Corydoras Aeneus breeding.

[Cory Ben]

Hello all. I've been lingering around reading for a while but I thought I'd try and get some expert advice on breeding my Bronze Corys.

I have a 2ft 60l tank, filtered with an air driven sponge, and also a fluval U2. PH is 6.8. Within the tank I have a piece of wood, some moss, and I also have some Cambomba being used as a floating plant. I've been conditioning the 6 fish I currently have in the tank on carp pellets as advised by another cory breeder. I have tried daily cold water changes dropping the temparature to about 18.5c, followed by live brine shrimp, or frozen bloodworm/ daphnia. Is their any other tricks I can try to get them to spawn. I'm not entirely sure on the sex of the fish I have in their at the moment, I definately have 3 females which I started with, and then added 3 more which I'm not sure of the sex as of yet. The fish I have in are captive bred also. I think that is everything.

Thanks a lot, Ben.

[donpetty]

Hi Ben,
Much of what your saying is going to be good for your efforts,
but, I don't understand what you meant:
"I've been conditioning the 6 fish I currently have in the tank on carp pellets as advised by another cory breeder."

Do you mean that your daily food is Carp Pellets?
I am not sure what the protein and fat content are of this food, but it may or may not be right for your Corydoras.
You might do better with a commercial "Corydoras" sinking pellet food, rather than a food designed for feeding pond fishes.
Maybe someone else here on PC feeds this food and can elaborate on it's nutritional content and usefulness? While I don't think anyone would advocate just feeding one type of food only, I do believe that nutrition is vital to healthy long lived fish. Does your friend have good success with this food?
Very interested,
Don

[Cory Ben]

I'll double check what they are in a moment. I should of clarified I feed frozen foods as well as king british pellets. He has successfully bred more corydoras than I could name. They are definately in better condition since I began with the carp food. Thanks for your reply.

Sent from my GT-S5830i using Tapatalk 2

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I have tried daily cold water changes dropping the temparature to about 18.5c, followed by live brine shrimp, or frozen bloodworm/ daphnia. Is their any other tricks I can try to get them to spawn.

First thing I would do would be to have a look at "Apistomaster" & "Coryman" posts on PC, they have bred lots of different Corydoras spp. and are full of good advice. There are also details on

Corydoras aeneus

page.

Personally I'd try feeding them some Grindal/chopped Red worms (Lumbricus rubellus) as well, that should condition the fish fairly quickly. PM me if you can't find a Grindal/Red worm culture.

I'd leave the water changes a bit longer, so rather than daily go to 50% once a week with cool soft water (rain-water is ideal), once they've spawned I'd go back to daily water changes. It might be worth upping the flow and aeration a bit as well, and if you don't have plants I'd definitely recommend them, partially because they make maintaining water quality a lot easier.

cheers Darrel

[Cory Ben]

Hi, Darrel, Thanks for the reply.

I'll have a look into finding a Grindal worm culture after work tonight. I have read a lot of Corymans posts before. I'll pull some plants out of my main tank as there is plenty in there. I have some Cambomba floating and a little bit planted.

I forgot to mention in my original post, I have a spawning mop in the tank as well, water here is relatively soft and nitrates are 0 from the tap. Not sure if thats relevant but I thought it might be useful.

Cheers, Ben.

[dw1305]

Hi all,

water here is relatively soft and nitrates are 0 from the tap. Not sure if thats relevant but I thought it might be useful.

That is interesting and relevant, is the water from the Quantocks?

We have Wessex Water at home (Corsham, SN13) as well, ours is low nitrate (about 10ppm NO3), but pretty hard (18dKH).

I think some more variety and live food in their diet should definitely make a difference. I "ranch" Daphnia, Mosquito larvae and Blood-worms in the summer, it is a very cheap and easy way of getting live food. Basically you need a bucket, some Daphnia, a floating cork (for the female mosquito to perch on while she lays her eggs) and a handful of dead grass, I like to add a snail as well. <http://www.caudata.org/forum/f1173-adva ... eding.html>

cheers Darrel

[Cory Ben]

I couldn't tell you the hardness exactly, I don't have a kit at the moment. I should get one really. On Wessex waters website it said the water was soft to medium I believe. I'll have a look.

Thanks for that link. I'll set that up tomorrow. Im always concerned about adding nasties to my tank, so how do you clean the larvae? Just under the tap? I've started cultivating my own foods recently, brine shrimp, and I have also started a white worm culture (although nothing has happened yet) for when I do get fry.

Cheers, Ben.

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I couldn't tell you the hardness exactly, I don't have a kit at the moment. I should get one really. On Wessex waters website it said the water was soft to medium I believe. I'll have a look.

You don't need a test kit, just go to: http://www.wessexwater.co.uk/customers/ ... temid=1352 and type in your post code. I posted in "TA2 8AF" and it came out at about 4dKH.

Thanks for that link. I'll set that up tomorrow. Im always concerned about adding nasties to my tank, so how do you clean the larvae? Just under the tap?

Yes, I just rinse them in the net under the tap and add them to 1/2 beaker of rain-water, which I tip in to the tank. Daphnia actually need quite good water quality, so if you have swimming Daphnia the water is OK. They use Daphnia commercially for water testing in the "Daphnia water quality bioassay" <http://ei.cornell.edu/toxicology/bioass ... fault.html>.

I have also started a white worm culture (although nothing has happened yet) for when I do get fry

I've struggled with White worms, they don't like warm weather, Grindal Worms are easier and a lot more prolific, and smaller. I use Banana worms for fry now, they are smaller and more prolific than Micro-worms.

cheers Darrel

[Cory Ben]

I'm not really sure what the numbers mean to be honest. It's says degree Clark 3.78, Degrees German 3.024, and degrees French 5.4. What does all this mean? I've never really looked into what it all means, what defines hard and soft etc.

My white worms have started crawling up the sides today, but if they don't like warm I doubt they will last long.

I showed a picture of the corys in the tank to someone and he said they are too thin, so I need to be working on bulking them up.

Thanks again, Ben.

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Degrees German 3.024

That is the one you want, it means your water is soft. 1 dH is "One degree German" and defined as 10 milligrams of calcium oxide (CaO) per litre of water. This is equivalent to 17.85 milligrams of calcium carbonate per litre of water, or 17.85 ppm. So you have about 50ppm dKH.

I've assumed (because we are on the hardness page) it is referring to the carbonate hardness (dKH), but it maybe dGH. GH stands for General Hardness (Total Hardness) and is a measurement of total multivalent cations in the water. KH stands for carbonate hardness (Temporary Hardness) and is a measurement of multivalent cations that are carbonates and bicarbonates. The problem is that both GH and KH are expressed in equivalents of CaCO3.

In the UK dGH and dKH tend to be closely linked, as most of the aquifers are limestone (CaCO3), meaning that both Ca++ and 2HCO3- ions are dissolved raising both dGH & dKH.

My white worms have started crawling up the sides today, but if they don't like warm I doubt they will last long.

It is not a good sign, I'd re-culture and you need as cool a place as possible for them in the summer, that is partially why Grindal worms are easier as they are more productive at 25oC.

Have a look at these: <http://www.simplydiscus.com/library/foo ... ture.shtml> &<http://www.killi.co.uk/grindalworms.php>.

I showed a picture of the corys in the tank to someone and he said they are too thin, so I need to be working on bulking them up.

The females should be really tubby before they spawn.

cheers Darrel

[Cory Ben]

Just a quick update, they are full of eggs so fingers crossed they'll spawn in the next day or so. Dopped the temp to 19c last night and will do again this evening. Cyclops seems to of done the trick.

Sent from my GT-S5830i using Tapatalk 2

[Cory Ben]

No joy as of yet, the most recent additions aren't fat enough yet, and I suspect that it may be a group of 5 females and 1 male. What are the chances of them spawning still with the male out numbered?

[minipol]

Would you stop spawning if you have 5 healthy females at your disposal?

[Cory Ben]

Ha very true. I wasnt sure if the females would want a choice, or more than 1 male to get her in the mood. I'll keep working on fattening them up. They may be a little bit small yet anyway.