Spawning C. pygmaeous, Need help please

[captmicha]

So I've never really been good at getting any egg layers to spawn before. So I'm trying to do everything right in order to get my pygmy cordoras to spawn.

My breeding set up:
75 degrees F.
8.6 pH
10 gallon, dim lighting, planted with driftwood, and sand substrate, DIY air driven box filter. Some scattered dried, oak leaves.
I'm going to condition them on baby red wrigglers and daphnia. Maybe some Repashy spawn and grow gel food.
Then after conditioning, I'm going to TRY to do the first water change right before a rain storm. With cooler water, about 10 degrees cooler, and add another air pump to the tank. And maybe use a stronger air pump for the filter as well.

When conditioning, I'm trying to stimulate the dry season. I once read something about letting a bunch of water evaporate but I can't find that article again. How is this achieved without letting the water line get below the filter intake tube (has to be high for an air driven one) and without ammonia, nitrites and nitrates getting deadly? Can I simulate this by adding some DIY African cichlid salt? I'm thinking the concentrated water from evaporated will increase the TDS and that's what's getting the corys in the mood.

When I'm in the period that I'm supposed to do the cooler water changes, what do I set the heater at? And how many days am I supposed to do the water changes for?

How often should I be feeding them their live foods during conditioning?

Is five too few to be spawning? I'm pretty sure I have 3-4 males in the group.

Thanks!

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Have a look at Shane's article: <http://www.planetcatfish.com/shanesworl ... cle_id=238> and Apistomaster's posts here: <http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... =6&t=29511>, I use the "fine leaved plant and ceramic ring method" as well now. Leaf litter is also invaluable.

I'm going to condition them on baby red wrigglers and daphnia.

Even baby red wrigglers might be a bit big. Try micro-worms and Grindal worms as well. They really like small food items, so Micro-worms are ideal.

Mine us

[CarlDeller]

isn't that too high of a ph ?

[dw1305]

Hi all,

isn't that too high of a ph ?

The simple answer is "yes",

Corydoras pygmaeus

is a soft water fish, and the pH of the water it live in will nearly always be acidic. My Corydoras pygmaeus spawned in a heavily planted tank with about 4dKH and 100 microS conductivity. There is photo in this thread <http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... =5&t=36665>(fry are

Corydoras hastatus

), but it is the same tank.

Having said that I tend to ignore pH values, unless there is some measure of carbonate hardness (dKH) quoted as well. The problem is that the water could be extremely hard and almost infinitely buffered, or it could be soft water that has been treated with NaOH to increase the pH (this is the situation over much of the UK), or it could be water that is pretty near pure H2O, where the high pH is as a result of the oxygen produced during photosynthesis.

All 3 of the scenarios are very different in terms of water chemistry, but could all have pH values of ~ pH8.

And back to the pH tank that my Corydoras pygmaeus/hastatus spawned in? about pH6.5 before lights on, and nearer to pH8 by mid-afternoon.

cheers Darrel

[captmicha]

Whoops! I meant 6.8 pH! I wrote it in reverse for some reason.

The baby red wrigglers are the same size as grindal worms. They work very well.

I read the spawning article hosted on this website and it didn't give any real breeding information. Just general care info... No breeding specifics. Thought that was weird.

I like the ceramic rings idea! Thanks. I'm going to start doing the water changes next time it rains, which they're calling for Friday. I have to do a mini until then, I guess.

[Marine590622]

How is it going? Any update?

[captmicha]

No good. I got nothing. :/ I think I'm going to get a few more and then try again in a few months. I need to transfer my worms anyways so they won't be feed-able for a while.

I found out a new technique where you fast them for three (or two, I can't remember) days and some other peculiar things but people say it works.

[apistomaster]

To my knowledge I was the first to describe liberal use of ceramic rings as a means to provide numerous shelters for dwarf Corydoras species breeding colonies. I always bred them in colonies lasting several years.
I used it with great success breeding C. hastatus and C. habrosus.
Never got around to trying it with C. pygmeus but due to their similar habits of C. hastatus I believe it would work well.
I would encourage the use of soft water and feeding mostly live foods. I also changed about 3/4 the tank water every third day.
I don't believe it is necessary to attempt to simulate dry seasons with these fish.
I use a lot of chilled newly hatched brine shrimp nauplii and live worms. Chilled Artemia nauplii sink to and stay longer on the bottom where the newly hatched fry do most of their foraging.
I also used these in Apistogramma fry rearing tanks. It seemed to help increasing even growth and better balanced sex ratios.I hypothesize that male aggression towards females begins much sooner than I can sex them. Apistogramma are some what notorious for sex ratios skewed towards males. Lots of different opinions as to why but mine is the only one I know that isn't based on pH and/or temperatures during fertilization and incubation.

[Marine590622]

To my knowledge I was the first to describe liberal use of ceramic rings as a means to provide numerous shelters for dwarf Corydoras species breeding colonies. I always bred them in colonies lasting several years.
I used it with great success breeding C. hastatus and C. habrosus.
Never got around to trying it with C. pygmeus but due to their similar habits of C. hastatus I believe it would work well.
I would encourage the use of soft water and feeding mostly live foods. I also changed about 3/4 the tank water every third day.
I don't believe it is necessary to attempt to simulate dry seasons with these fish.
I use a lot of chilled newly hatched brine shrimp nauplii and live worms. Chilled Artemia nauplii sink to and stay longer on the bottom where the newly hatched fry do most of their foraging.
I also used these in Apistogramma fry rearing tanks. It seemed to help increasing even growth and better balanced sex ratios.I hypothesize that male aggression towards females begins much sooner than I can sex them. Apistogramma are some what notorious for sex ratios skewed towards males. Lots of different opinions as to why but mine is the only one I know that isn't based on pH and/or temperatures during fertilization and incubation.

I am interested in this, are your breeding reports still available on here?

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I am interested in this, are your breeding reports still available on here?

It is the link early in the thread <http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... =6&t=29511>.

Have a look at Shane's article: <http://www.planetcatfish.com/shanesworl ... cle_id=238>....... and I use the "fine leaved plant and ceramic ring method" as well now. Leaf litter is also invaluable.

I've found that it is well worth reading "Apistomasters" posts on any fish keeping subject.

cheers Darrel

[apistomaster]

I haven't maintained any breeding logs.
I have extensively posted on this forum in the past exactly how I have bred the fish I have worked with.
I think we all have to find our own way to a large extent because there are so many variables or things taken for granted that are difficult to convey to one another. Language has limits. Over the years I have found that sharing all I have learned isn't enough to convey sufficient information.
I have over 50 years of experience breeding fish and if it had been important to me I would have had high numbers of "breeder's points".
I lost count of all the species of fish I have successfully bred.
Unfortunately in these last four years or so my health problems have forced me to give up breeding and I now only have one 75 gal tank to keep 6 L260 and 6 H. contradens. I sold all my other fish and tanks.
At least I can continue to share my experiences here and elsewhere.
There comes a time when we all have to pass the torch to the next generations of hobbyists but I still vicariously enjoy reading about the successes and discoveries of others.

[christiansen]

...chilled newly hatched brine shrimp nauplii ....

care to share more details? you put the brine shrimp nauplii in the fridge for a while before you feed them?

[apistomaster]

I adopted the practice of harvesting my large hatches of Artemia nauplii daily then storing them in the refrigerator.
I always use a Reef salt @ 1 tbs/gal for both hatching and storage.
I put the harvested nauplii in a plastic shoe box in >1" of clean saltwater. This is approximately one pint or 500 ml.
This made it easier to feed the fish several times a day but only having to harvest one time a day.
The chilled nauplii may last 48 hours although not all will be alive they remain edible for most species except for the rare species which insists upon living foods.

[Marine590622]

Somewhere on here someone mentioned leaving the eggs/fry with the parents, and adding RCS to the tank. I have a group of C pygmaeous I am going to be setting up in a ten, I was wondering if I could toss rainbow mops in with then and expect them to leave the rainbow eggs alone as well?

[christiansen]

thanx for the tip Larry ! i do something like this with my backup mikroworm culture. keep them in a small plastic box for 1-2 months .

[apistomaster]

I also kept mikroworm cultures going for the event of a failed Artemia hatch and for variety.