How do you breed cories?

[Piranha86]

A SLFS (Somewhat Local Fish Store) has a bunch of full or almost full grown cories of the following species:
Skunk cory
Panda cory
Aeneus(sp?) cory
Peppered cory
Pygmy cory (Not sure if they're full grown)
Which am I best off breeding and are there any breeding suggestions. I could do a 30g breeding tank.

[spencerguy1]

im not sure you can.

[Piranha86]

im not sure you can.
Most in stores aren't wild caught... I know of several people who breed them.

[spencerguy1]

oh.

[Piranha86]

Any other 'suggestions'?

[user_name]

sorry dude, I don't have much experience. I would say pygmy's just because they are hard to find and would have more trade value. If your looking for something to breed, look into killifish. They are attractive fish but aren't that popular. I would love to get my hands on some..... ps. I heard that most are easy to breed (not quite livebearers but almost)

[Chrisinator]

Pepper and Bronze (C. Aenues) are probably the easiest ones to breed. Never looked into breeding them btu from seeing other people, those two would be your best bet.

[Piranha86]

Thanks guys.

[Ara]

Well, I have had some luck with breeding cories, although it was entirely incidental.. but here's my tips..

Give them lots of plants/hiding spaces...
Keep the water relatively shallow (I would say no more than 12")...
Feed the 'parents' reeally well on meaty foods, like frozen bloodworms or brineshrimp..
Then try dropping some icecubes in their tank to 'simulate rain', which helps them feel like it is their natural habitat.

When they do breed, they will lay eggs either on the tank walls ro on plants. As cories and other fish will find the eggss as nice snacks, you will need to be prepared to either collect the egss or move the parents after the eggs are laid. IMHO, it would be easier to move the parents, as the eggs are hard to collect without damaging.

You will need some good airflow througout your tank to avoid the eggs growing fungus... and some good tiny fry food, like psyloplankton.

If I was to choose between the given species for breeding, I would go with peppered, but that is just because it is the one I am most familiar with. Any of them would be fine..

Here's a few decent sites for more tips:
http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/breeding/54354-breeding-cories.html
http://www.fishchannel.com/freshwater-aquariums/fish-breeding/bronze-cory.aspx


Good luck!

[Piranha86]

Thanks, Ara!

[Ara]

No problem!

Just be sure to post pics if you are successful! :)

[Ratlova30]

I accidentally got my bronze corys to breed. I was moving my 55gal tetra tank to a new room and moved all the fish to a ten gal with tank water. No filter or heater. They were in that tank for at least a couple hours when I finally was able to set up the 55gal again. I moved them back into the 55gal and the next night I had eggs on the glass. Most of them had been eaten by a betta and snails but I scraped the last 8 or so off the glass with my debit card and six hatched and survived. From what I read in addition to all the different kinds of foods I was giving them what induced breeding was the temperature drop. They required no special care as to raising them. I gave them an algae covered plant and then after the were a few days old I started feeding the baby first bites.

[petluvr]

Go with the Aeneus they will breed VERY readily. Simply condition them by feeding meaty foods and then doing a large cold water change and usually the next morning, if they are ready, you will see eggs.

[excuzzzeme]

Go with the Aeneus they will breed VERY readily. Simply condition them by feeding meaty foods and then doing a large cold water change and usually the next morning, if they are ready, you will see eggs.

Agreed. Sometimes when I do a waterchange I will refill with cooler water. When refilling, I allow the new water to splash into the tank as if it were a storm runoff. Sometime during the next few days I see eggs on everything. I don't collect them and yet a couple will manage to mature.

[GuppyGirl1230]

Well, I have had some luck with breeding cories, although it was entirely incidental.. but here's my tips..

Give them lots of plants/hiding spaces...
Keep the water relatively shallow (I would say no more than 12")...
Feed the 'parents' reeally well on meaty foods, like frozen bloodworms or brineshrimp..
Then try dropping some icecubes in their tank to 'simulate rain', which helps them feel like it is their natural habitat.

When they do breed, they will lay eggs either on the tank walls ro on plants. As cories and other fish will find the eggss as nice snacks, you will need to be prepared to either collect the egss or move the parents after the eggs are laid. IMHO, it would be easier to move the parents, as the eggs are hard to collect without damaging.

You will need some good airflow througout your tank to avoid the eggs growing fungus... and some good tiny fry food, like psyloplankton.

If I was to choose between the given species for breeding, I would go with peppered, but that is just because it is the one I am most familiar with. Any of them would be fine..

Here's a few decent sites for more tips:
http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/breeding/54354-breeding-cories.html
http://www.fishchannel.com/freshwater-aquariums/fish-breeding/bronze-cory.aspx


Good luck!

Great advice Ara, I have wanted to breed my albinos, so thank you for the info!!:D

Maribeth

[jetajockey]

I'm attempting to get some corys to spawn also, I've been doing 25% wc with lower temp water, and have seen the males getting feisty with the females, but no dice yet.

[Piranha86]

Thanks guys, where do you find 'black aeneus' cories?

[gspille]

My emerald corys bred, but I never got to them to save too many to raise. I started out with 5 about 6 months ago, and I now have 11.

[Piranha86]

sorry dude, I don't have much experience. I would say pygmy's just because they are hard to find and would have more trade value. If your looking for something to breed, look into killifish. They are attractive fish but aren't that popular. I would love to get my hands on some..... ps. I heard that most are easy to breed (not quite livebearers but almost)
Yeah, I think I'm going to try Fp. Gardneri N'Sukka. If they breed I'll send you a few :D

[aviva90]

I got a question for breeding cories as well, figured I'd put it here if that's ok. How old are cories before I can start breeding them?

[guppy226]

I got a question for breeding cories as well, figured I'd put it here if that's ok. How old are cories before I can start breeding them?

I'm not sure how old exactly, but i always wait untill they are full size. I use bare bottom 10g's for the smaller species such as pandas, and 20g longs for greens and albinos. I usually have 1-2 potted amazon swords in the tank. I try to put 4 males and two females in each tank. Then i do a 25% water change and add cool water back in. I raise about 600-700 corys so far this year.

Good Luck! :thm:

[aviva90]

Wow, ok thanks good to know. I have 8 julii cories, and they are too small to really figure out the gender atm. Just wondering for the future, I LOVE these guys and can't wait for them to grow up and have babies =]

[archer772]

OK I would like to jump in and ask a question, how do you sex cories.

[aviva90]

Females are larger and rounder than the males of the same age. To my knowledge this is the only way to tell... maybe someone knows other ways?

[Piranha86]

OK I would like to jump in and ask a question, how do you sex cories.
You look from above. Female looks 'pregnant'.

[pinkertd]

Aeneus are by far the easiest to breed. But they have to be full grown, fully mature. If they are not, all the cool water changes in the world won't do a thing. There's no mistaking a female cory close to spawning. They get so round around the middle that you could easily think they have dropsy. At this point, even without a water change with cooler water...they will spawn. Most cories like to spawn in the early morning hours. You may notice a flurry of spastic, crazy activity while glancing at the tank. The males go a little nutzo when they are after the spawning females. I feed lots of frozen blood worms to all the cories I've bred. Some cories take longer to mature than others. Take sterbai for instance...they will not be spawning until after 2 years of age. Keep to the bigger cories until you get some experience under your belt. Then you may want to tackle a cory species that's a bit more difficult. I always heard sterbai were difficult to breed but found them very, very easy.

As far as the black cories.....They are not often available. I have a group of 12 that are well over a year old but showing no signs of nearing spawning shape. So it looks like these guys need lots of owner patience too.