Who's The Daddy?

[Arfie]

This weekend I set up my new 4 foot tank and I added a bronze cory that I was given by a friend who has given up keeping fish, with it I added 2 albino cory's and a peppered cory that I already had.

Today, the bronze has laid LOADS of eggs, who's the most likely daddy? I'm guessing one of the albino's as I believe that they are bronze corys. I've had the bronze and peppered for 18 months and nothing, throw them all in a new tank and in under a week, they've spawned

Now I'm off to juggle my tanks around so they have a chance of surviving. The main tank has a 1000lph external, which is new and not mature yet and 2 internal fluval 2+ which are mature, so I don't fancy the chances of the fry making it with that level of filtration ready to suck them up.

The tank I will put them in will be mature, it's a Juwel Rekord 60 (60 litre) that has been running 18 months. It has mature media in the Juwel filter and a UGF and it's planted. There is very little chance that the Juwel filter will suck them in, but I suppose I could cover the inlet with some stocking if it's likely to be a problem

This is the first time I've had any spawning, so I'm really exited

I know they'd prefer sand, but as the UGF is mature and the tank is running now, i'd rather shove them in it as it is, and I need to get them out now as the cory's are already munching on the eggs

Any other advice?

Arfie

 

[Barracuda518]

Be extremely careful with that filter. Cory fry are very small when they hatch and that filter might get them. If you move the eggs, make sure they arent exposed to the air. Also you need to keep a constant water flow over the eggs so they dont develop any fungus. I used an airstone to keep good water flow over them. All the eggs I moved hatched and the fry are doing well so far.

Good Luck B)

 

[kris-b-]

Good Luck mate! Hope everything goes well with them!

 

[Arfie]

Well I've just finished moving them

They have an airstone under them, well some of them do as I couldn't get them all to stick on the glass in the same area

Loads fell to the gravel too, I take it they are dead then?

At least if they do hatch and go into the Juwel filter inlet, they'll just get stuck in the pool of water above the filter floss, and I've been checking that everyday as I had a couple of jumping danios who liked to get into the filter.

Well they have a tank to themselves, so I can't do much more at the moment.

Any idea how long before they are likely to hatch, if at all?

The other thing I've just noticed is that my larger albino appears to have grown slightly larger in the last few days

Arfie

 

[Barracuda518]

They take 3-4 days to hatch. They are really small when they hatch, so keep an eye out for them.

 

[Arfie]

OK thanks Barracuda, I have another question or 3 though:

When moving the eggs I only managed to get about half of them to stick to the glass, overnight about half the ones that did stick have fallen off Its the ones closest to the airstone that have come unstuck

1st - do they have any chance of hatching if left on the substrate?
2nd - Should I try to stick them back on the glass?
3rd - Are ramshorn snails (ickle bitty ones) likely to eat the eggs?

Cheers
Arfie

 

[Barracuda518]

Im not really sure about sticking them to the glass again. My cories laid eggs on the thermometer, so I didnt have to stick many to the glass. I had some on the filter intake and moved them into the fry tank. They were all stuck together, so I just left them on the bottom close to the airstone and they were fine. Mine might have been in the 55 gallon a little while before I found them because they hatched 2 days after I moved them. The cories did a good job in placing them because the thermometer is in the flow of the filter and the filter intake is close to a big airstone.

You might want to ask Inchworm, she has raised many cories and she has helped me out a lot.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Arfie

It's good to see here you posting about your corys!

Corys lay adhesive eggs that are very soft at first, but firm up and darken during the three to four days it takes them to hatch. After about 8 hours, they are safe to move but still very sticky. From that time on, the stickiness decreases and they become harder to attach to another surface. But, if they are getting plenty of water flow over them, it's not necessary that they be attached. Rapidly moving water will prevent them from developing fungus if they were fertile and not otherwise damaged by the move, so don't try to put them on the glass once they have fallen.

This is the situation you are looking at now. You have a female bronze cory and at least one male albino. He was probably the father, not the peppered, because that is a different species, but the bronze and albinos are both C. aeneus.

The set up you have them in is going to make it very difficult to raise them, but once they have started, it's not unusual to see more eggs anytime from a few days to a few weeks later, if you are feeding them well and the other conditions are right. What I am saying is that if you were to set up a 10 gallon tank to breed and raise them, you would probably be more successful.

All you would need to get started is a 10 gallon tank, an air pump that you hook up to run airstones and later a sponge filter, then a box filter, and your fish. What I do is set up the small tank with a box filter full of media from another tank and add a little gravel or sand and add the fish that will spawn. I condition them right there, and when they are ready, they spawn. Sometimes a cool water water change will trigger it if they appear ready and do not start on their own.

After that, and before they hatch, I return the parents to the main tank, or to another breeding tank. Then I clean out the gravel and change the filter to one or more airstones, which I position under the eggs. This way I am starting them out in a bare bottom tank. It's easier to keep clean and has the advantage of letting you see the fry.

A fry tank need not be cycled at first since it's necessary to do daily water changes to remove uneaten food.

Now, with your present situation, you will have a hard time seeing them when they hatch. If you wait for about 4 days from the time they were laid, then stare at the tank, you might see some movement catch your eye. Zero in on where you saw it and if you're lucky it might move again and you will see a fry. If not, don't give up hope because they are relatively inactive for the first couple of days while they are absorbing their yolk sacs. With the plants, you might not see much of them at all for a few weeks, so in the meantime, why not set up another tank and raise a batch you can really enjoy raising?

About those snails: expect a snail explosion since you will want to feed the fry well and they will eat the uneaten food and reproduce like crazy in a planted tank.

Do you have microworms or other food for egg laying fish?

 

[Arfie]

Hi Inch, long time no speak

Thanks for your extensive reply, very informative.

Firstly I should point out that I had no intention of breeding any fish, ever, they just did , no conditioning at all. I thought for conditioning, you were supposed to drop the temp? the irony is that they've been in the new tank for 5 days which is 2C higher temp

As for the setup that you say I will be struggling with, I'm unsure what you mean the parents are in a 38 (UK) gallon tank with massive overfiltration. The eggs have been moved to a 10 (UK) gallon tank, it wasn't a case of having a choice, I just had to kick the other inhabitants out into the 38, so I had a tank to put the eggs in. I suppose I could have removed the existing gravel and plants, but I have other plans for both, so I've left them in.

I don't have the room at the moment for another tank, so a breeding tank is totaly out of the question, they'll have to make do where they are, can you get cory contraception

Tell me about the snails the loaches have only been gone a day and they are parading all over the tank already

I don't have any fry food at the moment and its a struggle getting any as I've smashed the car up , I have read that they can do ok on crushed pre-soaked flake food, which they may have to for now, unless anyone has a better idea. That said, I'm sure Big-C could get me a culture of microworms her by say Tuesday, he's been quick with my previous orders

One other thing, what babies am I likely to have, I'd guess they are most likely to be proper bronze corys rather than albino's

Arfie

 

[Arfie]

Update:

The airstone sems not to have worked got up this morning and they are covered in fungus

Does this mean they have no chance of hatching at all?

There is some good news though, they've laid more eggs I suspect that an albino laid these though

Next plan: Move the new eggs over into this tank and I have an unused fluval 2+ internal with no media in it, I'm gonna cover it with some stockings and throw that into the tank to give plenty of flow.

Arfie

 

[kris-b-]

Awwww sorry to hear about the eggs bing covered in fungus Hopefully the newly laid eggs will develop for you!

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Arfie

Fungus means they are dead. This might have been caused by either damage to them while you were moving them, insufficient water circulation over them, or it's possible that they werent fertile. Or it could be (and probably is) some combination of these factors. Just remove and discard them.

In addition, a drop of methelene blue per gallon of water sometimes helps keep fungus away, provided they are in good condition to start with. It will not, however, replace strong water circulation.

I hope you have better luck with this batch.

 

[Arfie]

Bugger!! I feared that.

Well next lot moved in, along with a filter to give flow, then she laid a few more so I've decided to leave those few where they are.

Cheers
Arfie