Cory eggs--what next?

dcewing

dcewing

AC Members
Jul 15, 2007
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Seahawks Country
My c. aeneus (bronze cories) spawned for me yesterday. I had kind of been encouraging them, but was not expecting anything this week. My filter sponge over the inlet had gotten rather yucky and the flow to my filter slowed way down which led to a small ammonia spike in my tank. Perhaps the extra water changes triggered the activity along with the rain front that moved through.

There's well over 100 eggs. I have pulled some leaves with eggs and they are floating in a container in the tank. Probably 3/4 of the eggs remain in the tank.

Tank occupants are: 5 c. aeneus (appeared that only the 3 greens participated, the albinos are smaller), 1 albino bushynose plec, amano and cherry shrimp, and red ramshorn snails.

Most of the eggs remain after 24 hours, a few disappeared overnight.

My dilemma is what to do next. I do have a 5 gallon tank I can set up and use the sponge filter currently in the main tank (main tank has AC50 as main filter). Or can I leave the eggs in place and hope to raise a few fry? I guess my biggest concern is being able to feed the babies in the main tank (20 long), but would rather not move them to the 5 gal if I don't have to.

Also, are special fry foods required? We have a super fine fry powder which my daughter has been feeding her platy fry. Do I really need BBS or microworms or such?

Any one have experience with this? I've done quite a bit of reading hear at AC and on the web. Opinions seem to vary a lot.
 
If you leave the eggs in the main tank, a lot of them will probably get eaten. The cories and shrimp will definitely eat some eggs! If you remove them to a separate tank, you'll have to add some meth. blue to avoid fungus as well as provide an airstone for water circulation around the eggs. One of the things that I did was gather some eggs, put them in a fine mesh media bag and attached the bag to the top of the main tank, right in the direct flow from the filter for circulation and let them hatch in the media bag. Once hatched, I put them in a 5 gallon tank by themselves to grow. The powdered food like Hikari first bites is an excellent food to start them on. It worked fine for me when I didn't have microworms. If some of the babies survive in the main tank, they will hide around the base of plants and forage for tiny pieces of food, and you won't see them for a while till they get a bit bigger. They know how to hide real well. My first baby cory was a surprise in my planted 55G tank. It was several weeks before I first saw it. Good luck to you, baby cories are a blast!
 
One of the things that I did was gather some eggs, put them in a fine mesh media bag and attached the bag to the top of the main tank, right in the direct flow from the filter for circulation and let them hatch in the media bag. Once hatched, I put them in a 5 gallon tank by themselves to grow.
Click to expand...

What an excellent idea!! I will try that next time. Thanks Deb!
 
When my cories spawn, I will do whatever Deb says. :)

Great suggestions!
 
Thanks!

Thanks guys! Your ideas are helpful:thm:. Looks like quite a few eggs were not fertilized, but enough seem to be developing that we should have some fun. I think I'll move some and leave some. Will update when I have more to share.
 
Good luck!

After hatching mine didn't eat for 3-4 days, which was worrisome, but that's how it's suppose to be. I fed them every day since hatching and had to siphon all the food out every day anyway..
 
They've hatched!

Well, the eggs I had set aside have hatched and all the eggs in the tank are gone. There were many eggs left last night, so I'm assuming they mostly hatched as well.

I have attempted a few pictures, the macro on my camera is not so great. But this gives a perspective on their tiny, tiny size!

The first shows 4 tiny fry (look like teeny white tadpoles). The second shows a single fry half on and off the left of the penny (penny was under the cup, not in!) I included this one even though it's way out of focus to give perspective on their size.

8-4-08 Newborn cory fry.jpg 8-4-08 Newborn cory fry penny.jpg
 
Congrats! I know they are really tiny! My pygmies spawned and the eggs hatched in my planted 20G, I'm wondering how many weeks until I can spot one of them! Good luck to you. Remember, you won't have to feed the baby cories for 3 or 4 days, until the egg sac is used up. Egg sac is their first nourishment.
 
Babies Spotted!

I've seen babies in my main tank already (at 5 days). I only see them when they move, otherwise they blend in far too well. It's funny to see them go into a "cave" made by a couple pieces of gravel. They seem to be growing and must be finding things to eat. I have been feeding them the powdered fry food, but haven't actually seen them eat it. The shrimp are enjoying it though.

The babies in the fry tank are growing and becoming far more visible as well. It's amazing how well they can hide in a bare bottom tank with only a sponge filter and some java moss! It is an old metal frame tank with lots of silicone, so the edges apparently make good camoflage.

I know they're easy fish to spawn, but it sure is a fun introduction to egg layers. Only raised livebearer fry before this.
 
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