The Case of the Vanishing Cory Eggs

[Onsaud]

Last Saturday I noticed two or three little white balls scattered around the tank. I was excited—cory eggs at last! Monday confirmed this when I saw two of my pygmaeus enter the T-position (unsuccessfully—the female tipped over and lost purchase after a few seconds) and even lay an egg before my eyes. I counted seven eggs on the glass and went off, naturally, to catalogue the breeding report here on PlanetCatfish. No less than an hour after I'd seen the cories mate, I visited the tank to find that every single egg was gone! There was nothing left of them but little circles of sticky residue.

I don't know how long pygmy cory eggs take to hatch, but I'm assuming it's more than a day. So were they eaten? It seems unlikely that every single egg would be found and eaten in such a small time frame when they had been on the glass for days prior, but I can't think up any alternatives. The other animals in the tank are a male guppy, a juvenile male honey gourami, an assassin snail (probably not the culprit, it didn't move the whole day) and some pond snails.

Update: So, I did some reading and it turns out cory eggs hatch in only a few days. That makes hatching a more reasonable explanation, but it still can't account for the sudden and total disappearance, especially since most of the eggs were laid a day or so apart.

[dw1305]

Hi all,

and some pond snails

I think that is probably the answer.

cheers Darrel

[Onsaud]

That fast? Grrr. Well, at least it's not an animal I like; I'm trying to get them out but they just keep coming back. I should set up a trap.