Trilineatus spawning in 'community' tank.

Buzzer · Post by **Buzzer** » 20 Apr 2004, 09:18

Hi,

After only 3 weeks of been in their new home my 4 Trilineatus have been spawning. I think due to their relative immaturity they have only laid 5-10 eggs over the last 5-6 days. The first ones laid got fungus but there are 6 remaining (2 from last night) which look to be developing OK. As well as the 4 Trilineatus there are only 3 bristlenoses and 1 L200 in the tank with them. All water parameters are excellent (regular water changes of 20%) - PH7, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, <5 nitrate.

My question is what are the chances of any of these surviving in the 4' 'community' tank that they are in right now?

I'm not experienced with breeding cories (yet) and don't have a breeding tank set-up yet. Any advice welcome.

Buzz

Post by **corybreed** » 20 Apr 2004, 12:40

There is not a great chance that the fry will survive in that tank. If there were a number of fry that hatched out some might hide in the substrate. With only 6 eggs the odds are not in their favor. I would take out the eggs and hatch them in a separate container. Cory eggs are firm and adhesive and will not be difficult to remove. If the eggs are on the glass you can use a single edge razor blade to remove them. You could also try a clump of Java Moss, the eggs will adhere to it. A plastic container(shoebox size) with an air stone will suffice for a few weeks to hatch out the fry.
Mark

Buzzer · Post by **Buzzer** » 20 Apr 2004, 13:58

Cheers Mark

Looks like I'm going to have to have a go at taking the eggs out and try to hatch them. Would a couple of drops of Meth Blue be sufficient / appropriate for a shoe box sized container to stop fungus?

I guess I'll also need to get a microworm culture from somewhere in a hurry!

Thanks

Buzz

NEON98101 · Post by **NEON98101** » 20 Apr 2004, 17:55

I don't have experience with Trini... eggs. And I don't know how long it takes for them to hatch. But from the experience with the tons of Panda eggs. I found out that you only want to medicate the eggs until they hatch, you don't want any Meth Blue in the water when they hatch. The web tell me the Panda eggs would hatch in 3 days but it takes 5~6 days to hatch for me. Maybe I'm keeping lower temperature or something. Although I think my room is pretty warm and usually water temperature is around 75 F. Anyway, about the medication, so I put a drop in the hatching container for first 3 days. And after that I won't put any. And they hatch in 5~6 days. If the egg is not darker after 3~4 days, they will not hatch anyway. And if they are darker, they will hatch even the egg look kind of fuzzy. I change water daily from the parents tank water. Since I usually use the plastic beer cup(about 16 oz) to hatch them. And I do put the air stone strong enough to tumble eggs.
That is from my experience with Panda eggs. And few days after they hatch, I move the little todpoles to the gallon size container or bigger and start feeding infusia or microworm or vinegar eels. By then, they used up the big egg sack they were carring when they hatch.
If you are in U.S.A, I can help you with the microworm but you are not.
You could use the food mentioned above or finely crushed flakes or hard boiled egg yolk, just mix with little water so they are small enough for fry to eat. And egg and yolk can deteriate the water quality. Use with caution and do the partial water if necessaly.
If you start right now, you probably have the green water by the time fry use yp the egg sack. It usually takes 2~3 days after they hatch.
Anyway, this is from the Panda egg experience of mine but I'm sure they are not perfectly same but quite similar. Of course, things can be different by the condition of the eggs were kept. Especially, the temperature. They suppose to develope faster` when the temperature is higher. Up to the point, then you would cook eggs.
Oh one more thing, some say keep the eggs in the dark. I'm not sure but they say it would reduce the fungas. Maybe so. I usually put the cover and peak them few times a day. But make sure the eggs get enough air. They do use some oxygen to develope I heard.
Whew, I think I covered all I can think of. Good luck.
And I'm sure you get more eggs in the future, also. When corys make eggs once, the odds are they will do it again, and again and again. That is the case with my panda. They have been making eggs since January. I get eggs every week. Sometime 2~3 times are week. Since I have 5 females.

Post by **corybreed** » 20 Apr 2004, 20:38

A couple of drops of Meth Blue would be fine. Over the years I have used Meth Blue, Acriflavin or Tetracycline to prevent fungus. Depending on the species of Cory I have not treated the wateras well and the eggs hatched out fine. If you are using a small container to hatch out the eggs it is a good idea to use a small amount of crushed coral to prevent the pH from crashing. The lower the temperature the longer it takes for the eggs to hatch. Last year I hatched out albino paleatus in the mid 60s, it took 9 days for the eggs to hatch. I have never heard about keeing the eggs dark to prevent fungus. Good Luck

Mark

Buzzer · Post by **Buzzer** » 21 Apr 2004, 09:28

Thanks Mark/Neon

I've got a 42L tank set-up 1/3 full of water from the main tank with heater and airstone. This is all I had available at short notice so I hope it'll be OK - it's amazing that you can't find suitable plastic containers. As some of the eggs are already darkening up (got 5 more last night) will probably only add one drop of meth blue for the eggs that have just been laid and remove immediately any that fungus up.

I plan to transfer the eggs to the hatching tank tonight - will try the suggestion of getting them to attach to some Java Moss although some are attached to plants already (Vallis and Crypts).

Question - can I just take the leaves off and then attach them to the glass in the hatching tank - maybe over the airstone?

I'll start off an Infusoria culture too and hopefully will have something ready for after they hatch and have used up their yolk sacks. Got some brine shrimp eggs and marine salt but I've not tried to hatch them before so it'll be a bit of an experiment.

Long term plan is to try to get another 1-2 males as I currently have 2 females and 2 males and think a better ratio might result in more eggs. I've got a 57L tank set-up which I'll move the 4 from the main tank to and (after app. quarantine) add the additional males. Hopefully they'll still have the 'urge' to lay once they've been moved.

This will be a whole new learning experience as I've only ever bred species which apply parental care to their eggs (bristlenoses, discus, mbuna) and it's caught me a bit unpreparred as I've only had the tank set-up 2 months! I was hoping to keep a log / calendar once I started to breed my cories but that's not happened either - maybe I need to start one!

Thanks again

Buzz

Post by **corybreed** » 21 Apr 2004, 12:03

You can pick the eggs off the plants and drop them in the hatching tank.
Mark

Buzzer · Post by **Buzzer** » 23 Apr 2004, 15:44

A quick update for those that have helped with advice etc so far

2 eggs hatched in the main tank before I got home to move them - no sign of them!

.

Of the remain eggs I transfered to a jar, which sits in the 42L tank (with airstone), 3 have hatched and a couple (layed later) still remain. The fry have been transfered to separate jar and seem to be doing well.

They've still got their yolk sack at the moment so not feeding. I am trying to get a Microworm culture from a local fish supplier but have some liquid fry food in just in case.

How often and what % of water should I change in the fry 'hatchery'?

Buzz

Post by **corybreed** » 23 Apr 2004, 22:25

Change water in the hatchery every day, 25% would be fine. You could add a small amount of crushed coral to the hatchery to prevent the pH from crashing. That is a trick I learned from Rosario Lacorte.

Mark

Buzzer · Post by **Buzzer** » 24 Apr 2004, 10:58

Thanks Mark I'll try to let you know how I get on!

Buzzer · Post by **Buzzer** » 29 Apr 2004, 09:04

Hi,

Quick update...

The 3 fry which hatched out are now feeding well from Infusoria and I have a Microworm culture on the way. They are developing quickly and are quite active, looking for food etc. The remaining eggs which were laid later did not hatch - probably infertile. I added some crushed coral to the hatchery (Thanks Mark) and perform daily water changes to keep the water quality up.

I have started with a daily 25% cool water change 'pattern' in the main 4' tank and two more eggs were laid overnight. Hope to get some more but the 'ripe' female is still quite young (and small) so I'll just have to be patient!

I would like to post some pics but I don't think my camera is up to taking a decent photo of the fry just yet as they are so small. I might try this evening - will post if I get any decent results.

Buzz

PS - Thanks again to PC and those that helped with advice!