will it be big enough to put the 4 bronzr cories in to see if they will breed?

And also, substrate? Leave it bare, put some sand in? I really don't know what's best to do. I also have a spare heater that I can put in and a bubble stone (no spare filter I'm afraid)

Any thoughts anyone ?
 
I think the more comfortable and "at home" the cory feel the more likely they are to breed. Why don't you move the guppies and platies into the tank you brought home and leave the cory be? Mine spawn quite often, and I don't really do anything special except keep the tank as clean as possible. I keep the temp around 74ºF and do water changes with water just a couple of degrees cooler. But there's lots of plants and hiding places so they can lay eggs wherever they're comfortable doing it. I'm raising fry and trying to get eggs to hatch now (all in a 15g tank with shrimp) but I'm not pushing it. I let them go at their own pace. My vote is to just relax and let things happen.
 
thanks old spouse, maybe you are right. Perhaps I need to be a little more patient :)

This little tank is a good hospital tank if nothing else and if eggs come along they could go in there to hatch
 
The best success I've had is when they lay eggs on plant leaves. If I remove the whole plant or the leaf and put that in my net under the filter flow, I get almost 100% fry. It works best with an anubia I have on a piece of driftwood. If they lay the eggs there I just put the whole works in the fry/shrimp tank under the flow.
 
My Dad has just told me he wanted this little tank for a hospital tank so I might have to return it :unsure:


My main tank has mostly amazon swords as over here they are easy to get and do well with my soft water. I've not come across any anubia but I'll keep an eye open for some.

They've had frozen blood worm again tonight and the younger pair of bronze's are chasing round at the moment. I've had to turn the lights out though as all my other fish went into hiding which they always seem to do when I give them frozen food ... it's odd because I defrost it first. They all seem to become light sensitive :unsure:

Anyway ... we shall have to see if I can find some eggs in the morning :lol:
 
Firstly, whenever possible one should spawn fish in a species tank. Most other fish see the eggs or fry as food and will eat them as fast as they can find them. Even the breeders themselves will eat the eggs.

Secondly, you can remove cory eggs not long after they are pasted to things and then hatch and raise them in a separate space/tank. This requires using Methyl Blue or other fungicide which should be removed from the water once to spot wigglers. You would need a heater, sponge filter or airstone and air pump as well as a heater. A java moss rock or a other plants can be added once the fry are almost free swimming as a source of infucoria. Freshly hatched or frozen bbs or frozen cyclop-eeze are great starter foods. But any good quality fry food should work.

Third, the temperature of the water is really a secondary concern in triggering. Understanding the process involves understanding what goes on in the wild and why one is trying to replicate this in a tank. Corys are seasonal spawners. There is a dry and a rainy season. The key differences are the conductivity and TDS of the water and the availability of food. Flow rates and temperature changes are the secondary cues.

In the dry season the pH is higher, the temperature is higher, the flow is slower, water levels are lower and food is more scarce. The onset of the rainy season is heralded by a big barometric pressure drop- and this is a big trigger as it alerts the fish to the impending change in seasons. This is like the loudspeaker on the platform announcing the train is about to arrive. And then the rains come and things change. There is an inrush of cleaner water much lower in conductivity/TDS, lower in pH and lower in temperature. And with this comes lots of good food. It is the change in seasons that acts as the trigger.

So how does one trigger the fish. Timing a big water change to the arrival of a storm helps a ton, much more so than just cooler water. Good high protein food made plentiful is also important. To simulate the dry season one can minimize water changes and allow the conductivity/TDS levels to rise. You are basically letting your water get dirtier but not letting nitrates become and issue. you can also achive this chemically with a mix of Calcium carbonate (or crushed coral). epsom salts and a small amount of baking soda. Both methods make your tap water the rainy season and your raised levels the dry. The reverse is to use some amount of RO water to create the rainy season and let your tap and fewer water changes or the additives be the dry.

It is normally not necessary to get into the temperature stuff and the flow rates unless the fish prove to be stubborn and then you may not only have to resort to that but a few other tricks as well. One is to take water from a tank in which other corys have just spawned and put it into a tank you are trying to trigger the fish in.

These methods are used for almost any of the seasonal spawners. I use it on my plecos and used to on corys.

But here is the best part. usually the trick is to get the first spawn. Most seasonal spawners will continue to spawn once they have gone the first time and it is why many folks report "they just went by them selves without my doing anything." They will take extended breaks but will also usually restart with little effort needed after most hiatuses.

Hope this all helps some.
 
thank TTA - one quick question. You mention adding epsom salts? Surely that would kill them? Cories and salt don't mix - or so I've been led to believe reading things on this forum ...
 
Epsom salt is not salt as you are thinking, that is sodium chloride. Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate.

When you measure the GH (general hardness) of your water, you are basiclly measuring magnesium and calcium ions. When you measure the KH (alkalinity/buffering capacity) you are basically measuring carbonates and bicarbonates.

Both GH and KH contribute to conductivity and/or TDS levels.

So I am using calcium and carbonate from crushed coral (calcium carbonate), bicarbonate from the baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and magnesium from the Epsom to raise my TDS.
 
I shot this bit of video last night. It's not uploaded to photo bucket very well so please excuse the quality I also don't know if it will work as I've never tried to put a link for a video on here before


 
that seems to be as far as they go though. They chase around and do the mouth to mouth thing and then stop. I wish I knew why. Maybe something isn't right for them? I wish I knew

I've turned my heater up a tiny bit today to see if that changes anything
 
I've just seen one of the bronzes drop something onto the substrate ... it was small, almost round and looked a little like poo. then it went up to it and ate it. Could it have been an egg?
 
Cories don't necessary drop eggs, eggs are very sticky when first laid,hence why they put them on the glass,plants,ornaments - anything they will stick to basically :rolleyes: :lol:

Give them time :good: ,dont mess with the temperature too much,if its too high it will stress the corys out.

Keep feeding them a good diet and plenty of bloodworm to condition them :good:
 
thanks Harlequins. I only turned it up 1 degree. It's settled at 24 now.

The tank had a fairly large water change yesterday morning and they were fed tubiflex last night. The cories were really active so I think I'm going to rotate with blood worm and tubiflex and see what happens
 
they've been fed bloodworms again tonight and I've just watched the two older bronzes franticly swimming up and down in the back left side corner then one of them had a load of bubbles come out of the anal area which floated straight to the surface of the water. I lifted the lid and there was a circle of these bubbles flowing around in the filter current ... does that give any clues as to what's going on.


They're back in the corner again now going mad
 
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