Corys Breeding!

[plecostomus-mad]

hi inchworm,

my substrate is gravel, about 1/2 an inch or so.im guessing this is not ideal for them? i turned my filter off when i saw the tails coming from the eggs, i thought to my self that they will almost definatly get sucked into it.

im not expecting the first batch to survive, im just being realistic for the moment. i wasn't ready for them as they came along totally unexpectedly. the second batch i now have im ready for, im off the the lfs for supplies and will do my best for them.

when you say rinse a filter in the tank, mine are always full of debris and poo.lol i have to rinse my filter every 2 weeks because it gets clogged very quickly.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi plecostomus-mad

Your fry are tiny and are most likely lost between the bits of gravel. Give them a week or so and you will begin to see movement. They are slow at first and spend most of their time resting and eating. Then they will appear to hop from one spot to another. Soon after that, since they will be growing all along, you will see them looking like tiny versions of regular corys and swimming naturally.

If you have any natural debris in the gravel, your fry might feed on that for the first week or so. If not, rinse your filter over them. It's OK! It's full of good stuff although it might not seem that way.

You don't have to hatch your eggs in a special tank. A clean deli container, with an airstone added, will do the job. Then, once they have hatched, you can add them to a tank you have set up. You can see them stuck to the sides of one in this picture. Be sure to use an airstone with just enough air to circulate the water over them.

 

[plecostomus-mad]

great info inchworm

the only other question i have is lighting. how much lighting do they need?

 

[Harlequins]

I don't think lighting is essential,my fry just has daylight,then at night when i feed them i put the table lamp on to see them

 

[Inchworm]

Hi plecostomus-mad

I agree. I keep my tiny fry tanks in the kitchen for ease of water changes. It's light but not bright.

 

[plecostomus-mad]

below is a pic of the container in my main tank with 4 fry and about 40 eggs that are attached to my thermometer sensor.

below is a pic of 1 fry, bit blurred im afraid.

 

[plecostomus-mad]

i have setup a permanent cory egg / fry tank using an aqua 40 tank. thought it would be better than the 2ft with gravel. once my fry are free swimming i will collect them and put them in the aqua 40 with the eggs.if you are wondering what the thermometer lobe is for, there are eggs all over it and i can keep my eye on the temp.lol

 

[Inchworm]

Hi plecostomus-mad

That looks nice to me. Unless it's quite cold, you probably won't need to us the heater.

 

[plecostomus-mad]

hi inchworm,

im in the uk so its a nit chilly at night and in the day really so heater needed.

 

[Harlequins]

Looks good did you find all the fry in the end?

 

[plecostomus-mad]

i found 4 fry that were hiding but free swimming loads more where scooting along the bottom but i just couldnt get them.....so instead of stressing them il let them be. i popped them in the new setup with the other eggs.

the corys are now laying more eggs as i speak both the bronze and peppered are laying, also i noticed that a male bronze cory was doing the '' spawning thing '' with a female peppered so im hoping i may have hybrids? by the time i found my phone thay had finnished. i keep it by the tank now so next time i will catch them on video doing inter species naughty-ness.

 

[Inchworm]

also i noticed that a male bronze cory was doing the '' spawning thing '' with a female peppered so im hoping i may have hybrids? by the time i found my phone thay had finnished. i keep it by the tank now so next time i will catch them on video doing inter species naughty-ness.

Oh, that would be a shame. You would do the right thing and destroy any questionable eggs, wouldn't you?

 

[Harlequins]

I agree with inchworm,it wouldn't be good for the individual species if they did cross

I'm not even sure if its possible... Frank would know...

 

[plecostomus-mad]

also i noticed that a male bronze cory was doing the '' spawning thing '' with a female peppered so im hoping i may have hybrids? by the time i found my phone thay had finnished. i keep it by the tank now so next time i will catch them on video doing inter species naughty-ness.

Oh, that would be a shame. You would do the right thing and destroy any questionable eggs, wouldn't you?

i cant see why i would? i mean they have maybe spawned with each other and they are pretty much the same fish except the color patterns. if the fry look deformed then yes, i will definatly Cull them and separate my corys from eachother....but i see no reason that they may have problems, unless there is somtheing i do not know about this scenario?

i understand what you are saying tho inchworm

EDIT: plus they naturally spawned with eachother so there cant be too many differences in them?

 

[mattlee]

if you are to keep them in your tank and not sell or give them to anyone then i cant see too big a problem with it. but if you sell/give some away then they breed with other corys then there could be lots of man made/hybrid species of corys swimming. these could be again sold and bred with other bronze or peppered and before you know it people dont know what they are getting even if it looks like a normal bronze it isnt as its only 50% bronze so this could effect the species if it was to continue i guess.
i know there are alot of hybrid cross bred fish but im sure people dont really want anymore especially corys as it seems alot of people like to try and breed these fish as some species spawn constantly like bronze/peppered and when eggs are produced it seems a shame not to try and raise some.
personally i would destroy any cross bred eggs. are you 100% sure they have cross bred as it can get hectic during the spawning sessions....