New Cory Fry Tank On The Way

[snazy]

I had a big fight with 5 clown loaches this morning over a bunch of cory eggs and I prevailed!!! About 30 eggs saved.
I couldn't resist and ordered a Juwel Koralia 60 fish tank.

What's the best way to set it up? I've got sand left, I can even get established sand from my bigger tank if needed instead if its better for the cory fry?

Is it better to leave it bare, just with sand or should I put some driftwood or similar stuff?

I also bought a U2 filter for it to replace the internal but my question is, is it going to suck up cory fry? Those babies are tiny!!!

 

[fluttermoth]

Set it up with just a sprinkle of sand; a lot of fish don't like a totally bare bottom, but you'll need to be syphoning it a lot. New would be best.

The fry will appreciate some live plants and hiding places. I would cover the intake of the filter with something; the netting made for those kid's beach fishing nets is the best stuff; you can use tights (new, rinsed in some tank water) but they're so fine they do clog.

I would take all the insides out of the U2 and stuff it with sponge from your main tank's filter.

 

[snazy]

Set it up with just a sprinkle of sand; a lot of fish don't like a totally bare bottom, but you'll need to be syphoning it a lot. New would be best.

The fry will appreciate some live plants and hiding places. I would cover the intake of the filter with something; the netting made for those kid's beach fishing nets is the best stuff; you can use tights (new, rinsed in some tank water) but they're so fine they do clog.

I would take all the insides out of the U2 and stuff it with sponge from your main tank's filter.

Thanks. This will be an art to wrap up a U2 filter. I think the tights will clog very easily. Has anyone tried the internal those thanks come with? I kind of came across bad reviews so didn't want to risk it. On my betta tank I only put old established balls/nuggets(what the heck are they called ) in the inside section of the U2 filter and didn't replace the outside sponges and it cycled instantly. It even managed 3 ottos, a tiny pleco and the betta for a couple of weeks too without one bit of spike so hopefully the cycle won't be a problem.

As for live plants, I can only put anubias and hydrophilia. Would these do or do I need some bushy ones?
I have plenty of baby food left from when my single cory hatched

 

[fluttermoth]

Anubias and hydrophilia will be fine, I don't think you need to buy any specially.

Yes, blocking filters can be tricky; have you got some coarse sponge you could elastic band around it? even the new sponges that come with it, if you take them off the frame and dump the carbon bit (if I remember rightly how they're set up)? If you put enough stuff in the middle you should have plenty of bacteria for your fry.

I'm not familiar with the filter that comes with that tank.

 

[snazy]

Anubias and hydrophilia will be fine, I don't think you need to buy any specially.

Yes, blocking filters can be tricky; have you got some coarse sponge you could elastic band around it? even the new sponges that come with it, if you take them off the frame and dump the carbon bit (if I remember rightly how they're set up)? If you put enough stuff in the middle you should have plenty of bacteria for your fry.

I'm not familiar with the filter that comes with that tank.

The internal is a miniflow 280L/H but read somewhere it's no good and growing many fry in that tank maybe a problem. I was gonna get the U3 filter but not sure in a 30cm tall tank it will fit.
I actually do have new coarse sponge I can wrap up on the outside, I even have a special sponge(sponge filter) I bought ages ago for that purpose that connects to a powerhead but I will have no time to cycle the thing I should have prepared earlier
I've got plenty of unsoaked driftwood pieces, is it a good idea to put these in after I soak them for a few days?

 

[snazy]

Forgot, I read before that putting some gunk from an established filter for the cory fry gives them a good food source for the first week? Is that a good idea. My external filter is with UV light and the fish have never been sick in it(hope it stays that way)

 

[snazy]

So I felt like doing something today for a change and in between a new sponge I have had for months and the powerhead of my old undergravel filter I made up a powerhead sponge driven filter.

You can see it on the picture below. Everything above the sponge is taken from the undergravel filter and the sponge is in place of the undergravel plate and substrate. Will that actually work like a filter? I tested it in a bucket and it has pretty strong flow from the outlet but it can't be seen on the picture as I have it fully submerged in one of my tanks to hopefully establish some bacteria by the time I put cory fry in my new tank. Actually, how long does it take to cycle this sponge in my main tank? I have no idea?


Here it is:

 

[snazy]

I'll be lucky if I get 5-6 babies out of this batch of eggs. Most turned white, although without fungus on them so my guess is infertile

 

[fluttermoth]

You're looking at six to eight weeks to cycle a filter, just by running it in a matured tank. Can you not squeeze it into your main filter at all? I have a similar sponge and cut it in half horizontally to get it to fit.

Sorry to hear you've had so many infertile eggs It's quite common in younger fish though, you should get better hatch rates from future spawns.

 

[snazy]

You're looking at six to eight weeks to cycle a filter, just by running it in a matured tank. Can you not squeeze it into your main filter at all? I have a similar sponge and cut it in half horizontally to get it to fit.

Sorry to hear you've had so many infertile eggs It's quite common in younger fish though, you should get better hatch rates from future spawns.

I've had the albino corys for nearly/over a year maybe. They started spawning from the very beginning I bought them so they must have been of decent age although they were smaller. They always laid small ammount of eggs though. And many of the times I tried to save eggs, they got fungus or just looked infertile. The one time I saved a batch nearly all 10-15 eggs hatched, all albinos, but the stupid breeder trap fell in the tank.

This batch, for the first time I have 3 eggs with greyish dots in the middle. The eggs of the albinos that hatched for me before were always solid colour and turned from white into cream into brown but never any black dots and I am excited I might get some bronzes

What if I put some mature sponge pieces in the middle of the sponge filter itself when I move it to the new tank? There is a tube with holes in the middle of the big sponge through which the water is sucked in by the powerhead. I can stuff this in with lots of my old sponges? I know it will affect the flow but it looks too strong for fry anyways. The only thing I am afraid of is whether this can damage the power head in anyway if I block the flow too much?

 

[fluttermoth]

As long as you don't fill the tube tightly, that should work. You're not going to need many bacteria to cope with a few fry

There are loads of reasons why you might not be getting a very good hatch rate; could be your water is a tad hard perhaps.

 

[snazy]

As long as you don't fill the tube tightly, that should work. You're not going to need many bacteria to cope with a few fry

There are loads of reasons why you might not be getting a very good hatch rate; could be your water is a tad hard perhaps.

Absolutely. Never thought of that. My water is 7.4 ppm in all 3 tanks, lots of driftwood in one of them and some in the rest and makes no difference. It doesn't stop them from laying eggs though .I can actually put some of the matured nuggets from the external filter instead of sponges, that may give a better flow and it probably has more bacteria on it anyways, that worked for the betta tank. I'll test with some pure ammonia before I put any fry, if I get any

On a side note, I bought dried almond leaves for my betta tank but haven't tried them yet. Would it be a good idea to put some in the fry tank? I don't really want to alter the Ph, but my water could be too tough even for them and I read they grow infusoria when falling appart, along with antibacterial and antiseptic properties, and tannins of course

 

[fluttermoth]

The almond leaves would be perfect for fry tanks, I would have thought; I've never used them myself, but my water is ludicrously soft already.

 

[This Old Spouse]

Just saw this thread, and wanted to suggest a layer of very fine sand for the bottom of the fry tank. When I had my cory fry tank set up, I sifted the sand so it was very fine for them. They really love stuffing their faces in it, even at a very young age. And with research I did I found that having a sand substrate for fry increases their survival rate quite a bit. I also put a powerhead sponge over the filter intake and it worked great. The shrimp loved hanging out on that!

I have another clutch of eggs I'm crossing my fingers for at the moment. They're in a large mass of java moss, so hoping the other fish don't see them.

 

[snazy]

Yep, I am gonna put some sand. Do you recommend a fine layer or normal layer of sand? Actually, how did you sift the sand? And mentioning shrimp, are they ok with cory babies and eggs? I always wanted some but my other tanks are not suitable and it crossed my mind to get some for this tank.

For the tank, I have a choice of U2 filter to which a sponge can't be connected, the internal juwel filter which is supposed to be crap and the one I kind of made up myself above on the picture. I am leaning towards the sponge filter. At least I won't be afraid of fry being sucked up but it doesn't have much room for mature sponges so I am gonna have to see.