Hi everyone. Well, the miracle of life... My albino cory female has been laying eggs and I've been trying to hatch them for months. I've tried all manner of nets, sectioned off plastic containers, etc. To no avail. They either get fungus'd and die or get eaten by other fish.
Well today on my water exchange day, I plugged in my Emperor 400 and it just wasn't sounding right. So, upset, I began taking it apart near the kitchen sink, mad that I had to waste the time to do it instead of moving on with my day.
I wanted to see if anything was stuck in the impeller shaft so my wife brought a flashlight over. "There's a fish!" she exclaimed. I figured a dead one, maybe a small raspbora got stuck in the filter. No! It was a breathing albino cory. Tiny. Maybe an inch in length. Somehow his egg must've gotten into the filter and then he hatched, with plenty of sediment and left over food to nibble on and safety from other fish, a good temperature, etc.
We worked it out how to rescue him.So now he sits in this container you see, with a little extra crushed fish flakes, and he's floating in the tank to keep the temperature up and him safe.
So the question is. Where do I go from here??? He's pretty decent size, I guess, and I don't have any real predators in my tank that'd go after a FISH like this, eggs for sure, but not a fish. Also, maybe best for Byron, how old do you think this guy is? Our last eggs were approx. 3 weeks ago, and before that, about another 3-4 weeks. He's got a lot of spirit and is already "wall surfing" in the plastic container. I suspect he had absolutely NO room to move in the Emperor filter box, with the filter cartridge and the plastic cartridge both in there!
Unbelievable. If the filter hadn't been acting funky (unrelated to the fish Im sure) I never would've discovered this little guy. I appreciate any and all help, fish experts. What do I do?!
Well today on my water exchange day, I plugged in my Emperor 400 and it just wasn't sounding right. So, upset, I began taking it apart near the kitchen sink, mad that I had to waste the time to do it instead of moving on with my day.
I wanted to see if anything was stuck in the impeller shaft so my wife brought a flashlight over. "There's a fish!" she exclaimed. I figured a dead one, maybe a small raspbora got stuck in the filter. No! It was a breathing albino cory. Tiny. Maybe an inch in length. Somehow his egg must've gotten into the filter and then he hatched, with plenty of sediment and left over food to nibble on and safety from other fish, a good temperature, etc.
We worked it out how to rescue him.So now he sits in this container you see, with a little extra crushed fish flakes, and he's floating in the tank to keep the temperature up and him safe.
So the question is. Where do I go from here??? He's pretty decent size, I guess, and I don't have any real predators in my tank that'd go after a FISH like this, eggs for sure, but not a fish. Also, maybe best for Byron, how old do you think this guy is? Our last eggs were approx. 3 weeks ago, and before that, about another 3-4 weeks. He's got a lot of spirit and is already "wall surfing" in the plastic container. I suspect he had absolutely NO room to move in the Emperor filter box, with the filter cartridge and the plastic cartridge both in there!
Unbelievable. If the filter hadn't been acting funky (unrelated to the fish Im sure) I never would've discovered this little guy. I appreciate any and all help, fish experts. What do I do?!
