collecting cory catfish eggs

[Giggletons]

Big Mama Cory's on fire again. Got any advice on how to raise 'em like her?

[Shark]

You've got two options here. Either leave the eggs in the tank, cross your fingers, and hope for a good survival rate, or you can scrape them off the glass and put them in a separate tank or container. I personally prefer the latter.

The way I do it is by gently scraping the eggs into a net, then transferring them to a plastic container filled with the same tank water. For feeding, I start with prepared foods like fine powder or crushed flakes, and then move on to live foods like micro worms, vinegar eels, and brine shrimp. Once they're a bit bigger, I also add Daphnia and grindal worms to the mix. Cory fry grow pretty fast, so after a few weeks, they should be big enough to safely reintroduce them to the main tank.

[Giggletons]

You've got two options here. Either leave the eggs in the tank, cross your fingers, and hope for a good survival rate, or you can scrape them off the glass and put them in a separate tank or container. I personally prefer the latter.

The way I do it is by gently scraping the eggs into a net, then transferring them to a plastic container filled with the same tank water. For feeding, I start with prepared foods like fine powder or crushed flakes, and then move on to live foods like micro worms, vinegar eels, and brine shrimp. Once they're a bit bigger, I also add Daphnia and grindal worms to the mix. Cory fry grow pretty fast, so after a few weeks, they should be big enough to safely reintroduce them to the main tank.

Thanks for the advice. Is there any antibacterial stuff I should be using on the eggs or the fry?

[graye]

Bacterial issues usually only crop up with infertile eggs or a seriously dirty tank. If your setup is decent, you're probably fine as is.

[Giggletons]

Bacterial issues usually only crop up with infertile eggs or a seriously dirty tank. If your setup is decent, you're probably fine as is.

yeah, same thing happened to me last time with tannins

[Shark]

my cory fry, day 1 to 9, i've got a bunch, 70+ of them

[graye]

@Shark, no green-eyed monster here, I swear. Nice job, though.

One thing to consider - some folks add a dash of methylene blue to the mix. It's harmless, but it serves a purpose: dead eggs soak up the dye, making them easy to spot and remove with an eye dropper. That way, you can prevent one bad egg from spoiling the whole batch. Fungus can be a real issue if you're not on top of things, so it's worth keeping an eye out.

[Shark]

graye said:

@Shark, nice job with the cory fry - I'm really not envious or anything. Seriously though, that's a great outcome.

As an aside, some breeders swear by adding a hint of methelyne blue to their egg-rearing setup. It's completely harmless, but it does serve a useful purpose - dead eggs absorb the dye, making it easier to spot and remove them with an eye dropper. This can be a lifesaver, as a single bad egg can cause the whole batch to go off.

[Giggletons]

You've got two options here. Either leave the eggs in the tank, cross your fingers, and hope for a good survival rate, or you can scrape them off the glass and put them in a separate tank or container. I personally prefer the latter.

The way I do it is by gently scraping the eggs into a net, then transferring them to a plastic container filled with the same tank water. For feeding, I start with prepared foods like fine powder or crushed flakes, and then move on to live foods like micro worms, vinegar eels, and brine shrimp. Once they're a bit bigger, I also add Daphnia and grindal worms to the mix. Cory fry grow pretty fast, so after a few weeks, they should be big enough to safely reintroduce them to the main tank.

I was thinking of malachite green, does that work?

[Giggletons]

update: just checked, a day late, and it looks like the fish got to them before i could. however, my tank conditions are suitable for fry, so it's possible that some may have hatched.