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Hi All! My C. paleatus have managed to breed in my 30G community setup. I woke up this morning and opened the window in the office so the tank (a planted, low tech tank) could get some early morning sunglight and I found the following in the upper right corner...




So, I waited until the female (who I know had been gravid for a while as she was HUGE w/ eggs) deposited more eggs and I removed about 25 of them (there are still about another 15 in the tank, but I can't reach them) and put them into a small perware container with hornwort, salivinia, watter lettuce and tank water and floated the container in the water. I also unscrewed one of the bulbs in the 2X light fixture so the eggs would have some more subdued lighting. Here's a pic of the container...




In this image you can see the eggs stuck to the side of the perware...





I have a couple of questions I was hoping ya'll could help me with. Primarily, what do I do now? Can I leave them in this floating container until they hatch or should I move them right away into another tank? The only other tank I have available that I could setup is a 5 gal. Is this big enough to raise them for a while until they're large enough to be trasferred to a 10 gal community tank for them to grow out? Should I add anti-fugus stuff to the container?

Thanks in advanced for your help!

-ricardo

EDIT: Ok, sorry, I just read Ian's post on hatching and raising fry... I guess my only question now for how long can I keep the 25 fry in the plastic container? I mean, I know not all eggs will hatch, but let's assume they do, how long would it be appropriate for them to remain in the container?

Thanks again!

You could keep the fry in that floating container for a few weeks. Make sure to do frequent water changes.

Mark

Thanks for the tip Mark! Should I add Methylene Blue and an airsone too?

-ricardo

A couple of drops of Methylene Blue and an air stone is a good idea.

Mark

How do I know if the eggs are still healthy? I mean, I know that if they turn white that's bad, are there any other signs? Also, I found about 17 more eggs this morning on the back glass behind a stand of v. spiralis... I don't know whether to remove the eggs or leave them there... What are the chances of fry surviving in a community tank? My setup is: well-planted 30 gal breeder w/ 3 rams, an angelfish, four guppies, a couple of algae shrimp (don't know their name), a bristlenose pleco and, of course, a trio of C. paleatus. What are the chances of survival in the tank? Is there anything I can do to help ensure their survival? Or, should I just move the eggs? I've already set up a 5 gal as an initial grow-out tank after their first few weeks in the perware. Sponge filter is maturing in a goldfish tank and that will go in the 5 gal along with a bunch of water lettuce and hornwort.

Thanks again for your help!

-ricardo

Can you use PimaFix instead of Methylene Blue?

flagg6805,

We have never used methlene blue or other additive for cory or other young fish, or eggs...

We do change the water often, and make sure we have an airstone going. I have noted that the amount of eggs fungusing is greatly reduced. We have about 25 eggs of palaeteus (yes, I have a numbe of callichthyidae breeding). What we ahve noted is thatyou will not have all of your eggs survive. Yes, that's bad, but also keeps your "stock" healthy. Certain fish seem to produce alot of eggs and only have a few survive, others are t he opposite.

While I am on the learning curve with C. paleatus, it works for me. I'm always cautious about adding chemicals to my tanks. Let's just say "had a snail" didn't do my fish any wonders, and those darn snails propogated even more.

Good luck with your fry...maybe we both can share our stories!

Thanks,

Scott