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Hi everyone,

about 2-3 weeks ago I bought some wild caught C. hastatus (and 2 other minute fish that were accidentally caught by the LFS).
Last night I discovered 5 or 6 Corydoras fry of different sizes. This really surprised me since the parents weren't exactly in excellent condition when I bought them and 4 out of 12 died since I got them.
Because of the casualities I did a daily 20% wc and fed them exclusively life food (mainly grindal and microworms). The setup is a 60 L planted tank with a thin layer of river sand as a substrate, the water is mainly rain water with a bit of tap.

Now, I'm not at home over christmas for a full week. What can I do in order to provide the fry the best chances for survival? I have someone who could feed but not do any water changes.
Currently they are in the tank with their parents.

Cheers,
Lisa

Hello everyone,

just a quick update:
my remaining group of 6 Corydoras hastatus are continuing to spawn. Occasionally I see an egg or two and there are lots of wigglers all over the tank.
I placed a pile of ceramic media in a corner of the tank. The adults seemingly do not harm the fry.
One male adult has half his tail fin missing which is why I increased water changes to around 50% daily, maybe thats what triggers them to spawn.
I'm still unsure how to instruct the person who is going to do the feeding while I am away. There are so many fry, I don't want to botch everything. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Cheers,
Lisa

If the tank is heavily planted the fry will survive. It’s super hard to target feed the fry. So let nature take its course and make sure that there are a lot of plants. Emphasis on plants. Parents will eat blackworms, which always seems to cause a spawn cycle for me. I do weekly 50% water changes, or 35% or twice weekly changes. Give them a clean substrate and shrimp, plants and quality food. I have had losses of adults due to having other fish with them. So now they get a tank of their own. And they are visibly happier with this setup.

Again, you may have losses due to not feeding enough food to the fry and tank while your gone. BUT, you will have more losses if you feed too much and cannot keep water clean. So I would lean to the feeding less and hope for best. I do not target feed the fry, just keep the adults happy and well fed with clean water. Sounds like your already doing a great job if you are finding free swimming fry.
This is a fish I searched for for what seemed like two or three years, it’s my favorite, and always enjoyable watching a bunch of clumsy little hummingbirds.

Keep up the good work, the fish will be fine while your gone!!

Hi everyone,

I'm very happy to report that the wigglers survived my vacation.
I instructed the fish feeding person to feed half a sera plankton tab every other day and installed an additional air driven sponge filter.
On a sad note I have to add that the adult male with the damaged tail fin passed away.
I really hope I will be able to raise some of the fry, especially since the adults do not seem to be in best health. I'll keep you updated.

Cheers,
Lisa