# Cory egg care for a newbie



## AlecF (21 Oct 2021)

It's all go at my house. I have 6 medaka (rice fish) fry, a baby pencilfish, lots of baby least Killifish – hard not to – and now my corys have laid eggs - either for both the elegant and the false jullii. I don't have a spare tank that's small enough for the eggs, or a spare heater, so I put them in a small internal box for fry – one of the cheaper kinds that sticks to the inside of the tank – as it's all I have. I added filter wool at either side so nothing can slip through the vents. I added an Indian almond leaf on the base. I think I have some alder cones coming tomorrow and will add one. I haven't treated them with meth blue as I hoped the natural treatments would be enough. I think they were laid today so I could do meth blue tomorrow morning, if anyone thinks it is crucial? I just wondered if anyone had any other advice. I will watch for fungus. I have some Hikari fry powder and frozen cyclops. Also some of those easy to make infusoria tablets arriving soon. I have a nano 25 litre in which the other fry are doing well and can move them there if any corys survive to a size that will be workable to transfer. It's a cycled tank, well planted, with a sand base. Any advice what length they could be to move in? The tank they are in is currently heated at 23.7-24.3 degrees, should I add a degree of warmth? I don't have the capacity to make any live food; if I order some what's the best (smallest) thing to get? Thanks.


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## tam (22 Oct 2021)

I raised some in a hang on the side breeder box. Same sort of thing, I added almond leaf which they liked hiding under. I also added a juvenile cherry shrimp (just incase you have any hanging around) to clean up any uneaten food. I didn't treat with anything, and only had a couple fungus (the eggs were spread out in the box so it didn't spread and I'm guessing they were just unfertilised ones). Used microworms and then ground up food.


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## AlecF (22 Oct 2021)

Thanks Tam, very helpful. I do have a cherry shrimp. I will assume a snail is a bad idea. The air stone, which is on very gently, is pushing all the eggs together in one corner. I can try to spread them out. Fingers crossed.


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## tam (22 Oct 2021)

I'm not sure on eggs v snails, but it might work once they are wriggling. I stuck the eggs to the wall of the box, but it depends if you have plastic or mesh. For circulation, I used an elastic band to fix the end of a piece of airline in the outflow of my tank filter and that was enough to force water up the airline and into the box. It took mine about 5 days from hatching to use up their egg sacks, so you've time if you want to order a culture of something - by the time they hatched and were ready for food I had enough to start feeding them.


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## AlecF (23 Oct 2021)

Ha, now my sparkling gourami are breeding. Time to rush order another fry box and start some infusoria. The thing is, where to find a windowsill with warm sunshine in Scotland in October... Must be something in the water. Baby ricefish, baby killifish, baby pencilfish, Cory eggs, sparkler eggs. Does anyone know if gourami fry will eat spirulina?


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## AlecF (26 Oct 2021)

From my new Dictionary of Fish-keeping. Breeding Container, n. a plastic container purchased online which has slits just large enough for fry to escape from. Sheesh.


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## AlecF (26 Oct 2021)

Just in case anyone has practical advice. I am very much a beginner and the Cory and sparkling gourami both breeding within 2 days was unexpected. I've been struggling to catch up. I lost some Cory fry to the stupid breeder box slits and now have them in a Tupperware floating in the tank. I added a little sand – suggestion seen elsewhere – and some alder cones and almond leaf, as well as some floating weeds, in the hope there are some wee bugs in there. I don't have moss, it never works well for me. I think I may have a half dozen Cory fry alive. They don't move much. I don't have a spare tank and anyway they seem too small. The infusoria isn't ready and also isn't easy to make in this weather. I have jars on the windowsill, but it's cold there. I have one on the heater, but that isn't near the light. I have BBS, but the fry are too young for that. I scraped some powder of Hikari fry food from the sides of the tub, like dust, and added that. I could add egg, but worry about fouling the water. The gourami fry aren't swimming yet, The male is very attentive and keeps the peacock goby and other gourami away. I guess I will also put them in a Tupperware when they start to swim – any advice on the specific moment they are in danger from the male? Hopefully the infusoria will be ready, but I am doubtful it will work. I can give them Hikari dust. I should have a tank free by Friday. Can I put the Cory fry and gourami fry in together – some of the Cory are 'larger', but I guess they wouldn't go for fry? The breeding box issue is another infuriating example of people selling things that don't work. Anyone know what age the Cory fry can take BBS?


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## Ian61 (26 Oct 2021)

Hello. I currently have 7 baby panda corys in a plastic strawberry tub floating in my tank. The eggs can be gathered off the moss in my tank. They hatch after 4 days but don’t seem to eat til about day 9. I did add infusoria for a day or two but not sure that was necessary.They’re now doing well on chopped up baby white worms and ground up fluval bugbites. I change the water several times per day and I suspect the algae and plants are helpful.


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## AlecF (26 Oct 2021)

Ian, that's helpful. I realised they took a while to hatch, but I was worried that they have shown no interest in food at all. I made a guddle of transferring them from the useless breeding box, using a pipette, but hopefully a few will make it. I will keep doing water changes, using tank water, and I have some guppy grass arriving soon which I can add. You are using a strawberry and I'm using an old Chinese takeaway container. We should market them on Amazon as DeLuxe Breeding Boxes. Good luck with your pandas.


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## Ian61 (26 Oct 2021)

Been surprised how easy they’ve been. Would now be able to eat baby brine shrimp but I’ve plenty of white worms and it’s simple enough to isolate the tiny worms and chop them. Easy to inadvertently tip the fry back into the tank during water changes so I would suggest tipping the waste water into another container as an intermediate step.
Good luck


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## AlecF (26 Oct 2021)

Thanks Ian. I guess I am just anxious and the ease will come once I see them eat and grow. I haven't ever cultured white worms. Would they take finely chopped bloodworms. And cyclops seem small? I use a turkey baster to take a little water out and then add more. I see its suggested to do this through a find net, to ensure there are no escapees. I try to keep a careful eye. The Gouramis are next and they seem even tinier!


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## sparkyweasel (26 Oct 2021)

When the fry of (most) egglayers hatch they have a yolk sac attached to their throat which nourishes them for the first few days. They usually lay on the bottom or in the nest for this time. Exact time varies between species and with temperature. Often about 3 or 4 days to hatch and another 5 or 6 before they finish the yolk in the sac.
After that they can eat by mouth, and start to swim, known as the free-swimming stage.  That is the time to start offering food. Infusoria is ideal, but you have to use what you can provide, especially for an unexpected spawning. I raised _Corydoras _fry on Liquifry until they were big enough to take microworms, which was about a week after they started eating the Liquifry. BBS should be fine when they are big enough if that's what's easiest to provide.
hth


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## Ian61 (26 Oct 2021)

Unlike most fry I’ve raised, the corys seem just like miniature adults in that they feed off the bottom and will eat non-live and dried foods. Mine are now 12 days from hatching and would easily manage BBS.


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## AlecF (26 Oct 2021)

Thanks Sparky. I was worried as they were wiggling around when I had to move them from the breeding box. So I thought they were ahead of where they are. Now they have sand and weed to rest in, I will relax and cross my fingers. The reviews put me off Liquifry, but maybe it's OK? I have some Hikari and some BBS. I will see if I can get some Microworms.


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## AlecF (28 Oct 2021)

So, I have moved my gourami fry, which had just started to swim, to a small tank that is cycled. I also moved the 2 remaining Cory, all that remains sadly. One question I had, I assume it's OK to have lights on, or do fry prefer no light (except for Scottish October "daylight"). Still no infusoria, but I have ordered Microworms, and hope they can get some slim pickings from the floating plants, which came from the tank they were in. Temperature is c 75, hope that seems OK.


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## DTM61 (28 Oct 2021)

Gourami fry are very small aren't they! I kept mine in a bucket with a heater and a few plants / riccia, there's a thread somewhere. I fed bbs and crushed bugbites. Changed the water with a jug so as I could check for fry. No light just overspill from the tank. Fatalities seemed to increase exponentially as time went by until only 3 or 4 remained. I've read about people having issues with low humidity impeding development of the labyrinth organ so a lid might be a good idea at this time of year? Good luck anyway 👍


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## AlecF (28 Oct 2021)

Thanks. It is fraught. As soon as I put the 40 or 50 into the wee tank it seemed there was just one, but I hope they will emerge. I have them with plenty of plants and a sponge filter. I just wish I could get my infusoria to infuse. I do have a lid. I'll be happy if any make it. Meanwhile the male in the main tank is looking everywhere for his babies. Does anyone know if they would eat spirulina at this early stage?


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## AlecF (28 Oct 2021)

Ha, so having moved the fry my gourami are now breeding again in the big tank. I wonder if I kept moving the babies would they just keep breeding...


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## AlecF (29 Oct 2021)

@dw1305 apologies for tagging you, but I saw that in a (very) old post you said that when infusoria is slow to "ripen" you can feed the green water to fry. I'd read elsewhere that the bacteria in the green smelly phase can be bad for fry. Can you cast any light on this. I have 3 infusoria mixes, with green leaves, but also some have a snippet of spirulina, or leaves, or a make of algae grains, all in small amounts, as an experiment. I've now added rain water and a tint of gunge from sponge filters, based on that helpful thread. It's so grey in Edinburgh I've mostly got these under lights, rather than on a windowsill. Anyway, as I have fry that are very wee I wanted to know if the green water was safe. They are in a small tank with floaters, limnofillia, hornwort and some guppy grass, so maybe there's enough residual critters. Advice welcome.


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## DTM61 (29 Oct 2021)

You could try some of this... 









						Protogen Infusories 20 ml
					

Special food. Price: £6.89. Content: 20 ml. Free delivery from £42.90.




					www.olibetta.uk


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## AlecF (29 Oct 2021)

Thanks. From what I can see mostly very expensive post from Germany and no UK supplier.  I will ponder. I have added spirulina to my own attempts to culture infusoria. If I can use the green water then I will.


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## dw1305 (29 Oct 2021)

H all, 


AlecF said:


> you can feed the green water to fry. I'd read elsewhere that the bacteria in the green smelly phase can be bad for fry.


Yes, it is very much a balancing act between food and oxygen. I might try some <"dead Oak or similar leaves"> in the breeding trap. 


AlecF said:


> Anyway, as I have fry that are very wee I wanted to know if the green water was safe.


It is. 

cheers Darrel


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## AlecF (29 Oct 2021)

Thanks Darrel. Helpful as ever. I do have a few dead leaves in the brew. And in the tank itself. P.s. out of interest, might it help to put the containers of infusoria in a propagator, in my living room, where they would get light and warmth? Anyone know?


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## AlecF (1 Nov 2021)

I lost the second brood over night, in the big community tank. The male had been protecting them well and I'm not sure how it happened. Possibly there was too much surface agitation from the bubbles of my sponge filter – I had buffered the Fluvial and Eheim. The pair immediately bred again. This time, as the fry were not yet swimming, rather than transfer them to the small tank I gently scooped them into a Tupperware which is floating in the big tank. I will move them when they can swim, if they make it to that stage. The male was swimming everywhere looking for them. I only see 3 surviving fry in the small tank, but possibly more are hiding.


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## AlecF (4 Nov 2021)

Update: my gourami is now on his 5th brood. He must be exhausted. The dilemma is that if I leave the fry in the tank they get eaten, so he breeds again, and if I remove them he also breeds again. I don't have a breeding tank and I also find it hard to ID the right female to move if I did, ie before they have already made their nest. The best method of rearing for me has been removing the fry very early into a Tupperware in the main tank, until they grow enough to transfer Ito the small fry tank. The most fry I have is c 15 from the 4th brood, where I followed that technique. I have 3 or maybe 4 in my small fry tank, from broods 1 and 2. My infusoria just won't infuse, it's been long enough but I don't think it's warm enough or light enough in my Edinburgh flat. At night I use a lamp on it. I have 1 jar in a propagator, in case that helps. I'm hopeful the fry can transition from greenish water to crushed food and BBS. I have the good and bad fortune to have a green algae bloom in the big tank – I think from using liquid carbon? – which the fry like, but which looks ugly. Water changes aren't resolving it. I'm going to add some carbon to my external filter and I am adding more plants. According to advice here green water isn't affected by ferts, so I am actually adding higher doses of the UKPS Macro and Micro, on alternate days, hoping the plants can out-compete. I reduced lights from 11 to 6.5 hours with long sunrise and sunset (maybe these should be reduced). I will post about the green water if I can't resolve it. I also have some brown dusty algae on leaves and beech wood. I have ordered more amano and I am adding ramshorn snails from other tanks. I may get some otos. I'd had no algae problems in this tank since it started in May, but I got lazy with ferts, and then the liquid carbon seemed to trigger a bloom, which seems counter-intuitive. So much to learn...


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