cory eggs and fry

briarmoor

After a hiatus of a few years, I am back on this forum. I have read some of the previous posts regarding cory fry and spawning. I have a few more questions.

Background: 55 gallon tank well-established (4 years), tank mates are 1 pleco, 2 black neons, and 8 cory cats of various ages (original 2 plus their offspring from 3 previous spawns). Temperature set to 78 but it can fluctuate a couple of degrees up or down at times due to our heating with a wood stove.

Despite having young cory in the tank, I cannot recall spawning being a big event in the past. I also have not seen eggs very often, but then a couple of larger fry will appear, always near the hollow log decoration. My guess is that somehow some eggs are ending up being placed (on purpose or not) in the hollow log where the tetras don’t go and seldom a cory, and the pleco doesn’t fit. Otherwise, if I do see eggs on the glass, the pleco eats them.

In the past, the fry which would only be up to 3 would live a couple of weeks, and then die. The next time, I noticed 2 fry and they both survived. Again another spawn and 2 more fry lived. I was feeding just flakes and algae tabs during this time. I noticed fry would happen if I didn’t change the tank water for a few weeks. I wonder if I was vacuuming up the eggs or tiny fry (very sad if I did) with the frequent water changes or somehow disrupting the water quality.

After I fed some thawed brine shrimp, the cory went nuts and spawned everywhere, the original 2 plus one of the, what I guess is a male, offspring. This was Feb 6th. I gently took the eggs off the glass with a razor after an hour or so because the pleco was eating them and I put them down the hollow log. I stuck a few around the openings to see if the pleco or other fish could get to them and they did. I noticed just today one tiny new fry and I wonder how it will make it. I have never seen fry when they were that tiny. It does duck under big rocks whenever another fish swims near, so maybe it will survive. There are 2 young fry (about 3-4 weeks old) in the tank that still go in the log so I wonder if they eat the eggs or are any danger to the tiny newest fry?

Has anyone tried taking the eggs off the glass with a razor blade with success? Also how about putting them in a large breeder net (stuck to a small plant) near the filter? I was thinking maybe most of the eggs got fungus because they weren’t having water running over them enough. Or maybe their siblings ate them. Thoughts on all this anyone? If they are going to spawn, I’d like more than a few babies to survive each spawn if I can help them. Also how long until they get armor to protect them?

I am not good at taking photos of fish; I always seem to get glare or fuzzy photos. But I did get a couple of okay pics of the 4 week olds.

Pam
www.briarmooracds.com

Attached Images

4 week old cory on tree crop.jpg (24.4 KB, 62 views)

willow

hi
welcome back,and congratulations on the fry. :)
i and Falina had great sucess with removing the eggs with a razor.because they are sticky
i found it easy to stick them to a vallis leaf,then place them into a breeder net
in the same tank.i've found a couple of things for you,if you want to have a read. :)
http://www.fishforum.com/fish-breedi...gs-3296/page2/

http://www.fishforum.com/fish-breeding/cories-5294/
i wish you well with the fry,and hope they survive.
my albino corys began laying eggs last week,however by the time i removed the razor
from it's housing,they were all eaten.
and just to comment on what you said about when you don't gravel vac.
they are so small that you more than lik;ey have hoovered them up,as they are tiny
when they hatch.
please will you update your progress. :)

briarmoor

The one fry is still alive as of last night. It has grown a bit, still smaller than a tadpole. It ducks under rocks when other fish go by, but is less vigilant (I hope not to its detriment).

The adults are checking out new spots so I wonder if another spawn will happen soon? The boys seem more interested than the female right now.

Pam
Briarmoor

willow

hi
glad he's still ok. :)
i find sometimes before spawning,there will be a hive of activity,
cleaning of surfaces,like the front glass,and plant leaves.
if mine decide to spawn again soon,i'm going to make sure i get them into their own tank
and have the liquid fry on hand.

briarmoor

The single fry is still alive. I briefly saw it Saturday night. It seems to be staying closer to the hollow log now. No more spawning so far and no other fry have appeared.

willow

good luck,and beware where you vac lol :)

briarmoor

The baby fry is growing and looking like a little cory now. He/she still sticks close to the log, but is on the surface more instead of hiding under the rocks. No signs of any more spawning or eggs.

I have noticed baby cory vary in their color while little; of the last two,one was darker in the middle but both ended up the usual bronze color when they got older. I don't know why this is.

willow

hi
i wonder if it's like the same as Goldfish,they can start out dark
then turn their gold colour ?

briarmoor

As I was watching the cory last night, I noticed movement from the corner of my eye and there was another baby cory! It is the same size, so what I may have been seeing is either of 2 babies and thought there was one since I never saw them together. Both are spending more time away from shelter. It is so cool that they are so little and can root food from under the gravel the bigger fish can't get under.

If the older babies (about 5-6 weeks old) and these 2 newest ones make it, I'll have 9 in this tank.

Pam
www.briarmooracds.com

willow

that's great news !!
i really hope they get big enough so you can show some pics. :)
all my eggs i collected i think have gone mouldy. :(