Good Idea To Use Antifungal In Tank For Cory Eggs?

[Cory_Dad]

This is the day after I moved my harvested Cory eggs to my 10 gal tank and have lost over 10% of them already; they turn white and look like they are getting fungus (but I'm not certain that it's fungus). Should I be using an anti-fungal like Pimafix in the tank or try to remove the white ones or should I just let nature take it's course?

I have 2 air stones in the tank which is full of water along with a tiny filter and 2 bunches of Cabomba.

Thanks.

 

[Cory_Dad]

Well. it's Monday morning and all of the eggs that didn't die have hatched. These critters are darn small! I've only been able to see about 3 of them at a single time but I have some large gravel and weeds in the tank.

None of the eggs I scraped off the glass survived; they all turned white (all 7). On the sword plant leaves I snipped off and moved to the nursery tank, 3 eggs on one and 2 on the other turned white, the rest hatched, ~ 10.

Now I need to go out and buy a brine shrimp hatchery.... the people at Pet Smart must love me by now.

Cheers.

 

[drewry]

hi Cory_Dad

congrats on your wriglers u never mentioned what type they are
it is best not to have any subtrate in the tank as it makes cleaning easy as you mentioned that they are
tiny
and hard to spot in a tank with graval and id also loose the plants as bactiria will lurk on it and the wriglers are prone to bactiria disease.
bbs and micro worms are the best food for them but i feed first bites and liquafry no1.
thers no need to feed for the first 24 hours as they will feed off the egg york sack for that time.
keep the tank clean and do water changes every day takeing out uneated foods and you.ll have a better survival rate
good luck

dave

 

[geo7x]

First of all- Congratulations!!!

From what you said it sounds like some of the eggs were infertile- not fungused. Eggs turns white if they haven't been fertilised.

But for the record yes you can used anti-fungus meds (Methylene blue seems to be a favourite for eggs, but other such as Pimafix work fine I'm sure) on eggs to avoid fungus.

 

[Cory_Dad]

congrats on your wriglers u never mentioned what type they are
it is best not to have any subtrate in the tank as it makes cleaning easy as you mentioned that they are
tiny
and hard to spot in a tank with graval and id also loose the plants as bactiria will lurk on it and the wriglers are prone to bactiria disease.
bbs and micro worms are the best food for them but i feed first bites and liquafry no1.
thers no need to feed for the first 24 hours as they will feed off the egg york sack for that time.
keep the tank clean and do water changes every day takeing out uneated foods and you.ll have a better survival rate

- Thank you for the words of support. I didn't say what they were because I don't know what they are ... I bought them from a local Pet Smart here in the Toronto area and they were misidentified. I've posted pictures of them in the thread asking what kind of Corys ppl have (see page 8 of the thread).
- I added the gravel because a) I recall reading somewhere it was a good idea, B) the gravel is only a handful of 1/2 inch gravel from my large tank in an attempt to introduce bio material c) I thought the plants would add oxygen to the water and d) I don't know what I'm doing
- I did buy first bites but thought growing brine shrimp would be good too. The Pet Smart carried both but I haven't seen any liquifry.
- Should I start doing a 20% water change starting right now or wait till I start feeding?
- Should I lower the water level as well? To what depth?
- Is 80% too warm?
- How the heck do I feed them the first bites and baby brine shrimp? The baby spoons I used with my children seem a little too big.

I'm getting concerned a bit about the fry, I don't see many wriggling around. I'm praying that they're all hiding under the stones.

 

[jollysue]

Actually I hatch and raise mine in a net with algae and Java moss. The fry eat the microbs in the green water and graze on the algae and moss. I like the nets because they get more water circulation. But some prefer a barbottom tamk and some a tank with sand. I think I would use sand rather than gravel which would be harder to keep the leftover food cleaned out.

The main thing is to keep left over food piped up. The fry can fungus from the leftover food. Eggs can be damaged when scraping them off, so that may be why those fungused. Eggs that are not viable, whether from not being fertlized or from damage will fungus. You may use meth blue or or any antifungal. Sometimes I add Maroxy.

 

[Cory_Dad]

Actually I hatch and raise mine in a net with algae and Java moss. The fry eat the microbs in the green water and graze on the algae and moss. I like the nets because they get more water circulation. But some prefer a barbottom tamk and some a tank with sand. I think I would use sand rather than gravel which would be harder to keep the leftover food cleaned out.

The main thing is to keep left over food piped up. The fry can fungus from the leftover food. Eggs can be damaged when scraping them off, so that may be why those fungused. Eggs that are not viable, whether from not being fertlized or from damage will fungus. You may use meth blue or or any antifungal. Sometimes I add Maroxy.

The net you use must be quite fine but I find the concept intriguing. Do you just let it float around in the tank or is it secured? A picture would be helpful.

What would be the best way to clean up the leftover food? The fry are quite tiny and I daren't use my Python to suck up the 'crap'. I was thinking maybe using some air line and siphoning it out but I don't know how feasible that is.

I saw 2 fry this afternoon and their side fins (lateral fins?) were wiggling but they themselves were stationary on the glass bottom. They seem to still have their yolk sacks so I guess I need to hold off on the First Bites and baby brine shrimp (I've got a nice batch of baby brine shrimp ready to go).

Do you think I should lower the water level when I feed them just so there's a better chance of them bumping into the shrimp?

Thanks all, your feedback is great.

 

[jollysue]

Often I understand that those raising wigglers and fry in a barebottom tank use a pipette or straw to take out leftover food, etc. Pipette it out and drop into a container in case you suck up a fry.

Breeding nets are sold in most lfs and lps. It is a fine net fit over a plastic frame and it will either be hooked over the side of the tank or suction cupped to the side. I have not suction cupped but like the idea. The ones that hook over the lip of the tank are more trouble to do water changes with. People develop a style that works for them. Whichever you use, you will make mistakes and learn to avoid them.

 

[lljdma06]

For my livebearer, cichlid, and barb fry, I will use an antifungal for the egs or the fry. I use Maroxy as well. Sometimes, I'll use it at half strength, though, depending on the circumstances.

Congratulations on your wrigglers. Wish my cories would get cracking. My peppers had to adjust to the 20g, but now I see breeding behavior again, which is encouraging.

llj

 

[Cory_Dad]

Often I understand that those raising wigglers and fry in a barebottom tank use a pipette or straw to take out leftover food, etc. Pipette it out and drop into a container in case you suck up a fry.

Breeding nets are sold in most lfs and lps. It is a fine net fit over a plastic frame and it will either be hooked over the side of the tank or suction cupped to the side. I have not suction cupped but like the idea. The ones that hook over the lip of the tank are more trouble to do water changes with. People develop a style that works for them. Whichever you use, you will make mistakes and learn to avoid them.

Boy oh boy... truer words were never spoken. I tried to clean the tank last night via siphon using an air hose. Thank goodness I siphoned into a white plastic container; I found 3 fry in the container after I was done! Drewry was right, clear glass bottom, not gravel, no plants.

I was at the local aquarium supplier (Big Al's) and they convinced me to buy a net enclosure that hangs on the side. On the way home I was thinking about how to get the fry in, them being so tiny. I suspect that the net will come in handy once the fry are a couple of weeks old but not right now.

I suspect this whole exercise is just a learning experience and that all my posts are nothing more than a documentary of what NOT to do even though some very experienced people have already told me what not to do. I remind myself of my kids....

 

[Cory_Dad]

For my livebearer, cichlid, and barb fry, I will use an antifungal for the egs or the fry. I use Maroxy as well. Sometimes, I'll use it at half strength, though, depending on the circumstances.

Congratulations on your wrigglers. Wish my cories would get cracking. My peppers had to adjust to the 20g, but now I see breeding behavior again, which is encouraging.

llj

Thanks for the info. I currently am using an anti-fungal in my community tank due to a guppy that had pop-eye and a fungal infection (darn thing died anyway but I need to keep up the treatment for 7 days). I hope my Cory lays eggs again this weekend so I can see if my eggs hatched success rate has improved.

<sigh> life was so much simpler before the Cory laid eggs....

 

[jollysue]

Because of my time constraints and long hours, I harvest eggs, pop them into a breeding net where moss and algae are at home. There is good water circulation and microbotic foods for the eggs that hatch. I use pretty much a "survivor of the fittest" model--other than harvesting the eggs. I drop in some fry powders--I use Atison's Betta Starter, Hikari Fry powder, and GelTec. Because the net gets some circulation I don't have to worry about cleaning and pipetting. While this is not a favored method on this board, it is used by other accomplished Coryphobs. I would have very little success with my 12 hour graveyard work with an attention intensive method. I only raise small groups of fry now, but I don't have lots of time to find homes and buyers either. I do have a local lps to buy them, but I am not very consistent about getting them to market. Some of mine are worthy of AquaBid, but that also is a major involvement of effort.

So I putter at my own pace and am happy with my successes.

I have a net of fry in various stages now. It remains to be seen what they will be. I have put eggs in from the pandas and the C. longipinnus and some eggs form a tank that my be C. Black sp. Schultzei/sp. aeneus eggs. I have some also from the LF C. aeneus. I have C. pandas, lf C. aeneus, and sterbai that need to go to market when I get to it.

 

[Tolak]

I breed corys on the side, mostly to have a supply of small ones to keep angel tanks clean. I pull the eggs, put them in a 2.5 gallon with 7 drops per gallon meth blue, 3 drops per gallon maroxy, and 1 drop per gallon acriflavin.

I use this same mix on angel spawns, and follow the same water change procedure, 50% daily starting on the 4th day. I breed plain green aeneus corys, I have a strain that does well in the warmer angel tanks.

 

[Inchworm]

If the eggs are fertile and sound, the most important factor to keep them from developing fungus is to keep good water circulation around them. There will always be a few eggs that develop fungus, but I would rather not have the fry hatch into water that's full of chemicals. IMHO, the most natural way of doing things is usually the best.

 

[Tolak]

I do agree with the natural way, and this should be your starting point. Many times, because of local water supply parameters, tank & fish conditions, as well as unknown variables, plain tap water without any antifungals and/or antibacterials results in a poor hatching rate. Most people start with a little meth blue, then work their way up with various additives if needed.

Other additives I've heard of are hydrogen peroxide, and copper. This area is something that must be worked out by trial & error with your individual setup. Many times what works for someone else, even the guy down the street, will not work for you, and vice versa.

Inchy is right though, by starting with a blank slate. Only change one thing at a time, so you can back track, and don't feel bad about loosing eggs or spawns. I have wiped out numerous spawns to get to the mix that works for me.