What Are My Male Corys Doing?

[DiddleBug]

So when my bronze spawn my males often go up vertically against the glass and "squirm" about, back and forth, almost like the same way my female does when she lays eggs. My female always eagerly lays eggs in those spots. They aren't cleaning the spot, I'm pretty sure. I've seen them cleaning and this isn't that. People have said that they are, but I think they're putting chemicals or sperm there. Any thoughts?

 

[snazy]

Definately not putting sperm there. The females draws the sperm from the male's abdominal area using her mouth, then fertilizes the eggs inside her and releases them afterwards between her botom fins, then she lays them.
So what yours are doing, is just a part of the spawning process.

 

[DiddleBug]

They are apparently doing something to the spot though.  The female can tell a difference from it and any other spot.  When she comes across it she'll almost freak out and start trying to lay her eggs there.  Do yours do that?

 

[snazy]

Not actually, not any pattern like that. The female simply goes around until she finds a suitable spot and if she's chased away by other fish, she too changes the lay spot. With my albinos, I've noticed the same female would go and lay the eggs on the same leaf over and over again as long as I collect the previous batch.
How big is your tank, because they just may have a favourite spot to do it and the males simply "sniffed" that place by a coincidence

 

[DiddleBug]

It's a 10 gallon.  The female had been (and usually does) lay her eggs on the upper glass.  Half way through spawning one day I saw one male wiggling on a fake plant where there were no eggs and seconds later when the female came around she laid her eggs right on that spot on the large plant instead of the cluster on the glass.  She just kept going around and around the spot and not anywhere else on the plant.  She had a tough time with it, but she persisted. I just don't think that was a coincidence.  This is not the only time they've done this.

 

[Shaddex]

Is this before or after the female has placed her eggs ?
If it is after, then I suggest that the males are eating the eggs.  My peppered do this all the time..

 

[DiddleBug]

There are never any eggs there when they do that.  (I'd know if they were snitching eggs anyway.)  Maybe your fish do this and you don't catch it.  They sort of quiver and shake as they swim back and forth over the spot too.  So your fish have never done that?  My bronze always do it, even before the female starts to lay eggs.  They usually do it in 2 or three spots throughout breeding, and sometimes 3 males will all do it one after another in the same spot.

 

[frapadoodle]

My bronze do it as well. Am no expert, but part could be cleaning the spot, as I see males and females do this before spawning begins. As to multiple males doing it in the same spot, and the females going ape on it, perhaps a pheremone deposit. Much the same way dogs mark an area after another dog marks it.

 

[DiddleBug]

That makes sense.