I recently upgraded to a bigger snail tank, so the 15 gallon was empty. I decided to redo it with a sand substrate and put a school of cory catfish in it. I bought 3 cories two weeks ago, and on Thursday they spawned, laying 22 eggs on a plant leave. I went last night and bought a breeder net and snipped the piece of plant off and placed it in the net. I have been surfing websites to learn about the eggs. Not ten minutes ago I checked on the eggs, to find that they are starting to hatch!! I am so excited, not to mention surprised. No way I can attempt to get pics until they start growing....about 1/8 inch long, completely translucent body with a dark spot for a head. And I thought baby snails were tiny! I can't nelieve it! I hope they all survive and grow....I will keep updating. Wow!

Waaa baby cories!! Please do update and don't forget the piccies

wowowowowow ! How cool- and how exciting. Congratulations on the babies, what a wonderful surprise

That's awesome!! I'll bet cory fry are super cute

Too adorable! Please post some pics once you can.



I love corys.

Awesome! My cories have never spawned--your conditions must be perfect.

Hey thanks guys! Well so far so good. They appear to be growing a little bit. But they are still so tiny! They move around so quick, it's hard to say for certain how many there are, but I have counted about 18. I have no idea what I'm gonna do with them! Oh well, I'm just enjoying being a first-time cory mommy.

Update....they spawned again tonight! Little devils....I got to watch as he fertilized her eggs and she carried them around in her pectoral fins, searching for a place to lay them. So cool! I count 22 eggs again....must be her magic number...that's how many eggs she laid the first time. I will make an attempt at pics tomorrow.

I just found 12 more eggs she laid on a plant leaf....I'm gonna be up to my ears in babies!

Very cool!!! Sounds like your two cories are in love

wow congrats, I can't wait to see pics. I like corys.

Time for another update! This morning when I checked on them I found that the adults had eaten over half of the eggs. Apparently this is not uncommon behavior in cories. One form of population control huh! Oh well, I still have about 18 babies to think about. Which brings me to my pics.....

Here are a few I took of the fry....they look like miniature tadpoles. They are less than 1/4" long. Hard to get pics of!
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/CritterKeepr/fry.jpg
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/CritterKeepr/fry2.jpg
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/CritterKeepr/fry3.jpg
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/CritterKeepr/fry4.jpg
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/Crit.../frycloseup.jpg

Here's a pic of the proud parents.
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/Crit...spawningduo.jpg

This is the setup I have the cories in. The fry are in the breeder net.
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/Crit.../tankfrynet.jpg

And last, but not least....I think I have a rare new species of catfish. Can anyone identify it?
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/Crit...epr/CATfish.jpg

Enjoy!!

Hee, Hee, someone ring National Geographic! Goldyfan discovered a tabby cory!! lol.

What a nice tank you have for your cories, that is something I'd like to do sometime when I have a vacant tank. You really do have a pair of great breeders there and you could raise hundreds of them if you had the facilities otherwise the best contraceptive is just to let the adults eat the eggs. Meanwhille it will be nice to watch how your existng fry grow. Good luck.

Congrats on the cory fry, what plant is that in ur tank?

Love your cories! I think I have that same breeding net....

Your tank looks really nice, and good luck!

Thanks Annette! Yes they are definitely good at, uhm, breeding. tehe

Powerdragon, I am not sure what type of plant it is. I go to a large craft store and get the greenery garland/bushes and use those in a few of my tanks. If you buy them on sale, they are much cheaper than aquarium plants. They are 100% safe, as they are silk and plastic. Any metal or wires in them is completely covered with plastic so it cannot rust or oxidize. Also, the cories prefer subdued lighting so this helps to give them lots of 'shade.'

Thanks Petperson! I am so glad I used sand in the tank...they love to root around in it for food. It's fun to watch them too.

Well tonight I can see that their bodies are starting to darken. They are getting to be alot more active now, rooting around for food. It seems they are getting bigger every day! It is so amazing.

Congrats on your new cories

I really like them

So there is just the two cories in the tank?

I i want to know where you got that catfish

Thanks FC!

I have 4 adults in the tank, and then the fry are in the breeder net.

Yeah and how'd she get outta the tank?!?

Congrats on your cory fry. They look soooooo cute. I've gotten eggs a few times before from my cories but they were never fertilized. I think I actually had a group of all females that decided to lay eggs anyways.

Are you saving any eggs from the second laying?

Thanks Kusackaid! Well, I wasn't sure if they were all fertilized or not, so I was watching for any color change. But, over a span of two days, the adults ate all the eggs. So...now I'm just watching the fry! I am feeding them 3x a day, and as soon as I drop the food in they all come out and start gobbling it up! It's so cute to watch.

Another update:
Fry are growing fast! The bigger ones are about 1/2 inch long now; if I squint real hard I can see their barbels. Soo cute! I went to do a water change on the tank tonite, and guess what I saw darting around the tank? 2 tiny fry! Apparently not all of the second batch of eggs were eaten like I thought, and a couple hatched. So I grabbed the ol' turkey baster and sucked them up and put them in the breeder net with the others. Whew! Tiny little buggers, hard to see and harder to catch.

What piggies! I have been feeding Hikari First Bites since about day three...as soon as it hits the water they smell it and go crazy! I still don't know what I'm gonna do with them all. Who knows- they're so cute I might have to keep them!

I will take more pics in the next day or so!

Yay!

Another update! The fry are about 3 weeks old now, with 13 remaining. Last week my A/C froze up in my apartment, letting the temp rise to about 85* inside. Tank temps crept up fast, so I pulled all heater plugs. Bad idea! A/C was fixed the next daywhile I was at work. The maintenance crew turned my thermostat down to 70*, which turned my place into an iceberg. I got home from work that night to five dead fry. I am assuming the sudden change in temp caused this. I have lost a few more since, but the remaining 13 are growing and healthy.

Pics! I moved the fry into the 10g Qtank tonight, and they are loving the room! And they got their first taste of shrimp pellets. So here are some updated pics. With their cute little spots, they almost look like julii cories. They are about an inch long now, but they have a ways to grow yet. My cute little babies!!

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/Crit...pr/fry3wks4.jpg
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/Crit...pr/fry3wks3.jpg
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/Crit...pr/fry3wks2.jpg
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/Crit...epr/fry3wks.jpg

OOOOh I love baby fish! they are so adorable!!!

Oh they are so adorable
Glad to hear so many are doing well.

Oh, so cute!!! Good luck with them!

Awwwww, they are very cute! They don't know how lucky they are...

Oh my gosh they are so CUTE!!

Thoughtsofjoy, I like your little fishie in that picture... Ziggy. LOL.

He is adorable, yeah? Unfortunately I can't claim him as my own-- he's Imber's adorable pouty fish. Perfect expression for the sentiment though.

Thank you everyone! Well I am sad to report that I have lost another fry. I found him this morning. But...I am hopeful that the remaining 12 will continue to thrive.

On a side note, I think the adults are spawning again. Seems to be a favorite thing for them to do after a rather large water change. See? Just goes to show you: clean water = happy fish!! Thank goodness for that Qt I have...guess I should rename it nursery tank huh! I have a hunch I find eggs before the day is over.

LOL Goldyfan. Before you know it you'll have 5 tanks full of Corydoras.

Shh don't say that! I'd go broke paying the water and electric bills. Nah, I am gonna go to an lfs and see about selling some of them once they are big enough. And a friend at work may take a couple too. But I'm sure I'll keep a couple too!

Aww..... too bad you don't have well water. It is free and chlorine-free!!!!! As for electricity, well.... I agree. I would go broke too.

S'okay...my little aqua babies are worth every penny. Those cories keep spawning like they have been, I may be able to make a little money selling fry. That is, if I can part with them all.

Your babies are precious!!! I didn't know bronze cories were spotted in their juvenile stage. Sure wish mine would spawn but I only have 3 bronzes and am not sure if they are all boys or all girls anyway!

Thanks Kristi! Yah I didn't know they were spotted either. If you can get a good look at their pectoral fins, you should be able to tell which is male or female. The female's pectoral fins are more rounded, whereas the male's are more pointy. Hope this helps!

Goldyfan, is that true for all types of corys, or just the bronzes?

Liz are you referring to the fin shape? I think it's true for all cories. I learned it after researching some web sites when they first spawned. Of course, when they are resting it's hard to get a good look at their pectoral fins. Also in most cories the female will be 'fatter' looking in the abdomen, and generally a bit bigger than the males.

I spotted 27 more eggs last night on a plant leaf. Holy carp! I think it's time to call the lfs and ask her if she's interested huh! Nice to know my cories are happy but man...

On a side note, the fry are doing well. I will try to post more pics later today.

Your spawning cories just love there tank

Soon you water bill and electric bill will be paid with you cories in no time

LOL FishCrazy! You're right about that! These eggs should hatch in the next day or two. I put the eggs in a breeder net, so now I just wait and see.

Maybe the adults think the tank is not populated enough. They are after all a safety in numbers type of fish.