My Sterbai just spawned!!!

[msjinkzd]

There is love in the air in my 36g community tank...the gourami has built a bubble nest and he and the female are canoodling, the cherry shrimp are going wild, my apple snails are mating, and now tonight, my sterbais are spawning. I was able to collect about a dozen eggs from the tank (the cherry barbs were scarfing them down as quick as they were being laid). These are my first eggs, I need to know what to do with them! Right now I put them in some tank water in a tupperware until i figure out what to do. Any advice from the seasoned pros? Thanks

[fishorama]

No advice, just congrats! & good luck!

[RoseFishWatcher]

GRATS!

No experience (I've only ever "bred" livebearers, and they do that anyway... lol), but you should be able to find articles + other info at places like planetcatfish.com and scotcat.com.

[Lupin]

That's great, Jink!:clap:

[msjinkzd]

well right now they are in a tupperware floating in my main tank (hooked on with a chip clip, hi-tech I know). Gonna pick up an airstone first thing in the morning, wasn't planning on breeding them, but hey, I will give it a shot! Might just pick up a spare 10g while I am at it in case they survive. Cross your fingers!

[irishspy]

Wow! You're an aquatic goddess of fertility! :omg:

The airstone is a good idea, to keep the water circulating around the eggs. Beyond that, I'd suggest changing the water in the tupperware to keep it fresh until they hatch. Here's an article on breeding sterbai (http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/breeding/Drew_SpawningCorydorassterbai.html).

My guess is you may lose these eggs, but, since you've obviously created an environment the sterbai like, you'll probably see more spawnings. Might as well get that extra tank.

:thm:

[msjinkzd]

I read that article too, ironically, my tank temp is 82, and we are supposed to have snow tomorrow. He also put his eggs in a tupperware and added acriflavine (which I am planning on picking up in the morning)...perhaps i could have success. time will tell

[jaysen]

i would put a little methylene blue in with the eggs so fungus doesnt kill them. i would also keep them well aerated with frequent water changes. how did you trigger them to breed? just curious, havent had luck with cories breeding.

[msjinkzd]

how did you trigger them to breed?

I have no idea how I triggered them. The gouramis were making a bubble nest a couple of days ago, don't know if that put "love in the air". We are also supposed to have snow tonight, maybe something barometric tickled their fancy.
Hopefully they will spawn alot, sterbais are $12 a piece around here.

[Squawkbert]

:: takes a number for 1/2" Sterbais ::

I think I've read that a fairly sudden temp change in the water (just 2-3°F, but pretty sudden) will induce spawning. Good luck! I've only seen Sterbais in my area once or twice, and they were a little "wild caught/dodgy" looking at that.

[destined_love7]

Well good luck with them!

Don't you just love an excuse to buy a new tank? I swear, if I don't stop soon I won't have any bare flat serfaces left!

[msjinkzd]

I think what I am going to do is sell and empty 29g eclipse 3 setup I have collecting dust (terrible I know) and have hubby weld me a custom stand to hold 6 ten gellons. Then I can have a bunch of invert tanks and a breeding tank in case these sterbais are prolific.

[destined_love7]

Dang! Why are all the people selling tanks so far away from me? LOL. I bet shipping would be more than a new tank.

[msjinkzd]

jeez, i just went and looked in the tank and there are more eggs all over the glass...and the cherry barbs look like they are going to pop from eating so much caviar. I think I am going to leave these in the tank to see what happens.

[destined_love7]

LOL!

I just inherrited a 10 gallon. Probably cost almost as much to get a hood and filter as it would to get the whole kit, but who am I to fuss?

[gupman]

Yep i have corie eggs thats what mine look like...

[leighasnana]

Keeping your container and water clean is important. The bubbler will keep any particles from staying on the eggs and causing bacterial infection or fungus. I've read of a breeder who keeps his eggs in the dark till hatching to prevent fungus. I've done that and I've had good luck. My 1st batch of eggs hatched in a guppy breeder, the second are now in a floating container with an airstone. These are albino paleatus which are easy to breed. The fry which hatched are now 3 wks old. They don't eat for the 1st 3 days. I then began feeding finelly crushed flake and I feed a variety of things which I can get small enough to fit into their mouths. Once a day I take a Q-tip and clean the bottom of the breeder with it and before I feed more food I clean out the old. I feed small amounts - often. I give them an hour to eat. I'm now beginning to scrape tiny amounts of various frozen foods mixed with water which I feed with a dropper below the water and still alternate with the flakes. You can scrape off a tiny bit into a small container and then put the rest of the cube back in the freezer in a baggie. Make sure some of the foods are landing on the bottom and keep the bottom clean so that no foods fungus. What I like about the guppy breeder is that when I clean out food I don't need to syphon and I end up changing out all of the water. While they were very tiny I had the foot of a black nylon over the breeder trap which kept them from getting out of the sides and helped to keep things dark. After hatching I added some live plants to the nursery and a tiny bit of filter sponge. It helps the water quality and they can feed off of these. Have fun.

[gupman]

when di yours start laying eggs? ine i noticed today so it had to be last night or when i went to get my check from work...

[gupman]

oh yea by the way grats!

[msjinkzd]

sorry, out of town last night. they laid them throughout the day yesterday. I caught them and put them in a breeder trap. There is moss and java fern floating in it (as the eggs are stuck to them). We shall see. Unfortunately I will be out of town from tuesday through saturday, not sure how hubby will feel about catering to new babies.

[pinkertd]

msjinkzd -how are your cory eggs doing? My albinos spawned again same day you posted. I put the eggs that I could get into one of those small white filter media bags that ties, hung it in the tank on the side where the filtered water comes into the tank and today I see a couple have already hatched. My cories spawned about a week ago and most of the eggs got eaten quickly but I did spy two baby cories about 4 days ago.

[msjinkzd]

well, i don't think mine are going to hatch :( I put them in a breeder trap by my filter discharge but then had to go out of town for a day. Came back and a couple look like they are starting to fungus. I still have about 8 left that are not fungused, but I am not hopeful. I know that when I was collecting the eggs I knocked about 15 or more off into the gravel, maybe those will have a better shot. I was apprehensive about adding the anti-fungal stuff because of my shrimp. I just hope they spawn again so that I can be more prepared to save the eggs (with less travelling too).

[ILOVEBETTAS]

Congratulations!

Omg, I have heard about so many cory spawnings that I dreamed mine spawned lol...

[lovemybarbs]

Congrats!!! Keep us updated!!

[pinkertd]

I didn't use any antifungus meds and I know there are a few fungused eggs in the bag too and it didn't seem to hurt anything. This was just an experiment using the information people have posted here. Figured it was worth a try! And somebody out there in Montana best be saving shipping money for some Christmas Cories:grinyes::grinyes:.

[msjinkzd]

I just did my tank maintenance and saw that there were some eggs stuck to some plants that I had not seen previously, no fungus on them. And I have about 6 in the breeder that are not fungused yet, I removed the bad ones. We shall see, even if they hatch, i don't know if hubby is up for the challenge of keeping the breeder clean enough for them to survive :(...he says he will, but he has never even fed the fish before...we shall see.

[pinkertd]

Well most of my albino cory eggs hatched today. There were only a few in the bag that were fungused. Next time I try an "experiment" I better prepare in case it is successful! I decided I better get them out of the bag and it seems like it took forever, there's a tiny seam folded over at the bottom of the bag and of course some eggs were stuck in there. I poured them into tank water in a glass container. I can't believe how tiny they are! Like a pinhead with a tail! Got about 2 dozen. Decided they better go in the 10 gallon where I was temporarily housing some baby plecos. And baby plecos do not like to get netted! Then poured the baby cories and remaining eggs into the planted 10G. Sounds easy? I swear this took 2 hours! I imagine it'll be a week or so before I can see them in the gravel moving. Meanwhile I spied one of the older baby albinos in my pleco tank. It is the size of a baby guppy...which is huge compared to fresh hatched!!

[msjinkzd]

oh wow! i noticed a bunch of my eggs looked "burst" tonight, but didnt' see anything in the breeder...if they are that tiny (which makes sense with the size of the eggs) those suckers probably moved right into general population. lets hope they hide! I still have 6 or so eggs that haven't done anything yet.

[pinkertd]

Don't forget to put a piece of pantyhose or something over your filter intake too! I thought of that right after I put some of the babies into the tank, I looked at the size of the holes on the filter intake and ran for pantyhose.

[msjinkzd]

I have foam over all my tanks intakes, my concern is more because of the gourami and the cherry barbs...they are "voracious" (well as voracious as 2" fish get)

[pinkertd]

Good luck! Sterbai babies would be awesome!!!

[leighasnana]

The fry don't eat for the first 2-3 days so hubby might not have to do anything. Put a nylon (tightly) over the breeder so the fry can't swim out the sides. Make sure the breeder is near a bubbler or filter so that there's water circulating through it. Good luck.