breeding cory's
- Thread starter Chuck_T
- Start date
not on purpose. my cories laid eggs a few months ago (well, they lay them all the time but these particular eggs were laid a few months ago) and i guess a few got sucked up into the filter rather than being eaten by the angelfish. a couple weeks ago i cleaned out the filters on that tank, and found 3 baby cories that had been living inside the filter the whole time.
breeding most cories is fairly easy. a group of six should be good to start with, as you will have a sure mix of male and female. feed them well with algae wafers, sinking shrimp pellets, and occasional bloodworms to fatten them up. a water change with water a couple of degrees cooler simulates the 'rainy season' and usually causes them to spawn within a day or two. once the eggs are laid, the cories and other fish (and snails) will eat them, so you should either remove the eggs into a small fry tank, or breed the cories in a small tank and then remove the adults to the larger main tank. you will need good circulation to prevent fungus, and some people choose to add an anti-fungal medication to the water to prevent dead eggs from infecting viable ones. once the egg is gone, feed a powdered fry food, microworms, and/or baby brine shrimp.
breeding most cories is fairly easy. a group of six should be good to start with, as you will have a sure mix of male and female. feed them well with algae wafers, sinking shrimp pellets, and occasional bloodworms to fatten them up. a water change with water a couple of degrees cooler simulates the 'rainy season' and usually causes them to spawn within a day or two. once the eggs are laid, the cories and other fish (and snails) will eat them, so you should either remove the eggs into a small fry tank, or breed the cories in a small tank and then remove the adults to the larger main tank. you will need good circulation to prevent fungus, and some people choose to add an anti-fungal medication to the water to prevent dead eggs from infecting viable ones. once the egg is gone, feed a powdered fry food, microworms, and/or baby brine shrimp.
I've had success with panda cories. I have the adults in my community tank, so when they lay eggs (mine always lay on the plants) I pick the eggs off, put them in a net bag hanging in the fry tank, then when the eggs hatch the wigglers are released into the fry tank. By hanging the eggs in the fry tank, I can still vacuum the tank without burying the eggs, but they get the benefit of water circulation and the same water conditions they will have after they hatch.
I feed the fry frozen baby brine shrimp, live microworms, and finely crushed flake food. The tank (2.5 gal) has a sand substrate which I "fluff" and vacuum daily, with a turkey baster, which accomplishes a 50% daily water change. Excellent water conditions are key. The water is just tap with Prime. The tank has a couple small Java ferns and a piece of driftwood for the babies to hide on/under.
As far as getting the adults to spawn- who can stop them??!! Mine mate and lay eggs at least once a week. I don't rescue all the eggs, only when the fry tank is getting low, so most of them get eaten by the tetras in the community tank. I feed the adults flakes, with algae wafers and frozen bloodworms once a week or so. Like many others, I've noticed that a largish water change with water a few degrees cooler is a spawning trigger. My biggest spawn to date (>40 eggs; pandas aren't very prolific) was when I did a water change the evening before a huge storm, when the barometric pressure was dropping.
Have fun with your cories- the babies are so cute!
I feed the fry frozen baby brine shrimp, live microworms, and finely crushed flake food. The tank (2.5 gal) has a sand substrate which I "fluff" and vacuum daily, with a turkey baster, which accomplishes a 50% daily water change. Excellent water conditions are key. The water is just tap with Prime. The tank has a couple small Java ferns and a piece of driftwood for the babies to hide on/under.
As far as getting the adults to spawn- who can stop them??!! Mine mate and lay eggs at least once a week. I don't rescue all the eggs, only when the fry tank is getting low, so most of them get eaten by the tetras in the community tank. I feed the adults flakes, with algae wafers and frozen bloodworms once a week or so. Like many others, I've noticed that a largish water change with water a few degrees cooler is a spawning trigger. My biggest spawn to date (>40 eggs; pandas aren't very prolific) was when I did a water change the evening before a huge storm, when the barometric pressure was dropping.
Have fun with your cories- the babies are so cute!
i recommend completely separating the eggs into a different tank because i have not had good luck with the breeder nets or the hard plastic breeding boxes. in my experience (have tried to save eggs three times) they do not get a lot of water flow and the eggs are prone to fungus. it's good to hear that the net does work for some people. for me it just seems to clog with mulm or algae and get kinda stagnant. plus the angelfish i have try to bite through the net and end up damaging the eggs even though they can't eat them.
The net bag I use is one I made, not a net breeder. The mesh has holes just small enough to keep the eggs in, but large enough that the water flow is MUCH better than through a net breeder box (which I have tried, and never had success with.) It's just a simple drawstring bag with a round bottom, that I clip to the tank rim with a clothespin. I got the mesh at a fabric store.
It's only in use for the 5-6 days it takes the eggs to hatch, then I take it out, rinse in hot water, and let dry until the next batch of eggs. It doesn't have time to grow any algae, and since it's in the fry tank, not the community tank, there isn't any mulm to collect on it (daily vac/water change) or fish to harrass it.
Works great for me. YMMV.
It's only in use for the 5-6 days it takes the eggs to hatch, then I take it out, rinse in hot water, and let dry until the next batch of eggs. It doesn't have time to grow any algae, and since it's in the fry tank, not the community tank, there isn't any mulm to collect on it (daily vac/water change) or fish to harrass it.
Works great for me. YMMV.
I remember when you posted that story, it was amazing. Are they all still alive? Wasn't there a little one who lost an eye? Hope they are doing well!
they're all alive and doing fine. never saw any disease or fungus with the little one-eyed guy, and all are now schooling with the adult group.