PlanetCatfish.com

What size tanks are you guys using for your breeding tanks? What is the best size tank to use?

This answer really has to be based on the size of the fish, the size of the spawn, and how fast you'll be able to thin out the fry. It's completely possible to spawn fish in tanks which appear extremely cramped for them (I've spawned bristlenose in 5 gallon tanks several times). However, the fry will likely have to be moved to more suitable quarters, or thinned into multiple tanks, at a relatively young age. With dwarf corys, I prefer to use 5 gallon tanks because the fry seem to grow better in a communal setting. With slightly larger species, think panda or similis, 5 will still work fine if maintenance doesn't falter. However, 10 gallons are substantially easier to keep up with.

With fish such as aeneus, even though they're not massive fish, 15 gallons tend to work better because spawn sizes are so large. They can still be spawned in the smaller tanks, but management of the fry becomes a nightmare.

An idea of the intended species would make this a much simpler question, and probably get a more accurate response.

Larry

pleco_breeder wrote:This answer really has to be based on the size of the fish, the size of the spawn, and how fast you'll be able to thin out the fry. It's completely possible to spawn fish in tanks which appear extremely cramped for them (I've spawned bristlenose in 5 gallon tanks several times). However, the fry will likely have to be moved to more suitable quarters, or thinned into multiple tanks, at a relatively young age. With dwarf corys, I prefer to use 5 gallon tanks because the fry seem to grow better in a communal setting. With slightly larger species, think panda or similis, 5 will still work fine if maintenance doesn't falter. However, 10 gallons are substantially easier to keep up with.

With fish such as aeneus, even though they're not massive fish, 15 gallons tend to work better because spawn sizes are so large. They can still be spawned in the smaller tanks, but management of the fry becomes a nightmare.

An idea of the intended species would make this a much simpler question, and probably get a more accurate response.

Larry

Thanks for the reply. All good information.
Right now, I currently have 20 different species of corys. I have them separated by species and house them in 10's and 20's. I keep the mature groups in the 20's. Right now, I have sterbai's, weitzmani's, pulcher's, black's, and spotted corys in either 20 highs or 20 longs.

With corys I find experimenting with group size and tank size helpful, every group seems to behave slightly different. For example I have a group of blacks that will only spawn in a pair, if additional fish are added they shut off, so I've moved them to a 5 gallon to better utilize space. Additionally I have a trio of Brochis splendens that seem to only spawn as a reverse trio in a 5 gallon. I have a theory this is because of the extra current created by my blower in such a small tank, but I've not had time to test this with a powerhead in a larger tank.

Agree with Nabobmob1, I tried for 6 months to spawn a group of 15 habrosus in a 15G tank and wouldn't do anything. Moved them to my 75G nano community (all small biggest fish is panda Cory and neon daisy ricefish) and the population tripled with a month. My black schultzeis will only spawn if I transfer to another tank so I switch them back and forth between 2-10G. That's why I adore Corys, so many quirks.