Help needed with Cory Eggs!

[bubblegumblow]

Hi Everyone
I just need some help with my new batch of Cory eggs.
I have looked at various posts on here which were extremely helpful, however there are a few questions that I have...........
The eggs have been there (on the glass) since late Friday evening,some have been eaten but a few remain. I can see that two of them are white but the others are starting to look tan colour which seems to be a good thing. I have tryed to pick them off but seem to be superglued to glass! managed to get one off maybe I should try again? not sure as don't squash them? I need to do a water change on the tank whick usually takes me approx 1hr as the eggs are at the top part of the tank it means they will not be covered with water for approx 1 hr will this hurt them?
I really want this batch to survive as previous batches get eaten and I am really surprised that there are quite a few remaining and quite excited but just not sure what to do.
If I can get the eggs off I can put them into my smaller tank .....oh look I'm just confused so any help/info would be great......not sure if they are Peppered or Albinos........
Thanks in advance.........

[enrique4jc]

I had cory eggs one time as soon as I bought my pandas, but I wasnt lucky enough to have any of them survive. I really can't offer you any advice because I dunno what to do with them really. I just wanted to say congrats and I hope it works out for you!

[bubblegumblow]

Thanks for the vote of confidence.
I feel like some kind of freak as I keep looking at them!!! they seem to be a tan colour and I can just se like a black dot inside.The other fish know they are there but just don't seem to want to eat them which is strange because usually they don't last long.I want to move them but am scared that I will hurt them, but then I'm worried that the other fish are going to have a munch!! so yeah confused..........I think I'm going to try again and see if I can move them..........watch this space....

[ronw007]

Is there anyway you can pull the adult fish out and just leave the eggs in the tank. I have breed Albino Cory's before. I had several adults in a 20 gallon long and you need to pull the parents out because most of the time they will eat the eggs. I have heard that once the eggs harden you can just roll them off with your finger or a razor blade. I have tried this but the eggs always seem to fall apart.

[bubblegumblow]

Hi Ronw007
Thanks for the info, I certainly can try and catch the Cories 6 in total and put them in my kitchen tank which is a lot smaller, but then it leaves Gouramis, Loaches and guppies in larger tank would any of those eat them?
I am building up to do something about it just a bit nervous as I am butter fingers and really don't want to slice eggs with blade rather than scrap them off!!!! ( I am extremly clumsy and have a feeling that I'm gonna just slice them!!!) I must get on and do something as guppies are hanging around area...........ok I will try to get them off now........

[bubblegumblow]

Ok I have just picked off 14 eggs a couple burst s have left them in tank but they were white in colour where as these ones are light brown colour wow I think I held my breath throughout that!!! now I have them in a little tub do I transfer them into my kitche tank that just has guppies in it making some kind of holding area? any ideas on how to make one ?? or will they survive the ice cream tub that I have collected them in????
Help...................

[bubblegumblow]

update
I have just made secure place for the eggs using a stocking!! and have it in the small tank in the kitchen.The guppies are being extremely nosey but there is no way they can get to them so fingers crossed they may hatch!! I'm sooooo excited....................
If they do what do I do???
What wil they eat etc...........HELP

[soobie]

The stocking is fine until they hatch, but after that they will need some space to swim around. I tried a net breeder, but it was too much of a pain to keep clean. I haven't tried one of the hard plastic breeder cages, but realistically, with 14 fry you're going to want a larger area for them to swim than a breeder cage hanging in the tank.

You can either move the guppies and make that tank your fry tank, or set up some sort of a smaller tank for the babies. The ice cream tub may be OK if it holds a gallon or so of water, just put a small airstone or sponge filter in it to move the water around gently. You don't want to bash the fry after they hatch.

Especially if you keep them in a small tub, you need to do daily water changes to get out any gunk and uneaten food. I use a turkey baster to vacuum the bottom of my fry tank, and do 30% water changes daily. Fry are pretty sensitive to water quality. Also, watch the temperature- my panda fry doesn't like to be warmer than 75 F, especially in the first couple weeks. I don't know if that's true for cories (or even pandas) in general, it's just my experience.

They won't need to be fed for a couple days after they hatch, because they will be feeding off their yolk sac. Once that's gone, they will eat microworms, baby brine shrimp, Hikari First Bites, or very finely crushed flake food. I start my cory fry on microworms, because their mouths are very small at first. Baby brine shrimp (I use frozen) and crushed flakes after about a week. They LOVE the baby brine shrimp! If you don't have a microworm culture going, see if you can get one (I got mine from eBay, AquaBid has them, ask a fish friend, etc.). They're super easy to maintain, and have given me the best results for keeping the fry alive.

I've tried hard boiled egg yolk as a fry food, but honestly, don't bother. It makes an incredible mess.

Congrats on getting the eggs! Good luck with the fry! Keep us posted!

[bubblegumblow]

Thanks Soobie for the great advice........I have just set up another tank 2 days ago.I won it on Ebay it's a gorgeous small hexagonal tank about 10L,it's so cute I was going to put a fighter in there but may now put babies in if they hatch but must sort the water out first!!! Used stones and water from other tank to try to cycle it quicker but have checked it today and ammonia is high about 2!! so will sort that out and hopefully maybe ready .....but I doubt it so plan B would be to move the guppies, or maybe see if the LFS have anything that clips over the other kitchen tank which will be large enough until other tank is fully cycled. I will get onto it in the morning.
I feel like a big kid waiting for Santa, I keep staring in at the eggs!!! oh I must get a life!!!...........will update soon fingers crossed.....

[soobie]

The 10L tank would be perfect for fry. They will be fine in a hanging breeder box until the tank is cycled, so no worries there. It takes a while for them to grow.

I know how you feel, waiting for the eggs to hatch and watching them all the time. I do the same thing!

[bubblegumblow]

Wow...............
I have just looked into my stocking that I rigged up yesterday and my eggs have hatched!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! not sure how many I just counted about 6 tiny little se through cories!!!!! Oh I'm shaking I'm so happy but now scared that I'm gonna kill them!!!!
I purchased an Aqua one mini float today so they can go into it but the holes are way too big for my bubs so any ideas???? LFS advised lining it with weed but there are holes at the top as well so would they swim out the top?
I thought maybe putting a stocking over it so that way the water can still flow and they can not escape until bigger...........
Soobie can you help me with feeding, I'm a bit confused with microworms as I need a few days to get them started is that correct? Help they are so so tiny oh and cute...........:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

[ronw007]

Try using a sponge to cover the intake, the ones that are for aquarium use, should be available at the LFS. You can feed the cory's very finley crushed up flake, try to get it as small as possible and do not over feed. You will need to keep the tank as clean as possible also. If you want you can also try hatching baby brine shrimp.

[soobie]

Yay for fry! When the yolk sac is gone (~3 days) you can start feeding them.

About the microworms, yes, they will take a few days to get going after you get a starter culture. It takes them a little while to multiply and start crawling up the sides of the container. Then you can swipe them off with your finger and feed the babies. I use instant mashed potato flakes as a culture medium (1/4 C potatoes and ~1/3 C water, mixed, spread the starter culture on top. You want the potato mixture wet and soft, but not too runny.).

Crushed fish flakes will work to feed the fry too, and baby brine shrimp (I buy frozen, because I don't want to deal with hatching them myself.) Make sure the flakes are crushed very fine- use a morter and pestle if you have one, or I used a spoon against the side of a bowl. Their mouths are tiny.

I'm not sure what the Aqua One mini float is- a breeder box? or a filter? If it's the breeder box, covering it with a stocking would probably work, but will tend to collect gunk. Also, you should not completely submerge the breeder box, as the cories need to be able to gulp air at the surface, so the top holes shouldn't be a problem.

Vacuum out the uneaten food every day, so the water quality stays good.

Hooray again!

[bubblegumblow]

Wow it's very stressful being a granny!!!!!
Thanks Soobie, Ron007 everyone for your kind help advice......I am the proud granny of 7 fry out of 14 eggs, 3 eggs were white and have gone horrid and 4 hatched but died,so I am very happy with the out come although it is early days!!!
I have rigged up the floaty tank thing in my guppy tank for time being until they get bigger and can go into new tank (and of course once it's cycled).
I went to LFS today and they had no microworms,no baby brine!! all they had was liquid fry complete fry starter that is made by Aquasonic and contains shrimp,fish,egg,vitamins and minerals!! so hopefully that should be okay.I live in very small town and my take a trip to the city which is 150km round trip, I would really like to follow the advice you guys have given me so do you think I should go to city and find microworms and baby brine?
They are so tiny nothing like what I thought, they are completely see through so would this mean they are Albino or do Peppered Cories start off like this?
Will keep you all posted hopefully I don't kill them!!!

[ronw007]

What kind of cory's are the parent fish. Albino Cory's are usually a light pinkish in color and have red eye's. I know from raising my albino fry they are translucent when small, most fry are that way, colors do not start showing up until maybe 3 to 4 weeks.

As far as feeding your fry, I would start feeding the finely crushed up flake. The first batch of fry I raised, that is all they were fed until about 2 months old. Baby brine shrimp is normally not something you can buy unless they happen to carry the fozen. For the baby brine shrimp you would need to purchase brine shrimp eggs (most larger LFS cary them). You would need to hatch your own baby brine to feed the fry. This is fairly easy all you need is an old 2 liter pop bottle, some aquarium salt, eggs, water, air pump for circulation and light. They will normally hatch in 24 to 48 hours and then can be fed to the fry. Most fry IMO when fed fresh baby brine, 3 times a day will grow quite quickly. And just remember to keep the tank as clean as possible.

[soobie]

My panda cories are also pretty see-through at first, with just the dark eyes and a small area of pigment on the back. You'll probably have to wait a couple weeks and see if they start getting pigment, to tell if it was your albinos or peppereds who did the deed.

The fry food you got will be fine, but I would put them on crushed flakes too. Variety being the spice of life, and all that...:)

[bubblegumblow]

You know I have no idea who "done the deed" usually I see them doing the old swimming thing together but this time was completely out of the blue didn't notice anything!!!
Can they cross breed? or do they have to be the same species???
They are so cute they have these huge heads and long tail just like a see through tadpole!!!! I keep looking in my big tank 210L for any other little babies (maybe eggs were laid elsewhere that I didn't notice) but just seem to be going cross eyed!!!!!
I'll just have to play the waiting game (I hate waiting!!!!) to see what they are.............they seem bigger than yesterday but could just be my imagination!! very active which I am hoping to be a good sign.........
Thanks to all you all for your kind help please keep your fingers crossed for me., I will post updates.............