Spawning Corys

[tcmfish]

So I have some questions. Hopefully I will get some answers. I have a 75 gallon community tank. Lots of wood and I can't really get my corys out without taking out all the decor but that isn't really an option. But I do think a couple of my corys and cats are breeding (Robinae, pygmaeus, and flagtail cats and maybe others). The reason I say this is some of each group seem extremely fat, but then a few days later not so much.

So what would be the best way to find out if there are eggs. I know they will lay in a mop or plant or whatever it seems. I do have some lace java fern in the tank but only about a 5 inch plant and it is attached to the largest (~2.5 ft.) piece of wood and I have looked for eggs, but since I have not seen them before in person I am not sure what I should be looking for.

So if there are eggs would there be an easy way of getting them out on a consistent basis? Say adding a spawning mop to the tank? I read in this article: http://www.planetcatfish.com/shanesworl ... cle_id=312 that the mop floats, but the tank is 18 inches deep so would they spawn on a mop on the surface of such a deep tank or would it need to be located further down?

Also so say I have eggs and and can get them out can multiple species of corys be raised together?

Well Sorry for all those questions, but I'm sure I'll have more.


-Tim.

[kim m]

You're looking for little round eggs

Of the three species you mention, the pygmaeus is by far the easiest to spawn. Robineae have only been spawned on very few occasions and the third sounds like a bubble-nest breeder (I guess it's a Dianema-species you're referring to?).

C. pygnaeus fry are very, very small and I would raise them on their own in a small tank with javamoss and fine sand.

[MatsP]

Actually, according to the Cat-eLog, Dianema will spawn like Corys, not like(other) Hoplos.

And I suspect that both C. robinae and Dianema spp. will eat eggs of other spawning fish - either that, or my C. metae that were spawning A LOT until recently has all of a sudden stopped spawning because they are with C. robinae and Dianema urostriatum...

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Mats

[tcmfish]

I don't doubt the eggs are getting eaten at all. This is a heavily stocked community aquarium. Not only all the cats, but there are a pair of rams two pairs of angels, lots of tetras... lots, and a few lamp-eye killis.

So they are probably getting eaten, but I am almost positive the fish mentioned are spawning. With the Dianema urostriatum there are three specimens and two hang together and the other is usually on the other side. There is no aggression, but there is a color difference in them. The one is lighter with the other two being darker. I assume the lighter is the female she is the one who also has the larger abdominal section compared to the darker ones that seem more slender. The two that I assume are a pair hang out by the Lace Java Fern. They are most active at feeding time other than that they kind of rest on the wood.

As for the Robinae there are four and two seem much larger and fatter in there vent area, where the others are a more slender fish. This is not due to feeding because all of my corys are great eaters. They all are well fed. I can see why they have only been spawned a few times, because when the LFS I work at ordered them only the four I bought made it. The rest perished and we got in a bunch probably at least 40.

And the pygmaeus, there are 7. It is hard to look at them all at once in the 75 gallon. But I do notice some being much larger and broader than others.

The only other corys I have in a group are the duplicareus (4) and none of them seem gravid. The others (similis, sterbai, agassizii, and panda) are all in twos. Again none ever seem gravid or hydrated. The brochis always stick to the back of the tank and it is heavily stocked with wood, so it is tough to get a look at them, but again they never seem to show signs of breeding.

But I am almost positive the Dianema urostriatum, C. robinae, and C. pygmaeus are spawning. I just never see any eggs, and its probably a good guess they are getting eaten.

I will try and get some pics, but I am not a good photographer, but we will see.

-Tim.

[MatsP]

Not quite what I think Kim meant by "only spawned a few times". They are, in my experience not much harder than other species to keep. They are, however, one of the "famous" hard to breed species. I believe Ian Fuller has bred them ONCE. And that's from a man who's bred more species than most of us will have kept.

I'm fairly confident that I've got at least some males and females in my group - we'll see if I ever get any eggs from them.

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Mats