I have found an important secret to breeding corys

[GaryE29]

I've never been a good breeder of the corydoras group, and since I retired, I've decided to fix that. In the past, I bred pygmy corys (Gastrodermus hastatus) and the big Scleromystax barbatus, but that was it.
So I reread the rules. Good food, clean water, light stocking, big cooler water changes simulating a storm, and egg collecting because they eat them. That let me add Hoplisoma panda to the lineup of fish raised from eggs, but that was a fluke.
I got groups of the fish I wanted and that I thought local club members would have an interest in. My all time favourites Hoplisoma atropersonatus and concolor led the way, with an attempt to buy arcuatus that got me the similar grantii. I added Gastrodermus sp C123 because they were odd, and discovered how cool H. melini is. One of the aeneus types was bred locally so I got some, and pandas are just a standard. I have some probable brevirostris with jaunty fins and secretive ways. None of these are rarities, but none are regulars in stores around here. Uncommon but cheap - who can beat that?

So you get these fish. You read up on how to breed them, ideally with sources like Ian Fuller from Scotland. I still haven't had success, but this week I learned why.

I haven't been paying enough attention. To succeed with corys, you need to watch them closely, several times daily. You can't just chance on eggs, you have to check fruitlessly day after day until there they are, freshly laid eggs not yet lunched on. They'll breed in the morning or the evening here. The sticky eggs don't stick around, and you have to be on the ball. That's all.

The old Corydoras group has been broken up by the taxonomists, and the new Genus names make excellent sense. For those who hate or fear scientific names, I think corydoras is now officially an English word. I see people online write about one corydora, so they've begun to make an English singular/plural of it. When I use it, I take the caps off for the C. They'll always be corys in the hobby.

 

[Back in the fold3]

Very interesting . Keep on the watch huh ? What do you do then ? These are adhesive eggs are they not ? How do you collect them or do you remove the breeders ?

 

[GaryE29]

I remove the eggs and put them in a breeding trap. They're tough.

 

[Innesfan29 14]

I remove the eggs and put them in a breeding trap. They're tough.

They sure are. The ones laid on the glass can be gently scraped off and no harm is done.

 

[anewbie1]

I've never been a good breeder of the corydoras group, and since I retired, I've decided to fix that. In the past, I bred pygmy corys (Gastrodermus hastatus) and the big Scleromystax barbatus, but that was it.
So I reread the rules. Good food, clean water, light stocking, big cooler water changes simulating a storm, and egg collecting because they eat them. That let me add Hoplisoma panda to the lineup of fish raised from eggs, but that was a fluke.
I got groups of the fish I wanted and that I thought local club members would have an interest in. My all time favourites Hoplisoma atropersonatus and concolor led the way, with an attempt to buy arcuatus that got me the similar grantii. I added Gastrodermus sp C123 because they were odd, and discovered how cool H. melini is. One of the aeneus types was bred locally so I got some, and pandas are just a standard. I have some probable brevirostris with jaunty fins and secretive ways. None of these are rarities, but none are regulars in stores around here. Uncommon but cheap - who can beat that?

So you get these fish. You read up on how to breed them, ideally with sources like Ian Fuller from Scotland. I still haven't had success, but this week I learned why.

I haven't been paying enough attention. To succeed with corys, you need to watch them closely, several times daily. You can't just chance on eggs, you have to check fruitlessly day after day until there they are, freshly laid eggs not yet lunched on. They'll breed in the morning or the evening here. The sticky eggs don't stick around, and you have to be on the ball. That's all.

The old Corydoras group has been broken up by the taxonomists, and the new Genus names make excellent sense. For those who hate or fear scientific names, I think corydoras is now officially an English word. I see people online write about one corydora, so they've begun to make an English singular/plural of it. When I use it, I take the caps off for the C. They'll always be corys in the hobby.

My sterbai for years would lay eggs after every water change for years week after week. I was always chicken to remove the eggs for fear of damaging them

 

[GaryE29]

My sterbai for years would lay eggs after every water change for years week after week. I was always chicken to remove the eggs for fear of damaging them

My sterbai got treated like friends of the king and sat looking at me after every water change for years.

 

[anewbie1]

My sterbai got treated like friends of the king and sat looking at me after every water change for years.

Well it begs the question - would have prefer them sit there and look at you or lay eggs

 

[GaryE29]

Well it begs the question - would have prefer them sit there and look at you or lay eggs

First off, baby corys are really cute. I love raising them. All the charm they can have as adults is magnified when they are tiny. Yeah, that sounds contradictory. But they are great little things, and in miniature, greater.
Then you get to grow them, and watch them develop. Mixed age cory shoals are also good fishwatching.
Finally, you have healthy, well raised corys (with good solid social values, no doubt). There is never a shortage of other hobbyists who want some, and they can easily go to pet stores in exchange for food, equipment or even tiny bits of cash.
So looking at me while I look at them is okay, but I like breeding fish This hobby is an activity for me. Trying to get fish to breed and then raising them is fun. Sharing them out to interested people is satisfying. Just looking at them is only stage one.