breeding corydoras eques

[nabulus]

Hi all,
In March I bought 15 wild caught C. eques adults. I split them into two 20G tanks. One group has 7 and another has 8. Both have mixed sexes. I have put floating plants and mops in those two tanks. The females have big bellies and males are also quite large. I think that they have reached sex maturity. They have been doing very well. However, there has been zero sign of spawning activities in the past few months.

I am also keeping sterbai, similis and duplicareus breeding groups and they all have been spawning quite frequently, especially from late fall to early spring. The water parameters for these tanks (including eques tanks) are similar: particularly, the water temp is around 76-80F and PH is around 6.5-7.3.

Do you have any suggestion? What else do you think I should try? Many thanks!

- Nabulus

[backstreetgambler]

My corys use to respond well to increased water movement and oxygenation. Combined with live food such as black worms, white worms, grindal(?) worms etc, might do the trick for yours.

Niklas

[bekateen]

Hi @Nabulus,

I have no personal experience with

Corydoras eques

, but I have heard that the "triggers" that work for one cory species often don't work for others, so take what I say here with a grain of salt. Of course there are the basic triggers (cool-temperature WC, feed worms or other high protein food, increased water current, especially along a glass face of the aquarium), but I imagine you've already tried those since you breed other corys. Beyond that, there are several resources here that might be helpful:

• Go to the C. eques Cat-eLog page and read the three breeding reports on file:
  • mummymonkey (b: 55),
  • Rita Aspevik (b: 53),
  • Zulan (b: 50)
• Have you searched the forums for other people's posts on C. eques?
  • Corydoras Eques Breeding and Young
  • C. eques keeping and breeding
• There is a general article in Shane's World about breeding corys (So you want to breed Corys?), and several other specific articles in Shane's World (Shane's World > Reproduction) about breeding particular cory species; although none of these are for eques, they might give you some ideas.

You can also try joining the US Corydoras Keepers on FaceBook and ask them for help, or join Corydorasworld.com and ask there. Both are wonderful resources.

By the way, I'm a stone's throw away from you in Stockton, CA. If you ever do get your eques to breed, I'd be overjoyed to buy some youngsters from you. I'd appreciate it if you keep me in mind.

Cheers, Eric

[nabulus]

Niklas & Eric,
Thanks a lot for your suggestion.
Next thing I will try is to only leave 3-4 eques in the breeding tanks. Currently I have 7 and 8, respectively. Not sure if this change will work...

Eric, do you go to SFAS meetings/auctions? I sometimes go.

Best, Ke

[bekateen]

Eric, do you go to SFAS meetings/auctions? I sometimes go.

Hi Ke,

No I've never been to an SFAS meeting. But it would be a nice road trip. . I attend the Sacramento Aquarium Society meetings in Folsom. If you're bored and free on Aug. 6th, I'm the featured speaker... If you can make it, you won't be free anymore, but you might still get bored.

If you do breed the eques, please keep me informed.

Cheers, Eric

[nabulus]

Hey Eric, if you are looking for eques you can find them from US.

1. https://aquaticclarity.com/index.php/in-stock-fish/
2. http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/ ... 1484883021
3. http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/ ... 1485132483

I got my eques from source (1) last March

However, I have not succeeded breeding them, no matter what I tried. Males occasionally chase females and show some breeding-like behaviors 1-2 days after a water change but that is it. I have several other corys and they all breed regularly (especially during the winter).

- Ke

[cartouche]

I breed this species regularly with carp pituitary (I don't waste my time with problematic Corydoras anymore - it's not worthy of the frustration). But hatching the eggs seems to be quite difficult. I cannot hit the right chemistry. It was not so surprising that I raised only 7 pieces out of c. 250 eggs in my alkaline tap water (pH 8.1, 9.6 dGH), although Corydoras green laser hatch in it well. However, even at pH 7.1 and 4.8 dGH, the hatching rate was very poor. Next time, I will try the typical Amazon water (pH 6.5, 2 dGH).

Corydoras usually do not have particularly high demands, as for water chemistry, and I remember that I have had only two such issues - with C. trilineatus and one form of C. duplicareus. Both needed softer and acidic water.

[aquaholic]

Hello Cartouche, are the eggs fertilised? Egg - cell development is very obvious under a microscope.

If eggs are developing, do they stall at same/similar stages? My initial suspicion is low dissolved oxygen or overdose of anti fungal medication. Developing eggs have a high oxygen demand.

Do you de-sticky the eggs and incubate in MacDonald jar or spread eggs over a screen to hatch? I use a home made oxygen chamber & UV on my hatching system.