Girl Cory + Boy Cory = ooops!

["the"Trinity]

After having our four Cory catfish for less than a week in our new 10-gallon tank, we came home this evening to find THIS!:

http://www.stormskies.com/coryeggs1small.jpg

http://www.stormskies.com/coryeggs2small.jpg

http://www.stormskies.com/coryeggs3small.jpg

Mmmmkay. Just a few questions:

1. Is this some sort of record for having fish spawn/lay eggs with you after keeping them for less than 7 days? :c5:

2. Anybody had this happen to them without creating any special conditions (like us)?

3. Where do we go from here?

Well - not so much where do we go form here - we made the decision to just let the eggs take their chances tonight and contemplate things in the morning. We're tired after a week of work, we had to go out to get some dinner, and it's just too late now to set up any special sort of breeding tank or net or anything.

Lastly - what do folk here do with their bred fish if you breed them? Do common LFSs (our is PetSmart) tend to look kindly upon someone asking them if they want to buy baby fishies? We'd like to have some fry and watch them grow - but we are most definitely not in a position to set up loads of extra tanks for breeding/keeping babies. We do have a 1-gallon unused tank that we bought to raise our (now deceased) Triops in. Hmmmmmm.............

But hey - certainly a nice surprise after a tough Friday at work!!!

TT

[Incredulous_Ed]

congrats! the cories laying eggs means you keep very good water quality conditions.

If you want to raise the eggs, fill the 1 gallon half full with water from the main taink and half with fresh water. Then carefully scrape the eggs off the glass with a razor blade and make sure they are never out of water when you move them to the 1 gallon. Then add an air stone and wait for them to hatch. Feed microworms at first, then baby brine shrimp.

[gm72]

These eggs are also very prone to fungal infection. Strongly recommended that you add something like methylene blue to stave off potential fungus. Just remember that corys WILL eat the eggs and/or fry.

["the"Trinity]

Thanks guys!!! thumbs2:

Thanks SO much for the advice - we have researched the options online too and if we decide to try and raise them we'll follow those directions with the 1-gall. tank we have.

Oh - btw - here are some of the culprits!

http://www.stormskies.com/3coriessmall.jpg
:l7:

TT

[SkarloeysMom]

WOW! Congrats on the cory eggs! Hope you get some fry out of the deal. Best of luck with your new project.

[squirt_12]

congrats on the eggs :thumb:

good luck with hatching them....keep us posted.

["the"Trinity]

Thanks guys! :c8:

We bought a breeding net that hooks over the sides of the aquarium from PetSmart today - but upon getting it home and assembling it, it was clear that it would take away 1/3rd of our total room in our 10-gallon tank. Not so good. So - we've decided to just keep an eye on things and let them take their chances. We also bought some "First Bites" fry food by Hikari from PetSmart - just in case we have som baby Corys zooming around this time next week!

By the way - in the photo above of the culprits - the mom is the one on the far left and the dad is the one on the far right. The dad also seems perpetually ready to spawn - he is still harassing the females THIS evening!!

TT

[Incredulous_Ed]

just a note, sometimes baby corys may be too small too eat commercial fry foods.

["the"Trinity]

Hmmmmm . . . what would be a good food for cory fry? The stuff we bought says that for bottom feeder fry, it should be allowed to soak in a cup of tank water for a while so it will sink to the bottom immediately upon being added to the tank.

Thanks everyone for the congrats . . . we'll see what happens. :c5:

[squirt_12]

you could just take some flakes and soak them in water and then they might nibble on that.

how long have the eggs been there for??

["the"Trinity]

you could just take some flakes and soak them in water and then they might nibble on that.

how long have the eggs been there for??

Thanks for the advice . . . I think that's basically what this fry food is, just some powdered type of flake food.

The eggs were laid yesterday afternoon.

[squirt_12]

so they should hatch soon then...how long is it 2-6 days??

["the"Trinity]

so they should hatch soon then...how long is it 2-6 days??

Yep! If they're viable eggs, they should hatch within the next couple of days or so. Everything we've read online says they'll hatch between 3 - 5 days on average. We shall see! :c8:

[squirt_12]

Yep! If they're viable eggs, they should hatch within the next couple of days or so. Everything we've read online says they'll hatch between 3 - 5 days on average. We shall see! :c8:
yeah i knew it was around 2-6 but i wasn't sure.

good luck :thumb:

["the"Trinity]

Well - halfway through doing housework this afternoon we noticed that the same female and male were slap bang in the middle of spawning again. She didn't lay very many and to be honest I think that randy male has just harassed her so much that she "gave in", so to speak......but we're starting to hope that we're coming to the end of this little escapade.

Anybody have any advice on cleaning after this is all said and done? The eggs and/or their coat of slime leave imprints/shells on the glass and I'm not sure the best way to remove this after we're done.

TT

[squirt_12]

algae scrapper should be fine.

["the"Trinity]

Last night I counted three eggs which were live - they were filled with brown matter which more than likely is a baby Cory! The rest (all 98 of them or so) are all either clear or milky and not alive.

I am going home at lunch today and will check on them then. I wouldn't be surprised if they've hatched!

I never would have dreamed that identifying viable eggs as opposed to dead ones would be so easy - but man I tell you when you see that coloration inside of the living ones it's VERY obvious!

I have a few shots of the timeline of the development of the eggs. If I have a chance I will post them here sometime soon!

TT

[Tolley]

GRATS!!! maybe its jus as well you dont have 100 fry lol


Good Luck!!!

[ruecole]

Congrats on the eggs!

I've had this happen twice now: I buy new fish and they lay eggs within a week or so of putting them in the tank... :rolleyes:

I also did exactly the same thing: I rushed out and bought a breeder net for the fry. The trouble I had was my ingenious little gouramis discovered they could suck the babies right through the mesh!

Anyway, I don't know what other fish you've got in your 10g, but once those eggs hatch, they'll become live food for every other fish in the tank. (the few gourami fry I didn't get out of the big tank didn't even last three days... :ssad:)

If you want to keep them, I'd set up the 1-2 gallon tank for them. Get some java moss or duckweed (or both!). The live plants will host microscopic foods for your babies to eat until they're big enough for flake food. They'll also produce oxygen and help keep the tank clean. Oh, and don't forget a heater. Babies like it warm (80F).

As for selling them to pet stores, you'll just have to ask around. We've got a local fish shop up the road that's agreed to take my gourami fry when they get big enough.

Hope that helps!

Rue

["the"Trinity]

Congrats on the eggs!

I've had this happen twice now: I buy new fish and they lay eggs within a week or so of putting them in the tank... :rolleyes:

Anyway, I don't know what other fish you've got in your 10g, but once those eggs hatch, they'll become live food for every other fish in the tank. (the few gourami fry I didn't get out of the big tank didn't even last three days... :ssad:)

If you want to keep them, I'd set up the 1-2 gallon tank for them. Get some java moss or duckweed (or both!). The live plants will host microscopic foods for your babies to eat until they're big enough for flake food. They'll also produce oxygen and help keep the tank clean. Oh, and don't forget a heater. Babies like it warm (80F).

Rue

Ah! Someone else who's had fish spawn almost immediately after getting them! This is very interesting. I have a theory. I think that the reason the fish are spawning is not necessarily because we have done everything spot-on right to encourage them to breed - but moreover I think it is the case that our tank at home is such a vast improvement to the flodlit, cramped conditions of PetSmart that they feel so much better and it is THAT contrast that makes them fell somewhat more, umm.....amorous, LOL.

Well - see my sig. for our current tank specs. We have four Corydoras and six Neon Tetras (soon to become ten when we make sure our ammonia levels are levelled after adding the Corys). I am sure that if we have three fry hatch, they'll find it tough with all those other fish around but we're REALLY not in a position to set-up that other tank and buy a heater for it and the whole bit. Maybe they can find some hiding spaces and grow to a good size before mom and dad decide they're a snack LOL!

IF they spawn again and IF we're interested in getting a lot more fry to survive, then we may consider setting up the small 10-gallon as a breeder tank.

Oh - BTW - I was home at lunch today and there is no change in the three live eggs. They're just looking very "pregnant", and are full of brownish/gold matter. No movement noted.

TT

[Incredulous_Ed]

hope they hatch!

[kurly]

How is everything going? Did the eggs hatch yet? I'm very interested to see how this turns out.